Tramscape Tramway
Photographs
Leipzig,
Germany : 21st-25th March 1997
Since the
reunification of Germany, large sums of money have been spent in
modernising tramway systems in the former German Democratic Republic
and Leipzig is no exception. Although there are no plans to build
tram subways or underground railways as might be found in western
German cities of similar size such as Frankfurt, the "Stadtbahn"
brand is now used to describe the high-quality surface tramways that
are now under construction.
By 1997, Leipzig had received the first batch of their new
8-axle low floor
trams and were soon to start to take delivery
of low-floor trailers for their existing fleet of Tatra trams. Many
of the Tatras, mainly
T4D,
but also
T6A2,
both with trailers, had been modernised, with
unmodernised
cars already or about to be withdrawn. A
programme of tram route modernisation was also in progress, with
several upgraded alignments, such as on
Prager
Strasse and
Delitzscher
Strasse, the latter with the extension to the
new Leipziger Messe
fairgrounds. A new link through the old Messe
fairgrounds was under construction to provide a more direct
connection to Losnig and the link from
Paunsdorf-Nord
to
Sommerfeld
had been added to the network in 1994.
The political and economic changes after 1990 also led to a rapid
loss of population from the urban area and the closure of many of the
city's traditional factories. The city's population fell by around 10
percent in ten years. The economic conditions under which trams were
operated had changed dramatically. Increasing motor car use also led
to rapidly falling numbers of passengers using public transport , and
the increasing
congestion adversely affected the
street-based tramway system. Some track closures were inevitable. The
short inner-city branch to Anger-Crottendorf and the link from Neues
Rathaus to Kurt-Eisener-Strasse via
Flossplatz
were closed. The former served an area to which traffic had seriously
dwindled, the latter ran closely parallel to the tram tracks in
Karl-Liebknecht-Strasse.
From May 2001, a new
network was introduced, replacing the
multitude of routes with differing service frequencies with fewer
lines with higher and regular frequencies (every 10 minutes on most
lines in normal service periods). Groups of lines would be bundled
according to their route through the city centre and the number of
colours on the city's tram route map would be significantly reduced.
Although many direct journies between city areas would be lost,
connections would be easier and more frequent. From an operational
point of view, it would become easier to ensure regular frequencies
on the main routes and associated branches. A better service could be
offered at no extra cost. One small casualty was the short branch
from Rathaus Leutzsch to Bahnhof Leutzsch via
Bienitzstrasse.
By 2006, three lines, the current 11, 15 and 16, are planned to be
upgraded to "Stadtbahn" standards throughout.
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