@@MrMakabarThe U4 (or the U-Bahn in Hamburg for that matter) already runs on third rail (instead of overhead wires), meaning that crossing streets is prohibited (for safety reasons ofc), meaning that they have to change the entire line with overhead wire tech, which is ridiculously expensive to do so, especially since the tunnels are too small for the overhead wires to fit in.
@@dinohermann1887 I am talking about a new tram line starting at Moldauhafen and going to Harburg. That according to MoPo is being looked into by the Hochbahn as an alternative to an extension of the U4. However the offical tender does not mention the location of a new tram line, so might not happen.
Munich had the luck, that their political ideas always come 20 years later than in the rest of Germany. So the crazyness of getting rid of the tram lines there only came up in the 1980s. And then the greens were already powerful and stopped it in the Stadtrat. Until the 1990s the Tram network then was mostly neglegted, until the SPD-Greens coalitions decided that it's not logical to pay billions for new ubahn lines in the center, when you already have the exact route covered by tram lines.
@@acmenipponair that's incorrect. Tramway closures also started in Munich by the 1960s, it was just a much slower process as the city focused more on replacing the tram by new U-Bahn lines over the years rather than closing it for the sake of closing like Hamburg did. It was the realization in the 1990s that there are lots of routes where trams still make sense, especially those lines that were not replaced by any U-Bahn line whatsoever. As for the greens... it was not a thing of logic that they blocked U-Bahn proposals, they were just docmatically anti U-Bahn. Thankfully the U-Bahn plans are back on track after basically nothing happened for years.
Car-centrism really is somewhat of a national phenomenon. Except for the manufacturing plants I feel like Hamburg might actually be more car-centric than Munich, maybe even thanks to the lack of trams. However, one has to keep in mind that by the time Munich opened their first U-Bahn line, Hamburg's network was almost identical to what we have today, except for U4 and the northernmost part of U1 towards Norderstedt. Considering the fact that they'd basically grown the network by more than 50% in less than a decade, I can totally see why, back in the day, nobody was willing to spend money on upgrading the trams. Totally different story in Munich: They were still considering a Stadtbahn akin to Frankfurt until 1964 and thus even purchased new tram rolling stock. The uncertainty about what kind of mass transit system it was going to be essentially lead to a tram modernization effort which helped keeping them alive during the transition to U-Bahn, and political change secured their long-term survival. Hamburgs trams however were horribly outdated by the 1960s with no immediate capacity advantage over a regular bus (they still operated with trolley poles until 1978!) and thus, according to the Zeitgeist, getting rid of them before a proper replacement was constructed still seemed like the more reasonable decision. The alternative would have required major investments in rolling stock and infrastructure, but without a long-term strategy nobody was willing to pay for this. Obviously, with the benefit of hindsight, it would have been nice had they kept the trams around. But I think it's less local car culture/politics and more so the existence of a functioning pre-war U-Bahn system that led to the tram's demise. Look no further than Berlin.
@@ft4709 West Berlin made a very conscious decision to build a stack more U-Bahn lines than Hamburg did though, and had even more plans, plus they had a much better S-Bahn system though that became unpopular and was snubbed due to being operated by the East. The decision to close the trams in West Berlin also feels entirely political like trying to wave it in the socialist East's faces, whereas the decision in Hamburg was much more a city development idea. And whereas West Berlin largely set about remodelling itself, Hamburg appears to have made a very conscious decision to move away from the old very concentrated development of streets for workers near the harbour with alot more suburbanisation. Being on a massive river (Elbe) must have played a role too whilst West Berlin had a much less significant body of water to deal with for its congestion issues.
I always find funny how people in Germany refer to Munich as car centric. I am Australian and I lived in Munich for one year, and from my Australian perspective Munich was extremely hostile to car drivers. Emissions zones, lots of pedestrian only spaces, no freeways in the city, narrow streets, parked cars sticking out into the lane of travel, so many other things. I found it extremely not friendly for drivers.
3:03 Thun technically also used to hav a tram line. But they thought busses were more convenient. I mean many cities in Switzerland used to have trams, but now don't have. honestly kinda sad.
0:25 that's not necessarily true. In Karlsruhe for example, it is, trams switch from their own network to the mainline railway network. But Stuttgart's Stadtbahn for example only ever runs on its own tracks, and even if they're fully grade separated, they are officially still tram tracks, not rail lines. The difference is that Stuttgart always runs according to the BOStrab, the rules for trams, whereas Karlsruhe switches from BOStrab rules to EBO rules for mainline railways. What I'm saying is, "Stadtbahn" is a loosely defined term that means something slightly different in basically every German city that has one. But the difference between Straßenbahn and Stadtbahn is not that Stadtbahnen run on "standard rail lines", as said in the video. The most important difference is the amount of separation from other traffic, which mostly is achieved without switching to mainline rail operation. And just to name another important difference, trams mostly have low floors these days to allow for boarding from the sidewalk, whereas Stadtbahn systems are mostly high floor for a more metro like boarding process, with the exception of like half of Düsseldorf's system, which has low floor Stadtbahn trains and it's really weird. Sorry for this nitpick on a thing that isn't even that important for the point of the video, but I couldn't stop myself.
Here in Dresden they have started calling our tram system a stadtbahn now, even though the tram system here is *VERY MUCH* a classic tram system in almost every way other than having fairly good accessibility and modern vehicles. I am still trying to work out why, only real explanation I can come up with is "vibes" - Stadtbahn sounds schick, sleek, modern, fast, more reliable, more comfortable for the Pendler, like we are a real city. Perhaps some jealousy that Leipzig now has its city S-Bahn tunnel? Even though our trains have had through-running since before Leipzig even started thinking about building a city tunnel for its two terminal train stations?
@@TFTSB Id much rather they focus on actually making things better for the users and not letting our bridges fall into the Elbe would be great! People dont really care that much about marketing a spin in my experiences they care about efficiency, speed, reliability, comfort etc, yes calling it a Stadtbahn makes some of these more obvious but actually doing them and improving them is worth more, plus we have some big gaps in coverage even though its a great network even compared to the very best.
