Naumburg, Germany: Streetcars (Trams)

Description

Naumburg, a city of about 25,000 in the German state of Thuringia (Thüringen), has the smallest streetcar system in Germany. The original route was built in stages from 1892 to 1914 in the form of a 3.3 mile (5.3 km) single-track loop, connecting the main railroad station (Hauptbahnhof) with the city center via two different routes. Five passing sidings allowed six cars to circulate around the loop simultaneously, three in each direction.

After German reunification, the line was deemed uneconomic, and in 1991 it was replaced by a new three-route bus system. A group of enthusiasts managed to preserve much of the infrastructure, gradually restored part of the line, and began operating restored cars from the East German (GDR) era on it. They started with occasional trips in 1994, then one day a month beginning in 2000, then every weekend in 2006, and finally daily since 2007. About 1.5 miles (2.5 km) of track are in service, a bit less than half of the original ring route. A further quarter mile (0.4 km) is to be restored soon.

The current daily operation is funded by a subsidy from the state of Sachsen-Anhalt through the end of 2009.

Other Sites

• The Naumburg page on Robert Schwandl's urbanrail.net
• The Naumburg page on Yury Maller's ymtram.mashke.org, with an interactive Google map (in English and Russian).
• Naumburger TouristenBahn, the official site of the line's operators, the Naumburger Straßenbahn GmbH. (mostly in German)
• Nahverkehrsfreunde Naumburg - Jena e.V., the enthusiasts' group which restored the line. (in German)
• Straßenbahn Naumburg, on Wikipedia (in German).