Trams in Heidelberg

The Heidelberg tramway network (German: Straßenbahnnetz Heidelberg) is a network of tramways forming an important element of the public transport system in Heidelberg, a city in the federal state of Baden-Württemberg, Germany.

Heidelberg tramway network
A tram on line 23 crosses the Theodor-Heuss-Brücke, 2014.
Operation
Locale	Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany
Operator	Rhein-Neckar-Verkehr
Horsecar era: 1885 (1885)–1901 (1901) Status Superseded Track gauge 1,000 mm (3 ft 3+3⁄8 in) metre gauge Propulsion system Horses
Electric tram era: since 1901 (1901) Status Operational Lines 6 Track gauge 1,000 mm (3 ft 3+3⁄8 in) Propulsion system Electricity Electrification 750 V DC Heidelberg tramway network. Website Rhein-Neckar-Verkehr (in German)

Opened in 1885, the first electric tram ran in 1901. The network has been operated since 2009 by Rhein-Neckar-Verkehr (RNV) within the Verkehrsverbund Rhein-Neckar (VRN). The network includes line 5 of the Mannheim/Ludwigshafen tram system, which is connected with Heidelberg’s tram system via the Upper Rhine Railway Company (Oberrheinische Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft, OEG).

Lines

As of 2013^[update], the Heidelberg tramway network had the following lines:

Line	Route
5	Weinheim – Mannheim – Heidelberg – Weinheim: (OEG) Weinheim – Viernheim – Käfertal – Mannheim – Edingen – Wieblingen – Hauptbahnhof – Bismarckplatz – Neuenheim – Handschuhsheim – Dossenheim - Schriesheim – Weinheim
21	Bismarckplatz – Hauptbahnhof – Technologiepark – Hans-Thoma-Platz: Bismarckplatz – Adenauerplatz – Poststraße – Stadtbücherei – Stadtwerke – Hauptbahnhof – Betriebshof – Jahnstraße – Bunsengymnasium – Technologiepark – Heiligenbergschule – Hans-Thoma-Platz → no evening service, Mon–Fri only
22	Bismarckplatz – Bergheimer Straße – Pfaffengrund – Eppelheim: Bismarckplatz – Seegarten – Stadtbücherei – Ringstraße – Montpellierbrücke – Hauptbahnhof Süd – Gadamerplatz – Eppelheimer Terrasse – Henkel-Teroson-Straße – Marktstraße – Kranichweg/Stotz - Jakobsgasse - Eppelheim Rathaus - Kirchheimer Straße
23	Handschuhsheim – Neuenheim – Bismarckplatz – Weststadt – Rohrbach – Leimen: Burgstraße – Biethsstraße – Hans-Thoma-Platz – Kapellenweg – Blumenthalstraße – Kußmaulstraße – Brückenstraße – Bismarckplatz – Adenauerplatz – Poststraße – Stadtbücherei – Römerkreis Süd – Christuskirche – S-Bahnhof Weststadt/Südstadt – Bergfriedhof – Bethanien-Krankenhaus – Rheinstraße – Markscheide – Eichendorffplatz – Rohrbach Markt – Ortenauer Straße – Freiburger Straße – Rohrbach Süd – Zementwerk – Johannes-Reidel-Straße – Georgi-Marktplatz – Kurpfalz-Centrum – Moltkestraße – Leimen Friedhof → After 21:00, departs from Bismarckplatz; evening and early morning weekend services towards Handschuhsheim are served by line 5
24	(Schriesheim –) Handschuhsheim – Technologiepark – Hauptbahnhof – Weststadt – Rohrbach Süd: (Schriesheim Bahnhof – Schriesheim Süd – Dossenheim Nord – Dossenheim Bahnhof – Dossenheim Süd –) Burgstraße – Biethsstraße – Hans-Thoma-Platz – Heiligenbergschule – Technologiepark – Bunsengymnasium – Jahnstraße – Betriebshof – Hauptbahnhof – Stadtwerke – Römerkreis Süd – Christuskirche – S-Bahnhof Weststadt/Südstadt – Bergfriedhof – Bethanien-Krankenhaus – Rheinstraße – Markscheide – Eichendorffplatz – Rohrbach Markt – Ortenauer Straße – Freiburger Straße – Rohrbach Süd → Serving Schriesheim only weekdays in the rushhour every 20 minutes (10 times a day)
26	Burgstraße – Bismarckplatz –Bahnstadt – Messplatz – Kirchheim: Burgstraße – Biethsstraße – Hans-Thoma-Platz –Kapellenweg – Blumenthalstraße – Kußmaulstraße – Brückenstraße – Bismarckplatz – Altes Hallenbad – Campus Bergheim – Volkshochschule – Betriebshof – Czernybrücke – Gadamerplatz – Hauptbahnhof Süd – Rudolf-Diesel-Straße – Messplatz – Ilse-Krall-Straße – Albert-Fritz-Straße – Odenwaldstraße – Kirchheim Rathaus – Kirchheim Friedhof