'Stadtbahn more or less an update Konzept of the the Staßenbahn (that sometimes can run underground (most often in the city center). Still only some section sometimes the majority of the tramway is on its own right of way or grade sperated..
@@TFTSB Yeah, public transport was way more back then but then the car wave happened. Nowadays, cars are so inefficient but people still have the image of old rusty trams and old rusty Schienenbusse when they think about trains and trams.
I was staying in Hamburg for ~6 months, with a daily commute from Rahlstedt - Wandsbek Markt (nearest U-Bahn) ... with my bike driving along the road I'd regularly overtake several(!) buses of the same line, always staying still in the rush hour :D
Having spent the past 15 years working in an office on the Stresemannstrasse, that would be soooo much improved by putting the tram back in. But I think the one thing that needs to be done first is to complete an Autobahn-Ring (ish), by improving the north-side connection between the A7 and the A1 (leading the A24). Too many lorries think they need to drive straight through the City rather than drive south through the Tunnel to the Horster Dreieck.
They didn't just advertise buses as the replacements for trams, but also the extensions of the U-Bahn and S-Bahn systems. Of course, while some extensions of those systems actually happened, they covered much less than what the tram system had previously covered.
True but it is absolute Wahnsinn to shut bits of the tram system down before you have opened the new sections of U-Bahn and seen how it impacts the network. Frankfurt and Munich managed this significantly better using two different tech (Munich went with proper U-Bahn, Frankfurt went with the "Stadtbahn" upgrade option. Still, the original U4 plan from the 1970s before the trams were ripped up would have made quite a significant bit of difference, but it didn't do anything to relieve the northern suburbs which never should have lost their tram connection.
Hamburg does have a really nice bus system from the time i visited, but i feel what people don't realise when they say "we don't need trams, we already have a good bus network" is they forget that ppl who are not able-bodied EXIST, sure I can use buses quick and easy but like do people forget when their bus has to wait at a stop for way too long because the driver has to help someone in a wheelchair on? or a mum getting a pram with their kids on? when you see a tram network with level boarding, and how quick EVERYONE can hop on and off with ease you really cannot go back (the tram network in london, croydon, despite its issues, is HIGHLY used by disabled people and parents in the local area, i see far more on the trams than i see on even the busiest bus routes)
Thanks for the video! Unfortunately the endcard seems to have two recommended videos, of which the left one is unavailable - can you take a look at that, please? My grandparents moved to Bramfeld in the 60s due to the promised subway station. But nothing happened, and then the tram disappeared, too. 60 years later (my grandfather has died in the meantime) there is finally work starting for a subway there.
I would be interested in a line from Tonndorf to Spadenland. They should build a new bridge over the S-Bahn for it. (where there used to be a railway crossing long time ago)
Not only: "Why do you build a complete section of the Ubahn with no connection to the Elbphilharmonie..." A Stop at Baumwall would have brought a good connection to the U3 - instead of having to walk through a long tunnel in Jungfernstieg and then using STAIRS to get to the station... God forbit that in Hamburg people with disabilities get a good transit, they might start to use the ÖPNV...
The U4 had to be built underground where it runs. Extending or branching off of U3 and run on a bridge would have collided with existing buildings, and running around them outside to the river requires heavy impact protection against ships. Running underground means to go very deep, as there are foundations for flood protection to be crossed, and the result would have been massive cost for a station that suffers from deep escalators (like Messehallen) and at the same time only half the coverage area around the stop, as the other half is river. Connecting to U3 also suffers from the reduced train length, because that line serves the two remaining short stations in the network, Sierichstrasse and Mönckebergstraße. So as much as it would be nice to have a connection there, or a station, or anything, it wasn't feasible, despite being considered in the planning phase.
Stadtbahn is the best of both worlds.. Subway or tram depending on need and location!Love the system we have here in Hannover. Only thing missing is a Ringbahn!
@@TFTSB There will be new ones arriving next year ruclips.net/video/f2PfFyyJbbI/видео.html&ab_channel=%C3%9CSTRAHannoverscheVerkehrsbetriebeAktiengesellschaft
I like separate tram and subway networks, like in Munich or Oslo. Can simply build 2 systems which are interconnected, but each one of them is set up entirely different. Thus subway trains can be spec'd way longer than the trams ...
ripping out trams for buses and attempting to recover the lost capacity with "BRT" projects... HMMMMMM I've seen this movie before... also yes those pink glowing cubes are amazing, it's giving crimson forest
MARTA’s barely trying to expand its transportation network and there are proposals to put in BRT lines in major Atlanta corridors. I expect it to turn out like MBTA’s Silver Line (whole story about that…)
At least turning a BRT line into a tram line looks easier than building a tram where no dedicated transit infrastructure is available, because the space you're going to use is already being used for transit, so you don't have to fight carbrains.
Haben zwar die fast doppelte Kapazität wie normale Buslinien aber nur gut die Hälfte einer Straßenbahn welche teils auch schneller ist und ebenerdig zu erreichen ist.
You pointed out the Horner Geest extention. When i look at the this project i always ask my self why they don´t extend the line to Jenfeld and Barsbüttel. Do you know a reason for that? Yes the S4 is beeing build, but its not near Jenfeld
Because Horner Geest is closer to Horner Rennbahn. It's a cheap and relatively simple two station extension. Once it is completed there will without a doubt be considerations of further extending the U4 to Jenfeld. In the same manner, the U4 is being gradually extended southwards, first with two stations in the Hafencity, then Elbbrücken, now Grasbrook and in the future Northern Wilhelmsburg. Barsbüttel will never get a subway over Jenfeld. It's not part of Hamburg and not a densely populated area.
I've used bus line 5 quite a bit on my last visits to Hamburg. As far as I can tell, turning this into a tram line between Dammtor and Niendorf Markt wouldn't be that complicated. This entire setion is a BRT line on its own lanes already with proper platforms, some even way too long for buses as far as I could tell. The entire thing basically looks like a good tramline without trams. Then the buses just continue on a pretty normal road all the way to Burgwedel, you can either turn this into a local bus route (most people change at Niendorf Markt anyway, so not having a through service there wouldn't be a disaster) or you could make a really bold move and just continue it along where the bus runs now. The main issue I see with this is that going to Niendorf Markt and back to the main stroad is a bit more difficult and annoying with a tram than with a bus. I wonder how this was done back when the tram (line 2 according to the map in the video) was still running. After all, it followed this exact route, terminating somewhere in the centre of Schnelsen, and it did serve Niendorf Marktplatz somehow.
