The Albtal-Verkehrs-Gesellschaft (Alb Valley transport company, AVG) is a company, which is owned 100% by the city of Karlsruhe and operates rail and bus services in the Karlsruhe area.
The AVG is a member of the Karlsruher Verkehrsverbundes (KVV) transport association that manages a common public transport structure for Karlsruhe and its surrounding areas. The AVG is also a partner, with the Verkehrsbetriebe Karlsruhe (VBK) and Deutsche Bahn (DB), in the operation of the Karlsruhe Stadtbahn, the pioneering tram-train system that serves a larger area around the city. The AVG also operates some of the Karlsruhe region’s bus services and conveys freight by road and rail, as well as operating a travel agency.
The AVG owns and maintains several railway lines, including the Albtalbahn railway, and leases and maintains other lines. The VBK, a sister company, operates the city of Karlsruhe's bus and tram network, and AVG operated Stadtbahn routes use VBK tracks to access the city centre. Besides AVG owned and leased lines, and VBK lines, AVG rail vehicles also operate on DB tracks, and a short stretch of tram track belonging to the city of Heilbronn. Additionally VBK and DB operated Stadtbahn routes traverse AVG tracks.[1]
Historically, the AVG dates back to the acquisition in 1958 of the Albtalbahn railway by the city of Karlsruhe. This formerly 1,000 mm (3 ft 3 3⁄8 in) (metre gauge) electric railway was converted to 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) (standard gauge) and connected to the city's existing tram network. However because it remained legally a railway, and needed to conform to mainline railway design and safety standards, AVG accumulated experience in operating across the divide between tramway and railway. It was this experience that would eventually lead to the much wider development of the Stadtbahn Karlsruhe, and to the AVG operating its vehicles over a much wider area.[2][3]