Current fleet

The current fleet of RNV trams at operating in Heidelberg currently consists of:

• 16 eight-axle Rhine-Neckar Variobahns from Bombardier, built in 2002 and 2003 (numbers 3273 to 3280 without energy storage), as well as 2009 and 2010 (numbers 3281 to 3288 with energy storage)
• 10 six-axle Rhine-Neckar Variobahns from Bombardier, built between 2005 and 2006 (numbers 4133–4138 and 4140–4142 without energy storage) and 2009 (number 4143 with energy storage)

Since 2024/2025, RNV has been operating the newly built Rhein-Neckar Tram 2020 on several routes within the city, as well as on the line 5 circulator. This has allowed for the retirement of many remaining Düwag vehicles in the city, which have been experiencing increased technical difficulties in regular service.

History

Early suburban trains

In 1883, the Leferenz brothers received a concession for a local railway from Heidelberg to Schriesheim, extending to Weinheim, but they were unable to realize the project for financial reasons. In 1887, they sold the concession to Herrmann Bachstein, who had already received the concession for the Mannheim–Weinheim line in 1886. Bachstein, opened this line in the same year. In 1890, the Weinheim–Heidelberg line followed, running along the Bergstrasse (Mountain Road) via Leutershausen, Schriesheim, Dossenheim, and Handschuhsheim.

The Mannheim–Heidelberg line via Wieblingen, Edingen, and Neckarhausen was completed in 1891. In 1897, the railway was incorporated into the South German Railway Company (SEG) and in 1911 became the Upper Rhine Railway Company.

Horse-drawn Trams

The history of inner-city local transport in Heidelberg began in 1871. Concession applications for the construction of a horse-drawn tram were submitted, but all of them were initially rejected. Even when the horse-drawn tram was opened in neighboring Mannheim in 1878, the residents of Heidelberg were still skeptical. It was not until 1883 that a concession for a horse-drawn tram was granted, albeit subject to conditions.^[1] In March 1885, the Heidelberg Tram and Mountain Railway Company Leferenz and Co. (HSB) was founded, which immediately began construction work and on 13 May opened the first line from Heidelberg Hauptbahnhof to Marktplatz.^[2] On 8 September the line from Bayrischer Hof to Römerplatz followed and on 22 July, 1886 the route network reached a length of 3.7 Kilometers with the opening of the line from the main station to Steigerweg. In 1887, the company was renamed Heidelberger Straßen- und Bergbahn AG.^[3] On 30 March 1890, the first section of the Heidelberg mountain railway was opened HSB. On 1 April 1890, a 6-minute interval was introduced in Bergheimer Straße, and exactly eight years later also on the route to Rohrbach.^[4]

In 1892, the horse-drawn tram carried 934,685 passengers with its 12 closed carriages, 8 open carriages, 37 horses, and 33 human employees.^[5] Due to the rapidly increasing number of passengers on the horse-drawn tram, there were considerations as early as 1895 to build a more powerful electric tram instead of the horse-drawn tram. Here, too, there were numerous negotiations that delayed implementation.

On 28 February 1900, the city of Heidelberg bought three quarters of the shares in HSB.^[6] In 1901, the horse-drawn tram carried about 1.61 million passengers with 45 equestrian and 40 human employees as well as 14 closed and 10 open cars.^[7]

See also

• List of town tramway systems in Germany
• Trams in Germany

References

• Basten, Robert; Jeanmaire, Claude (1986). Heidelberger Strassenbahnen. Villingen (Schweiz), ISBN 3-85649-053-1 (in German)
• Höltge, Dieter (1999). Straßen- und Stadtbahnen in Deutschland [Tramways and Stadtbahnen in Germany] (in German). Vol. Band 6: Baden [Volume 6: Baden]. Freiburg i. B., Germany: EK-Verlag. ISBN 3882553375.
• Muth, Frank (2003). Straßenbahnen in Heidelberg. München, ISBN 3-7654-7197-6 (in German)
• Röth, Helmut (2006). Auf Schienen zwischen Odenwald und Pfalz. Fotografien 1955–1976. Ludwigshafen am Rhein, Verlag Pro Message. ISBN 3-934845-18-5. (in German)
• Verkehrsverbund Rhein-Neckar (Hrsg.) (2004). An einem Strang. Eisenbahngeschichte im Rhein-Neckar-Dreieck. Ludwigshafen, Verlag Pro Message. ISBN 3-934845-17-7 (in German)