With the U5, there will be rapid transit on most of this corridor (till Behrmannsplatz) so a tram would not be needed. But there could be a tram from Schnelsen via Niendorf Markt to Behrmannplatz as a feeder for the U5.
There were two turn loops, one at Niendorf Markt, where the track branched off and went through a portal in a building. Not visible on Google Maps, and as this is a pedestrian zone today, no Streetview either, I suppose. The terminal station in Schnelsen today is a market place, and used for parking cars the rest of the week.
I totally see all your points and would Hamburg not be in Germany but a more reasonable (at least regarding transit) country like France or Spain, Hamburg would probably get the U5 faster + an U6 + some interconnecting Trams like Lyon or Marseille do. (The Hochbahn-network is to be fair already way bigger than the two slightly smaller french towns I mentioned) But regarding that it is in Germany where (apart from Munich or Berlin) it is always tram OR metro and this toxic discussion has been held for decades I would try to lobby for 1990es Madrid style Metro Plans or plans like Grand Paris Express to efficiently expand the S- and U-Bahn and not opening up the tram-pandora-box. But I sadly believe that the car infested politics in Germany are by this point too corrupt to efficiently plan and build any public infrastructure without exploding costs, some CDU- or SPD-buddy firms getting insanely rich along the way and the public not getting much (or nothing) at the end...
Surprisingly, actually, there's been a pitch for a tram line across the region here! Which I'd love to cover as an excuse to cover the Stade Stadtbahn tests that were orchestrated by a group of students back in the 90s!
Look at London: Wimbledon to Waddon Marsh and Addiscombe to Elmers End are former rail lines converted to tram. I don't say West Croydon as it contradicts the imagination.
8:20 the Elbphillamonie is positioned not that horribly for it, but crossing that bridge across the dockbay on the way to the nearest station was horrendous (i have vertigo :3)
By the way, one mistake: Neumünster Süd is not part of the USAR plan anymore, because the HVV ends in Boostedt (as the Kreis Neumünster doesn't want to be part of the HVV)
Don't say "Kreis", it's a district free town, surrounded by Plön (PLÖ), Segeberg (SE) and Rendsburg-Eckernförde (RD). By the way, the Neumünster broadcasting station is located in Steinburg (IZ).
If you wanna know more about public transport or especially plans for a new tram network in Hamburg leave me a mail address where I can send you some stuff. Oh and I live also in Stade too, so I hate the new S5 as well 😬
There are in fact a few places to discover Hamburg‘s old street cars. There is the Bauhaus store located in Lokstedt which basically is a renovated tram depot. One unit is displayed there in the center of the store. Then there is the tram museum at the Schönberger Strand where I believe two units are kept alive. They also have a little track loop where they test and demonstrate the their trams.
@@R1998U schönberger strand has more than two Hamburg Trams. 656 Type Z1 from 1894 2734 Type Z2u from 1926 2970 Type V3 from 1937 3006 Type V2 from 1928 3361 Type V7E from 1957 3644 Type V6E from 1952 3999 Type LWE (based on V6, Drivingschool) from 1956 4 Type W II (Shunter) from 1929 Trailer: 252 Goods wagon from 1944 1900 Flatbed from 1946 93 Summer Trailer / horse tram (replica) 310 Z1B from 1902 540 Z1B (body only) from 1907 1306 V2B from 1928 1786 Z2bu from 1926 1981 V5B from1941 4391 V7B from 1957 4683 V6B from 1952
My hometown Reutlingen (Baden Württemberg) sadly has the same problem. We are working on a new Stadtbahn system though, it will just take a massiv amount of time
the line to Hafencity isn't even that bad, it was actually a big catalyst to building this area in this first place which 15 years ago was an almost complete wasteland, kinda like Docklands in London but the worst offender is probably the section on the U2 between Niendorf Markt and Niendorf Nord, the U-Bahn runs under a street that is a tiny residential street so much so that I think a bendy bus or a tram (which it was, until 1978) between these stations would've still reached the same capacity. like, Joachim-Mähl-Straße and Schippelsweg are absolutely dead through 90% of the day, everyone just gets off at the high street in Niendorf, the line also was completed in 1991 so it feels just like a massive waste of money
Should have shown the Überseering, a "nice" display of the "Autogerechte Stadt" city planning in Hamburg. Everything for cars, pedestrians forced to walk absurd detours over stairs and pedestrian bridges. Of coruse you will notice various desire paths on the grass, people refuse to walk routes somebody intended for them, they cross the wide 6 lane road wherever they want and rightly so. I did it too when there. But it is such an ugly location to work at, espcially since I used public transit to move around.
Wait. Kiel is getting trams? Why did I not hear of that while living there in September? Also, what kind of luck is this, - moved to Tallinn a decade before Rail Baltica was completed - moved to Kiel ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ before they got a tram - moved to Rendsburg just when bus strikes started next up the new Coradia Max for Lower Saxony are going to be delayed again just in time for me to move to Emden.
Tbh, old style trams in mixed traffic are a bad idea. Maybe even worse than busses. There's a good reason modern trams are so different than their streetcar predecessors. Of course a gradual separation would have been the best idea.
Die frage ist nur welche tramlinen gebaut werden könnten, ich habe das gefühl hamburg plant überall eine s oder u bahn wo eine tram sinn machen würde. Leider ist halt alles nur planung wie u4 richtung süden oder s bahn nach osdorfer born usw.
Funfact: Despite the Renaissance of the Tram having led to a rapid Expansion of Tram Networks and no Shutting down of Trams anymore, my Home City Saarbrücken is actually the only City in Germany to have built a new Tram from Scratch that isn't an Expansion of an already existing Network.
@@nick3805 you're trying to Paint it in a particular light but I reckon it is a bit dishonest because it would only be really true if each of those systems I mentioned were through-running into the core of the other systems and used the other systems stabling and maintenance facilities, shared crews and staff and so on all under the same banner. But yes, physicality 100% separate I think you are right.
