page_title: Trams in Karlsruhe
section_title: Modernisation and expansion
hierarchical_section_title: Trams in Karlsruhe / History / Modernisation and expansion
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: Für Karlsruhe einst typisch: Berliner Wappen und Bezirksname auf Straßenbahnwagen als Hinweis auf die Herkunft der Wagen aus Berlin (DWM/Waggon-Union) Foto: Mäfä Juli 1978
context_page_description: The Karlsruhe tramway network is a network of tramways forming part of the public transport system in Karlsruhe, a city in the federal state of Baden-Württemberg, Germany.
  Opened in 1877, the network has been operated since 1997 by Verkehrsbetriebe Karlsruhe GmbH, a company owned by the city of Karlsruhe. The city itself was the tram network's operator between 1903 and 1997.
context_section_description: Soon after the Second World War a structural change occurred in an urban development that had a significant impact on public transport and so also for Karlsruhe. This involved the creation of new, large housing estates on the periphery that had to be connected to the city. From the 1960s, there has been increased suburbanisation, which has led to significant growth in the neighbouring municipalities, which continues to date. In parallel with this there has been a change in the economic structure: the large factories in the city were abandoned and new industrial and commercial areas were developed on the outskirts.
  The emergence of mass motorisation led to increasing competition for the trams. In addition the increasing car traffic led to increased congestion on the tram routes. In contrast, the tramway network in the early 1950s was still the same as it was in 1930. The difficult economic situation of the 1930s and material deprivation and destruction during the Second World War did not permit modernisation of vehicles and equipment.
  Unlike many other cities that closed their tramway networks, Karlsruhe started to modernise its network: by 1980, 75% of the tracks were separated from road traffic and upgraded to double track, except for four short sections. In several places wider parallel roads were built next to tram lines. A pedestrian zone was established in the inner city next to the tram lines from 1974. The only route converted to bus operations was a short line to Beiertheim closed in 1956. New lines were built from 1953 to close gaps in the network and to connect new neighbourhoods to the tram network. Thus, connections were built to Waldstadt in 1960, to Nordweststadt in 1975, to Rheinstrandsiedlung in 1980 and to Oberreut in 1986.
  The rolling stock was renewed with the procurement of 23 four-axle tram cars from 1954 and 75 six-and eight-axle articulated trams between 1959 and 1978, so that the pre-war two-axle trams were withdrawn from the operating fleet by the early 1970s. New vehicles introduced from 1969 allowed conductor-less operation and thus made further rationalisation of operations possible.
  The acquisition of the Alb Valley Railway and the Busenbach-Ittersbach railway along with the Albtal-Verkehrs-Gesellschaft (Alb Valley Transport Company, AVG) in 1957 and their regauging and connection to the tramway network allowed AVG vehicles to operate on the tracks of Verkehrsbetriebe Karlsruhe, giving direct services between the surrounding countryside and central Karlsruhe. Further enhancements in the region came after 1979 with the integration of the Hardt Railway in the AVG and the development of the Karlsruhe model of tram-train operations. In 1994, a common fare system was introduced with the establishment of the Karlsruher Verkehrsverbund (Karlsruhe Transport Association, KVV). In 1997, Verkehrsbetriebe Karlsruhe was converted into a public company, previously it had been a public utility owned by the city.
  Despite the extensive modernisation, passenger numbers stagnated between 1950 and 1985 at around 40 million annually. Passenger numbers only rose with the expansion of the network from the 1980s, the introduction of regular interval operations on a clock-face schedule and attractive fares and a greater environmental awareness among the people. In 1996, the VBK's trams carried 66 million passengers and the city's bus carried another ten million. Now, buses and trams carry 100 million passengers annually.
caption: Formerly typical in Karlsruhe: Berlin coat of arms and district name indicating the origin of the vehicle (DWM or Waggon Union of Berlin)
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