Gmunden Tramway

Gmunden Tramway

Vehicles of the Gmunden tramway
Overview
Type Tram
Locale Gmunden, Austria
Termini Gmunden Bahnhof
Gmunden Seebahnhof[1][2]
Stations 8[note 1]
Operation
Opening 13 August 1894
Owner Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB)
Operator(s) Stern & Hafferl Verkehr
Technical
Line length 2.315 km (1.438 mi)[note 2]
No. of tracks Single track
Track gauge 1,000 mm (3 ft 3 3⁄8 in)
Electrification 600 V DC Overhead lines
Route map
Vehicles in the tram depot

The Gmunden Tramway (Straßenbahn Gmunden or Gmundner Straßenbahn), located in Gmunden, Austria, is the shortest and oldest remaining tram system in Austria.[3] It is operated by Stern & Hafferl,[3] which was founded in 1893. The tramway was opened on 13 August 1894. It is 2.3 km long.[3] The line's maximum gradient of 9.6% makes it one of the world's steepest surviving adhesion-only tram lines.[4]

History

The works, directed by the engineers Josef Stern and Franz Hafferl, began on 25 February 1894. It took five months to build the entire tramway, one depot, one power plant and two buildings for employees. The original route ran from the railway station (named Rudolfsbahnhof at that time) to "Rathausplatz" (i.e. Town Hall Square). In 1975 the route was shortened to Franz-Josef-Platz.[5]

There were several renovations in the late 90's and the following decade, including the renewal of "Keramik" station and of the Tennisplatz - Franz-Josef-Platz route.[6] In February 2013, the municipal council of Gmunden decided to link the tram to the Traunseebahn at Gmunden Seebahnhof terminal station. The trams will in future also reach Vorchdorf[7] as part of a project named StadtRegioTram.[8]

Route

The tramway route runs entirely in the town, from the railway station to the central Franz-Josef-Platz on the Traunsee lake. It counts 8 stations, plus 2 closed and one substituted.[9] A planned extension to the Seebahnhof, terminal station of the Traunsee Railway Gmunden-Vorchdorf has been partially built. It will count 3 stations and will use the route "Franz-Josef-Platz" - "Rathausplatz", closed in 1975. The reopening of Postgebäude is not planned.[1][2]

Station Km Notes
Gmunden (Bahnhof)
0.00
 Station on the Salzkammergut Railway, tram depot planned
Gmunden Grüner Wald
0.35
Gmunden Keramik
0.60
 Built in 2005 to substitute the nearby "Gmunden Kraftstation", passing loop, tram depot
Gmunden Rosenkranz
1.00
Gmunden Tennisplatz
1.36
 passing loop
Gmunden Kuferzeile
1.60
Gmunden Parkstraße
1.77
 closed
Gmunden Bezirkshauptmannschaft
2.05
Gmunden Korso
2.22
 closed
Gmunden Franz-Josef-Platz
2.32
 Terminal since 1975
Gmunden Postgebäude
2.42
 closed in 1975
Gmunden Rathausplatz
2.54
 closed in 1975, reactivation planned
Gmunden Klosterplatz
2.84
 planned
Gmunden Seebahnhof
3.09
 New terminal station on the Traunsee Railway, planned

Vehicles

No. Image Origin Year
built		 Length Weight V max Output Remarks
8 Lohner/Kiepe 1961 13.4 m 16.0 t 60 km/h 200 kW Fitted with full pantograph; rebuilt in 1978 for one-man operation; otherwise in original condition
9 Ex-Vestische Straßenbahnen GmbH (No. 347), built by Düwag/Kiepe 1952 14.3 m 17.0 t 70 km/h 200 kW Entered service on the Gmunden tramway in 1977;[3] fitted with full pantograph and magnetic track brakes
10 Ex-Vestische Straßenbahnen GmbH (No. 341), built by Düwag/Kiepe 1952 14.3 m 17.0 t 70 km/h 200 kW Entered service on the Gmunden tramway in 1983;[3] fitted with full pantograph and magnetic track brakes
5 Grazer Waggf./SSW 1911 9.1 m 11.0 t 30 km/h 52 kW
100 Ex-Pöstlingbergbahn car IV; built by Grazer Waggonfabrik 1898 6.8 m 8.8 t 14 km/h 40.8 kW Open-sided; fitted with a bow collector. Acquired from the Pöstlingbergbahn (Linz) in 1995[3]

List of all earlier trams, built between 1893 and 1907:

No. Year of construction Origin Output Weight Length
1 1894 Rohrbacher/AEG 2*13 kW 6.6 t 8 m
2 1894 Rohrbacher/AEG 2*13 kW 6.6 t 8 m
3 1894 Rohrbacher/AEG 2*13 kW 6.6 t 8 m
4 (I) 1895 Rohrbacher/AEG 2*13 kW 6.6 t 8 m
4 (II) 1913 Ganz & Co 2*40,5 kW 13 t 9.53 m
5 1911 Siemens/Grazer W. 2*26 kW 11.0 t 9.08 m
6 1907 Siemens/Grazer W. 2*25,5 kW 10.3 t 8.7 m
7 1907 Siemens/Grazer W. 2*25,5 kW 10.3 t 8.7 m

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ 11 stations in the future extension. Adding 3 closed stations (one in the line to Rathausplatz) the total is of 14
  2. ↑ 3.090 km (1.920 mi) in the future extension

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Extension under construction: Gmunden Tramway map (Stern & Hafferl website)
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Map, pictures and infos at urbanrail.net
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 Buckley, Richard (2000). Tramways and Light Railways of Switzerland and Austria (2nd edition), p. 129. Gloucester, UK: Light Rail Transit Association. ISBN 0-948106-27-1.
  4. ↑ Taplin, Michael; and Russell, Michael (2002). Trams in Western Europe, p. 8. Harrow Weald, Middlesex (UK): Capital Transport Publishing. ISBN 1-85414-265-8.
  5. ↑ (German) Historical overview of Gmunden Tramway (Stern & Hafferl website)
  6. ↑ (German) History of Gmunden Tramway (10 pages)
  7. ↑ (German) "Gmunden lässt Straßenbahn bis Vorchdorf fahren" (Gmunden can take tram to Vorchdorf). Article on the Oberösterreichische Nachrichten
  8. ↑ (German) StadtRegioTram Gmunden-Vorchdorf Project
  9. ↑ Gmunden Tramway station: images and infos (Verein Pro Gmundner Straßenbahn)

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Gmunden Tramway.