I work at the Hamburger Hochbahn, and we still have some of the infrastructure of the Straßenbahn. Alltough because of historical means, it could still be partially be used. I also believe, we still have a frw wagons.
Neumünster Süd. Beste Station 😂 Kannst Umsteigen von AKN nach Oldesloe oder bis zum Hbf fahren. Plus eine Abstellung und Waschhalle nebenann. Spaß bei seite NMS Süd ist ne ekelhafte Station, Musste von 2019 bis 2022 dort mit der AKN nach Moorbekhalle zur BBZ Norderstedt fahren. Irgendwie hat sie einen Gruseligen vibe. Eine echt Schöne Station die ich empfehelen kann ist Rendsburg mit Ausblick auf die Hochbrücke. Meine Lieblingstation auf meiner Strecke ist Plön, beim Sonnenaufgang neben den Plöner see fahren ist traumhaft, vorallem von ganz vorne. 🥰
Ah, die eine Station, durch die ich damals mit der AKN durchgefahren bin, als ich in meiner Zeit beim Bund ein paar Wochen auf der Fahrschule in der Kaserne in Boostedt war. (Meine eigentliche Einheit war in Rendsburg, vor dem Umsteigen in Neumünster fuhr ich daher eine Station weiter als sonst auf der Strecke von Husum aus.)
Leipzig would be so fucked without a Tram... And last time i was in Hamburg a couple years ago... uggh.... It so desperatly needs Trams to repalce the BRTish bus lines.
Oh god i used to commute from Neumünster Süd up until last year... Honestly every station in Neumünster sucks... Ok, the entirety of Neumünster sucks, but thats besides the Point. Very good Video. Informative, yet nicely short.
Neumünster is another one for my list of German cities that should have a tram network and remove more cars from the city centre. The area near the main station has so many cars it feels claustrophobic
@TFTSB It would already be great if the busses in the city would start running more frequently... having 40 minute intervals on a saturday with long connection times to the regional trains is just bad
And Wiesbaden people don't want one sadly, they just stick to their bus system. Also Wiesbaden has like the worst traffic compared to other cities of its size, driving in Wiesbaden is HELL either if you're car driver or by bike
this video feels like it was tailor-made for me lol, i've been visiting hamburg more frequently in the last couple of months and the lack of trams has been really frustrating, sure the buses are super frequent in many places, but they can be super unreliable because of traffic. also happy to see the bremen tram system getting some love. i think it's very interesting how BSAG is handling the unique challenges of 1) bremen having no money, 2) the ground that bremen is built on being super soft and sandy, making tunnels extremely unviable, and 3) all of bremen's bridges over the river weser being bombed in ww2, meaning that even today there are very few bridges. i would love to see a video on bremen's tram system at some point :) (also let's not mention that, like in many parts of germany, all of bremen's bridges are in desperate need of repairs, with one of the 2 bridges used by the trams closing literally today and it will not be reopened any time soon, which is a huge blow to the transit network 🥲) edit: how tf did my side note get twice as long as my actual comment
I'd love to cover Bremen in an upcoming video. That's one of my favourite cities, period - and they have quite a history with a whole planned out cancelled U-bahn Netz!
What if the real #Tramburg was the friends we made along the way?
Hamburger Hochbahn actually started tendering feasibility studies for a Stadtbahn system like four weeks ago 👀
Just worried they built a tram as an extension for the U4 towards Harburg. Really that part of town needs both systems.
@@MrMakabarThe U4 (or the U-Bahn in Hamburg for that matter) already runs on third rail (instead of overhead wires), meaning that crossing streets is prohibited (for safety reasons ofc), meaning that they have to change the entire line with overhead wire tech, which is ridiculously expensive to do so, especially since the tunnels are too small for the overhead wires to fit in.
@@dinohermann1887 I am talking about a new tram line starting at Moldauhafen and going to Harburg. That according to MoPo is being looked into by the Hochbahn as an alternative to an extension of the U4.
However the offical tender does not mention the location of a new tram line, so might not happen.
@@MrMakabar It‘s just a rumor. Where should the tram line start? And where is space for a tram depot?
Koblenz also considers an S-Bahn (but only in the Real area...)
Surprising how Munich didn't loose its trams, considering the car-centric nature of the city and its economy.
Munich had the luck, that their political ideas always come 20 years later than in the rest of Germany. So the crazyness of getting rid of the tram lines there only came up in the 1980s. And then the greens were already powerful and stopped it in the Stadtrat. Until the 1990s the Tram network then was mostly neglegted, until the SPD-Greens coalitions decided that it's not logical to pay billions for new ubahn lines in the center, when you already have the exact route covered by tram lines.
@@acmenipponair that's incorrect. Tramway closures also started in Munich by the 1960s, it was just a much slower process as the city focused more on replacing the tram by new U-Bahn lines over the years rather than closing it for the sake of closing like Hamburg did. It was the realization in the 1990s that there are lots of routes where trams still make sense, especially those lines that were not replaced by any U-Bahn line whatsoever. As for the greens... it was not a thing of logic that they blocked U-Bahn proposals, they were just docmatically anti U-Bahn. Thankfully the U-Bahn plans are back on track after basically nothing happened for years.
Car-centrism really is somewhat of a national phenomenon. Except for the manufacturing plants I feel like Hamburg might actually be more car-centric than Munich, maybe even thanks to the lack of trams. However, one has to keep in mind that by the time Munich opened their first U-Bahn line, Hamburg's network was almost identical to what we have today, except for U4 and the northernmost part of U1 towards Norderstedt. Considering the fact that they'd basically grown the network by more than 50% in less than a decade, I can totally see why, back in the day, nobody was willing to spend money on upgrading the trams. Totally different story in Munich: They were still considering a Stadtbahn akin to Frankfurt until 1964 and thus even purchased new tram rolling stock. The uncertainty about what kind of mass transit system it was going to be essentially lead to a tram modernization effort which helped keeping them alive during the transition to U-Bahn, and political change secured their long-term survival. Hamburgs trams however were horribly outdated by the 1960s with no immediate capacity advantage over a regular bus (they still operated with trolley poles until 1978!) and thus, according to the Zeitgeist, getting rid of them before a proper replacement was constructed still seemed like the more reasonable decision. The alternative would have required major investments in rolling stock and infrastructure, but without a long-term strategy nobody was willing to pay for this. Obviously, with the benefit of hindsight, it would have been nice had they kept the trams around. But I think it's less local car culture/politics and more so the existence of a functioning pre-war U-Bahn system that led to the tram's demise. Look no further than Berlin.
