The streetcar, also (partially colloquially) Bim, electrical one, the Tram, the Tram (v. A. common in Switzerland, there rarely also the Tram), the bell (v. A. common in Dresden) official abbreviation in Germany Strab/Straba, Trolley (to. English designation), is a nearly always electrically operated, rail-bound means of transport in the public local passenger traffic city traffic), which adapts to the special conditions of the traffic.

It wrongly usually in the city range, whereby the tracks are shifted in the road, however gives it in more recent time in the context of acceleration measures also to distances on own subgrade and tunnelled routes. As provincial town course it connects suburbs with the center as in Karlsruhe, Chemnitz and Kassel or resounds. Increasingly of a metropolitan railway instead of a streetcar is spoken here, the distinction is however flowing. Highway courses drive also outside of closed localities like the and the Kirnitzschtalbahn.

With highway courses the transition is to the railway often much flowing and depends frequently only on the kind of the concession. Frequently highway courses operate also goods traffic on the cross-country distances, whereby the trucks are pulled every now and then by locomotives, while the passenger traffic with streetcar traction vehicles takes place.

The streetcar combines the advantages of large passenger capacity with more closely stop sequence. In order to make a fast passenger change possible, the vehicles have many doors, much standing surface and therefore less seat. On cross-country lines with longer stop distances there are against it fewer doors and more seats.

In the range of some centers of dense development like the Rhine Neckar area and the Rhine Ruhr district are the route networks of several streetcar enterprises among themselves connected. Such connecting distances are designated as highway courses and are for railway friends of special interest.

Legal regulations

Germany

Streetcars are operated BOStrab, in Germany after the regulation over the building and enterprise of the streetcars, briefly them differ thereby from the railways which the building of railways and factory regulations, briefly EBO, to be subject. This separation orients itself at the different operating requirements at streetcars, which participate usually in the public traffic and for example on view drive as well as direction of travel indicator (turn signal) to possess must, and at railways, which operate with higher speeds particularly on special subgrade, by signals steered and separately. Mixing process with streetcar vehicles on railroad lines and requires the adherence to both regulations in reverse, if not by the supervisory authorities special permission is given. Such courses are usually called metropolitan railway.

Austria

In Austria however streetcars are railways in the sense of the railway law 1957. The closer regulations over enterprise, plants, vehicles, signals and such a thing are in from the Federal Minister for science and traffic (now: Federal Minister for traffic, innovation and technology) due to streetcar regulation issued by "§ 19 exp. 4 of the railway law 1999 regulated.

Switzerland

In Switzerland streetcars in kind 2 of the railway law (EBG) are defined as secondary lines. Legal regulations, which streetcars concern, are on federal level among other things in the regulation over to building and enterprise of the railways (railway regulation, EBV), in the signalling regulation (SSV) as well as in kind 48 "rules for streetcars "of the traffic law (SVG), is held in which: "The traffic rules of this law apply also to railway vehicles on roads, so far this in consideration of the characteristics of these vehicles, their enterprise and the railway facilities are possible. "

In addition kantonale regulations come, e.g. into Basel city concerning grand council resolution agreement with the canton Basel landscape from 26 January 1982 over the Basler of transporting enterprises and the BLT the Basel countries transport AG.

Technology

Drive

The first streetcars were pulled by horses, it gave soon also steam-claimant and 1881 for the first time electrically propelled streetcars. Isolated there were also courses with accumulators or gas engine drive, to a large extent became generally accepted however the electric drive for streetcars.

The driving power of an electrical streetcar is removed by means of current collectors from overhead lines or (in tunnels) from bus bars. Inserted for aesthetic reasons (renouncement of the overhead line) sometimes also a current supply from underground bus bars, so e.g. on the Viennese struggle race (1898 to 1915). Recently (so in Bordeaux) again appropriate attempts with underground current supply are made underneath the vehicle floor. With modern streetcar vehicles for braking the engines are switched as generators, so that electricity is fed back into the railway catenary (Nutzbremse).

As current system direct current with a tension is nearly always used between 500 V and 750 V. The value of the selected tension varies from enterprise to enterprise. There were in former times also at some places streetcars, which drove with three-phase alternating current, which was used only rarely however because of the three pole overhead line. In recent time (e.g. Viennese "ULF ") are used however again three-phase motors, which are supplied by traction static inverters from the direct current net.

Vehicle construction

The early streetcars used to the electrical, first usually fourwheel motor coach to two attached a sidecar, on cross-country distances also more. The sidecar were frequently converted car of the former horse course. Two variants were usual: open summer cars as well as closed cars for the winter.

The development of the vehicles was coined/shaped by the desires of the respective streetcar enterprises, which the manufacturers with the manufacturing of individual small series followed. The often small-scale spatial relations in the cities forced in addition also special adjustments, from which for example those tapered "Hechtwagen in front and in the back "developed. The early streetcar cars had frequently along or transverse banks with a center aisle, on which the Schaffner with at some places in Germany typical gallopp change-over switch the Fahrgelder of the passengers drove. Conversions of the enterprise to a firm Schaffner seat led to "the Sambawagen "with large photograph surface in the input area. After the Second World War with that Hamburg streetcar four-axis region cars with passenger river one introduced for the first time. With the development of the longer joint cars those were increasingly displaced sidecar.

Into the 1980ern those began systematically development of the Niederflurtechnik as well as the modularity of the vehicles. Modern vehicles manufactured by manufacturers as bombard Transportation in modular construction and are adaptable to the local conditions (standard gauge/meter-purely, width of vehicle, doors right/left/reciprocally, travel into one or both directions, number of oh, Niederfluranteil). Examples of such vehicle series are the Combino and the Variobahn.

History

The beginning of the development in 19. Century

The development of the streetcars began with the introduction of the horse courses or the First was opened on 26 November 1832 in New York. Later they were replaced on individual lines by steaming race courses. The first German steaming race course drove starting from 1877 into Kassel. One experimented even with further drive systems, but already soon the electric drive convinced by its efficiency.

The first electrical streetcar of the world took to 16. May 1881 in light field with Berlin the Probebetrieb up. The cars built by Werner von Siemens had a length of 4,3 m and drove on 2.5 km a long distance with a speed of maximally 20 km/h. The power input of 3.7 KW (5 HP) of strong engine was made by both rails. Starting from 1883 it operated in the regular enterprise between the Prussian institute for cadet light field west and the regional station light field east. 1884 opened the FOTG in Frankfurt/Main the first streetcar in Germany, which operated predominantly in the road subgrade level and transportation of human beings carried also longer time out. Opened in April 1891 in resounds (Saale) the first electrical streetcar in the city. In Austria the first electrical streetcar opened the enterprise on 22 October 1883 between and in Switzerland on 6 June 1888 the first section of the Tramway Vevey Montreux Chillon.

In the USA franc Julian Sprague 1888 developed a streetcar car, that its energy from an overhead line referred and developed thereby in Richmond the first successful larger electrical streetcar system. On the hills by Richmond upward gradients to 10% were mastered, which as convincing for application in other cities proved. Over 1889 was themselves 110 electrical courses with Spragues equipment in the building or under the planning. Edison, which made Spragues equipment, bought up 1890 the "Sprague Electric Railway & engine company ".

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