@@ft4709 West Berlin made a very conscious decision to build a stack more U-Bahn lines than Hamburg did though, and had even more plans, plus they had a much better S-Bahn system though that became unpopular and was snubbed due to being operated by the East. The decision to close the trams in West Berlin also feels entirely political like trying to wave it in the socialist East's faces, whereas the decision in Hamburg was much more a city development idea. And whereas West Berlin largely set about remodelling itself, Hamburg appears to have made a very conscious decision to move away from the old very concentrated development of streets for workers near the harbour with alot more suburbanisation. Being on a massive river (Elbe) must have played a role too whilst West Berlin had a much less significant body of water to deal with for its congestion issues.
I always find funny how people in Germany refer to Munich as car centric. I am Australian and I lived in Munich for one year, and from my Australian perspective Munich was extremely hostile to car drivers. Emissions zones, lots of pedestrian only spaces, no freeways in the city, narrow streets, parked cars sticking out into the lane of travel, so many other things. I found it extremely not friendly for drivers.
3:03 Thun technically also used to hav a tram line. But they thought busses were more convenient. I mean many cities in Switzerland used to have trams, but now don't have. honestly kinda sad.
This makes me the big sad
0:25 that's not necessarily true. In Karlsruhe for example, it is, trams switch from their own network to the mainline railway network. But Stuttgart's Stadtbahn for example only ever runs on its own tracks, and even if they're fully grade separated, they are officially still tram tracks, not rail lines. The difference is that Stuttgart always runs according to the BOStrab, the rules for trams, whereas Karlsruhe switches from BOStrab rules to EBO rules for mainline railways.
What I'm saying is, "Stadtbahn" is a loosely defined term that means something slightly different in basically every German city that has one. But the difference between Straßenbahn and Stadtbahn is not that Stadtbahnen run on "standard rail lines", as said in the video. The most important difference is the amount of separation from other traffic, which mostly is achieved without switching to mainline rail operation.
And just to name another important difference, trams mostly have low floors these days to allow for boarding from the sidewalk, whereas Stadtbahn systems are mostly high floor for a more metro like boarding process, with the exception of like half of Düsseldorf's system, which has low floor Stadtbahn trains and it's really weird.
Sorry for this nitpick on a thing that isn't even that important for the point of the video, but I couldn't stop myself.
No no, a well warranted nitpick on a point I perhaps oversimplified too much here
Here in Dresden they have started calling our tram system a stadtbahn now, even though the tram system here is *VERY MUCH* a classic tram system in almost every way other than having fairly good accessibility and modern vehicles. I am still trying to work out why, only real explanation I can come up with is "vibes" - Stadtbahn sounds schick, sleek, modern, fast, more reliable, more comfortable for the Pendler, like we are a real city. Perhaps some jealousy that Leipzig now has its city S-Bahn tunnel? Even though our trains have had through-running since before Leipzig even started thinking about building a city tunnel for its two terminal train stations?
@@BigBlueMan118 Sometimes it's all in the marketing haha
@@TFTSB Id much rather they focus on actually making things better for the users and not letting our bridges fall into the Elbe would be great! People dont really care that much about marketing a spin in my experiences they care about efficiency, speed, reliability, comfort etc, yes calling it a Stadtbahn makes some of these more obvious but actually doing them and improving them is worth more, plus we have some big gaps in coverage even though its a great network even compared to the very best.
'Stadtbahn more or less an update Konzept of the the Staßenbahn (that sometimes can run underground (most often in the city center).
Still only some section sometimes the majority of the tramway is on its own right of way or grade sperated..
Yes! Hamburg should bring back the Straßenbahn! I was 17 and very sad when I rode the last Straßenbahn on October 1, 1978. 😢
Many German Cities, especially smaller ones, had trams
There are still some ideas of bringing them back, sadly the one in Regensburg failed.
Sometimes I think aboit how even Stade had an experiment with a Stadtbahn. But that's a video for another time ;)
@@TFTSB Yeah, public transport was way more back then but then the car wave happened. Nowadays, cars are so inefficient but people still have the image of old rusty trams and old rusty Schienenbusse when they think about trains and trams.
@@SchwarzeSonne130for them cars represent total freedom and independence, ofc they won‘t abandon it (easily) for public transport.
@@dinohermann1887 sadly :/
Dont forget before the busbeschleunigungsprogramm the buses were faster than afterwards
Oh good point! I also wish I mentioned the long ass XXL buses the used to run near Dammtor
@@TFTSB Always wondered, what would happen, if some driver enters a dead end street or something. I don't think you can reverse them.
I was staying in Hamburg for ~6 months, with a daily commute from Rahlstedt - Wandsbek Markt (nearest U-Bahn) ... with my bike driving along the road I'd regularly overtake several(!) buses of the same line, always staying still in the rush hour :D
Having spent the past 15 years working in an office on the Stresemannstrasse, that would be soooo much improved by putting the tram back in. But I think the one thing that needs to be done first is to complete an Autobahn-Ring (ish), by improving the north-side connection between the A7 and the A1 (leading the A24). Too many lorries think they need to drive straight through the City rather than drive south through the Tunnel to the Horster Dreieck.
They didn't just advertise buses as the replacements for trams, but also the extensions of the U-Bahn and S-Bahn systems. Of course, while some extensions of those systems actually happened, they covered much less than what the tram system had previously covered.
True but it is absolute Wahnsinn to shut bits of the tram system down before you have opened the new sections of U-Bahn and seen how it impacts the network. Frankfurt and Munich managed this significantly better using two different tech (Munich went with proper U-Bahn, Frankfurt went with the "Stadtbahn" upgrade option. Still, the original U4 plan from the 1970s before the trams were ripped up would have made quite a significant bit of difference, but it didn't do anything to relieve the northern suburbs which never should have lost their tram connection.
Hamburg does have a really nice bus system from the time i visited, but i feel what people don't realise when they say "we don't need trams, we already have a good bus network" is they forget that ppl who are not able-bodied EXIST, sure I can use buses quick and easy but like do people forget when their bus has to wait at a stop for way too long because the driver has to help someone in a wheelchair on? or a mum getting a pram with their kids on? when you see a tram network with level boarding, and how quick EVERYONE can hop on and off with ease you really cannot go back (the tram network in london, croydon, despite its issues, is HIGHLY used by disabled people and parents in the local area, i see far more on the trams than i see on even the busiest bus routes)
This! Absolutely this!
Thanks for the video! Unfortunately the endcard seems to have two recommended videos, of which the left one is unavailable - can you take a look at that, please?
My grandparents moved to Bramfeld in the 60s due to the promised subway station. But nothing happened, and then the tram disappeared, too. 60 years later (my grandfather has died in the meantime) there is finally work starting for a subway there.
Oh odd. I'll look into that
I would be interested in a line from Tonndorf to Spadenland. They should build a new bridge over the S-Bahn for it. (where there used to be a railway crossing long time ago)
love this video. visited hamburg in 2017 but yea makes sense for hamburg to have a tram.
Thank you so much!
Not only: "Why do you build a complete section of the Ubahn with no connection to the Elbphilharmonie..." A Stop at Baumwall would have brought a good connection to the U3 - instead of having to walk through a long tunnel in Jungfernstieg and then using STAIRS to get to the station... God forbit that in Hamburg people with disabilities get a good transit, they might start to use the ÖPNV...
The U4 is a full story of missed potential. At least the stations are gorgeous!
The U4 had to be built underground where it runs. Extending or branching off of U3 and run on a bridge would have collided with existing buildings, and running around them outside to the river requires heavy impact protection against ships.
Running underground means to go very deep, as there are foundations for flood protection to be crossed, and the result would have been massive cost for a station that suffers from deep escalators (like Messehallen) and at the same time only half the coverage area around the stop, as the other half is river.
Connecting to U3 also suffers from the reduced train length, because that line serves the two remaining short stations in the network, Sierichstrasse and Mönckebergstraße.
So as much as it would be nice to have a connection there, or a station, or anything, it wasn't feasible, despite being considered in the planning phase.
Stadtbahn is the best of both worlds..
Subway or tram depending on need and location!Love the system we have here in Hannover.
Only thing missing is a Ringbahn!
I love the Hannover Stadtbahn! Your trains always look so cool to me!
@@TFTSB There will be new ones arriving next year
ruclips.net/video/f2PfFyyJbbI/видео.html&ab_channel=%C3%9CSTRAHannoverscheVerkehrsbetriebeAktiengesellschaft
Yep they've even done it some American and Canadian cities like Edmonton, Philadelphia, Seattle, San Diego and a few others
I like separate tram and subway networks, like in Munich or Oslo. Can simply build 2 systems which are interconnected, but each one of them is set up entirely different. Thus subway trains can be spec'd way longer than the trams ...
@@EnjoyFirefighting Having 2 systems is incredibly expensive and for most places simply not a realistic option
ripping out trams for buses and attempting to recover the lost capacity with "BRT" projects... HMMMMMM I've seen this movie before...
also yes those pink glowing cubes are amazing, it's giving crimson forest
It's a tale as old as time, and as difficult as, uh, replacing BRT with high capacity trams lol
MARTA’s barely trying to expand its transportation network and there are proposals to put in BRT lines in major Atlanta corridors.
I expect it to turn out like MBTA’s Silver Line (whole story about that…)
At least turning a BRT line into a tram line looks easier than building a tram where no dedicated transit infrastructure is available, because the space you're going to use is already being used for transit, so you don't have to fight carbrains.
Automated metros it is
@@DiamondKingStudiosnothing will be as bad as Boston silver line
Maybe it makes sense to start restoring Tramburger from the south side of Elbe, where U-Bahn just doesn't exist at all? Like routes 42 and 13 ?
That would be lovely. Goodness those areas especially would benefit
Love the channel what a fantastic niche interest
Thank you so much!
Hamburg dachte in den Siebzigern Gelenkbusse wären der letzte Schrei und hat sich von allen Straßenbahnlinien getrennt.
*ne, die dachten der motorisierte Individualverkehr (MIV) wäre der letzte Schrei gewesen, wie in den Vereinigten Staaten.
Haben zwar die fast doppelte Kapazität wie normale Buslinien aber nur gut die Hälfte einer Straßenbahn welche teils auch schneller ist und ebenerdig zu erreichen ist.
You pointed out the Horner Geest extention. When i look at the this project i always ask my self why they don´t extend the line to Jenfeld and Barsbüttel. Do you know a reason for that? Yes the S4 is beeing build, but its not near Jenfeld
Unfortunately not, though I'd imagine it's something to do with funding, NIMBYs, or both
Because Horner Geest is closer to Horner Rennbahn. It's a cheap and relatively simple two station extension. Once it is completed there will without a doubt be considerations of further extending the U4 to Jenfeld. In the same manner, the U4 is being gradually extended southwards, first with two stations in the Hafencity, then Elbbrücken, now Grasbrook and in the future Northern Wilhelmsburg.
Barsbüttel will never get a subway over Jenfeld. It's not part of Hamburg and not a densely populated area.
@@bojstojsa7574 that makes sence thanks
Can't wait for a video on the Kiel Stadtbahn project ✨
I can't wait to make it!
I've used bus line 5 quite a bit on my last visits to Hamburg. As far as I can tell, turning this into a tram line between Dammtor and Niendorf Markt wouldn't be that complicated. This entire setion is a BRT line on its own lanes already with proper platforms, some even way too long for buses as far as I could tell. The entire thing basically looks like a good tramline without trams.
Then the buses just continue on a pretty normal road all the way to Burgwedel, you can either turn this into a local bus route (most people change at Niendorf Markt anyway, so not having a through service there wouldn't be a disaster) or you could make a really bold move and just continue it along where the bus runs now. The main issue I see with this is that going to Niendorf Markt and back to the main stroad is a bit more difficult and annoying with a tram than with a bus. I wonder how this was done back when the tram (line 2 according to the map in the video) was still running. After all, it followed this exact route, terminating somewhere in the centre of Schnelsen, and it did serve Niendorf Marktplatz somehow.
With the U5, there will be rapid transit on most of this corridor (till Behrmannsplatz) so a tram would not be needed. But there could be a tram from Schnelsen via Niendorf Markt to Behrmannplatz as a feeder for the U5.
There were two turn loops, one at Niendorf Markt, where the track branched off and went through a portal in a building. Not visible on Google Maps, and as this is a pedestrian zone today, no Streetview either, I suppose.
The terminal station in Schnelsen today is a market place, and used for parking cars the rest of the week.
I totally see all your points and would Hamburg not be in Germany but a more reasonable (at least regarding transit) country like France or Spain, Hamburg would probably get the U5 faster + an U6 + some interconnecting Trams like Lyon or Marseille do. (The Hochbahn-network is to be fair already way bigger than the two slightly smaller french towns I mentioned) But regarding that it is in Germany where (apart from Munich or Berlin) it is always tram OR metro and this toxic discussion has been held for decades I would try to lobby for 1990es Madrid style Metro Plans or plans like Grand Paris Express to efficiently expand the S- and U-Bahn and not opening up the tram-pandora-box. But I sadly believe that the car infested politics in Germany are by this point too corrupt to efficiently plan and build any public infrastructure without exploding costs, some CDU- or SPD-buddy firms getting insanely rich along the way and the public not getting much (or nothing) at the end...
Hey, a girl can dream
@@TFTSB of course! please dream on and make more videos! ;) (also what else is there to do in Stade then to dream ;P)
Surprisingly, actually, there's been a pitch for a tram line across the region here! Which I'd love to cover as an excuse to cover the Stade Stadtbahn tests that were orchestrated by a group of students back in the 90s!
Look at London: Wimbledon to Waddon Marsh and Addiscombe to Elmers End are former rail lines converted to tram.
I don't say West Croydon as it contradicts the imagination.
I remember Germany has major train builders (Siemens, Bombardier etc.) too & was thinking how much power they have to influence politics there too
And instead of trams they have the M2 bus lines, which at some point did double-articulated buses every 90 seconds… and they were still crammed.
8:20 the Elbphillamonie is positioned not that horribly for it, but crossing that bridge across the dockbay on the way to the nearest station was horrendous (i have vertigo :3)
By the way, one mistake: Neumünster Süd is not part of the USAR plan anymore, because the HVV ends in Boostedt (as the Kreis Neumünster doesn't want to be part of the HVV)
True! But it is part of the A2 still, hence the technicality
Don't say "Kreis", it's a district free town, surrounded by Plön (PLÖ), Segeberg (SE) and Rendsburg-Eckernförde (RD).
By the way, the Neumünster broadcasting station is located in Steinburg (IZ).
@@TFTSB Until the 90s, it even didn't have a number. Simply AKN. Those times, you had to change trains at Kaltenkirchen.
I love your channel great job
Thank you tons!
If you wanna know more about public transport or especially plans for a new tram network in Hamburg leave me a mail address where I can send you some stuff. Oh and I live also in Stade too, so I hate the new S5 as well 😬
Absolutely! I actually have an official email - jamie@stuffweplay.com
I can drive the old Hamburg Trams 👉👈
Oh hi 🥺👉👈
There are in fact a few places to discover Hamburg‘s old street cars. There is the Bauhaus store located in Lokstedt which basically is a renovated tram depot. One unit is displayed there in the center of the store. Then there is the tram museum at the Schönberger Strand where I believe two units are kept alive. They also have a little track loop where they test and demonstrate the their trams.
@@R1998U schönberger strand has more than two Hamburg Trams.
656 Type Z1 from 1894
2734 Type Z2u from 1926
2970 Type V3 from 1937
3006 Type V2 from 1928
3361 Type V7E from 1957
3644 Type V6E from 1952
3999 Type LWE (based on V6, Drivingschool) from 1956
4 Type W II (Shunter) from 1929
Trailer:
252 Goods wagon from 1944
1900 Flatbed from 1946
93 Summer Trailer / horse tram (replica)
310 Z1B from 1902
540 Z1B (body only) from 1907
1306 V2B from 1928
1786 Z2bu from 1926
1981 V5B from1941
4391 V7B from 1957
4683 V6B from 1952
@@hammi9573 Wow, that is indeed a lot more than I saw when I was there. Glad they saved them!
My hometown Reutlingen (Baden Württemberg) sadly has the same problem. We are working on a new Stadtbahn system though, it will just take a massiv amount of time
I'd love to try out y'alls Stadtbahn when the first bit opens
the line to Hafencity isn't even that bad, it was actually a big catalyst to building this area in this first place which 15 years ago was an almost complete wasteland, kinda like Docklands in London but the worst offender is probably the section on the U2 between Niendorf Markt and Niendorf Nord, the U-Bahn runs under a street that is a tiny residential street so much so that I think a bendy bus or a tram (which it was, until 1978) between these stations would've still reached the same capacity. like, Joachim-Mähl-Straße and Schippelsweg are absolutely dead through 90% of the day, everyone just gets off at the high street in Niendorf, the line also was completed in 1991 so it feels just like a massive waste of money
Lol yesterday i had a dream of Hamburg and why they don't have trams. And now tris video is in my suggestion
Maybe it was meant to be lol
@DominoLarry It's scary - as if Google could read your dreams👹
More Videos Please, Now! :D
Thank you for your nice Vids :)
More in the works! Also shorts at least 4x a week
Should have shown the Überseering, a "nice" display of the "Autogerechte Stadt" city planning in Hamburg. Everything for cars, pedestrians forced to walk absurd detours over stairs and pedestrian bridges. Of coruse you will notice various desire paths on the grass, people refuse to walk routes somebody intended for them, they cross the wide 6 lane road wherever they want and rightly so. I did it too when there. But it is such an ugly location to work at, espcially since I used public transit to move around.
This is actually another video I'm wanting to do!
Wait. Kiel is getting trams? Why did I not hear of that while living there in September?
Also, what kind of luck is this,
- moved to Tallinn a decade before Rail Baltica was completed
- moved to Kiel ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ before they got a tram
- moved to Rendsburg just when bus strikes started
next up the new Coradia Max for Lower Saxony are going to be delayed again just in time for me to move to Emden.
Yup! Kiel is getting not only a Stadtbahn network, but an S-Bahn network as well!
Tbh, old style trams in mixed traffic are a bad idea. Maybe even worse than busses. There's a good reason modern trams are so different than their streetcar predecessors.
Of course a gradual separation would have been the best idea.
I think a majority grade separation except where 110% absolutely not possible is the way to go!
You're right, let's bring back the trams. Start with line number 5. Use large 2,65m wide wagons.
Which one was the tram line 5? Or do you mean the current bus line 5 which used to be the tram line 2?
@roerd the bus 5
Die frage ist nur welche tramlinen gebaut werden könnten, ich habe das gefühl hamburg plant überall eine s oder u bahn wo eine tram sinn machen würde. Leider ist halt alles nur planung wie u4 richtung süden oder s bahn nach osdorfer born usw.
Zum Beispiel auf dem Ring 2 oder der B431 als Ersatz der 1 und abschnittsweise der 2 sowie der Linien 13 und 14.
Funfact: Despite the Renaissance of the Tram having led to a rapid Expansion of Tram Networks and no Shutting down of Trams anymore, my Home City Saarbrücken is actually the only City in Germany to have built a new Tram from Scratch that isn't an Expansion of an already existing Network.
Oberhausen, Heilbronn, Kehl and Weil am Rhein all built new lines that connected with existing systems.
@BigBlueMan118 which makes those an Expansion of an already existent Network.
@@nick3805 you're trying to Paint it in a particular light but I reckon it is a bit dishonest because it would only be really true if each of those systems I mentioned were through-running into the core of the other systems and used the other systems stabling and maintenance facilities, shared crews and staff and so on all under the same banner. But yes, physicality 100% separate I think you are right.
0:33 well that was unexpected
I work at the Hamburger Hochbahn, and we still have some of the infrastructure of the Straßenbahn. Alltough because of historical means, it could still be partially be used.
I also believe, we still have a frw wagons.
Wait wha, y'all still have a few wagens at the Hochbahn? I had no idea!
Neumünster Süd. Beste Station 😂 Kannst Umsteigen von AKN nach Oldesloe oder bis zum Hbf fahren. Plus eine Abstellung und Waschhalle nebenann.
Spaß bei seite NMS Süd ist ne ekelhafte Station, Musste von 2019 bis 2022 dort mit der AKN nach Moorbekhalle zur BBZ Norderstedt fahren. Irgendwie hat sie einen Gruseligen vibe. Eine echt Schöne Station die ich empfehelen kann ist Rendsburg mit Ausblick auf die Hochbrücke.
Meine Lieblingstation auf meiner Strecke ist Plön, beim Sonnenaufgang neben den Plöner see fahren ist traumhaft, vorallem von ganz vorne. 🥰
Ah, die eine Station, durch die ich damals mit der AKN durchgefahren bin, als ich in meiner Zeit beim Bund ein paar Wochen auf der Fahrschule in der Kaserne in Boostedt war. (Meine eigentliche Einheit war in Rendsburg, vor dem Umsteigen in Neumünster fuhr ich daher eine Station weiter als sonst auf der Strecke von Husum aus.)
Leipzig would be so fucked without a Tram...
And last time i was in Hamburg a couple years ago... uggh.... It so desperatly needs Trams to repalce the BRTish bus lines.
Oh god i used to commute from Neumünster Süd up until last year... Honestly every station in Neumünster sucks... Ok, the entirety of Neumünster sucks, but thats besides the Point. Very good Video. Informative, yet nicely short.
Neumünster is another one for my list of German cities that should have a tram network and remove more cars from the city centre. The area near the main station has so many cars it feels claustrophobic
@TFTSB It would already be great if the busses in the city would start running more frequently... having 40 minute intervals on a saturday with long connection times to the regional trains is just bad
And Wiesbaden has no trams too
And Wiesbaden people don't want one sadly, they just stick to their bus system. Also Wiesbaden has like the worst traffic compared to other cities of its size, driving in Wiesbaden is HELL either if you're car driver or by bike
Nice
Regensburg?
#tramwestberlin
I'd love that
[Moin Bremen]
Too funny- Niedersachsener
Thank you for appreciating my humour haha
#tramburg
#Tramburg
even keel, lol
Your mistake was living in Hamburg, Germany. Cars are ∞
Ich wohne eigentlich in Stade, aber go off lol
In Hamburg you don't have to use cars, you can get to a lot of places without owning a car, cars are just a waste of money
Was
Was?
i dont wont trams in hamburg
And why is that?
Why not?
this video feels like it was tailor-made for me lol, i've been visiting hamburg more frequently in the last couple of months and the lack of trams has been really frustrating, sure the buses are super frequent in many places, but they can be super unreliable because of traffic.
also happy to see the bremen tram system getting some love. i think it's very interesting how BSAG is handling the unique challenges of 1) bremen having no money, 2) the ground that bremen is built on being super soft and sandy, making tunnels extremely unviable, and 3) all of bremen's bridges over the river weser being bombed in ww2, meaning that even today there are very few bridges. i would love to see a video on bremen's tram system at some point :)
(also let's not mention that, like in many parts of germany, all of bremen's bridges are in desperate need of repairs, with one of the 2 bridges used by the trams closing literally today and it will not be reopened any time soon, which is a huge blow to the transit network 🥲)
edit: how tf did my side note get twice as long as my actual comment
I'd love to cover Bremen in an upcoming video. That's one of my favourite cities, period - and they have quite a history with a whole planned out cancelled U-bahn Netz!
@@TFTSB hannover had exactly the same plans. They wanted to switch from the tram to the underground. Now there is a good light rail system there