My cousin is a tram enthusiast. I am taking him on his first trip abroad and am happy to go anywhere in Europe. But I don't know which tram networks would be most interesting for him (e.g. length of system, different tram types, peculiarities) and there are so many to choose from. Does anyone have any suggestions.
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International trams
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Most tram systems I’ve visited in Europe I would recommend.
I’d say Bruxelles and Praha are good for the sheer scale of their systems.
Bruxelles still has some of their 1970s PCC type trams in operation (at least they did last year) and has a mixture of traditional tram lines as well as the ‘Pre-Metro’ in the centre (essentially trams on a metro-like system).
Bruxelles also has a tram museum which opens at weekends (and sometimes does vintage tram rides). Sadly I’ve never been able to visit, but it does look good!
Praha is perhaps the Mecca for the tram enthusiast. Still plenty of classic Tatra trams in operation, a large system, and is a traditional system but also with modern infrastructure on some of the extensions. It’s certainly a very scenic place to take photos of trams too.
I’d say Bruxelles and Praha are good for the sheer scale of their systems.
Bruxelles still has some of their 1970s PCC type trams in operation (at least they did last year) and has a mixture of traditional tram lines as well as the ‘Pre-Metro’ in the centre (essentially trams on a metro-like system).
Bruxelles also has a tram museum which opens at weekends (and sometimes does vintage tram rides). Sadly I’ve never been able to visit, but it does look good!
Praha is perhaps the Mecca for the tram enthusiast. Still plenty of classic Tatra trams in operation, a large system, and is a traditional system but also with modern infrastructure on some of the extensions. It’s certainly a very scenic place to take photos of trams too.
I thought this was going to be about a tram route which crossed a national border! Are there any?
Lisbon is worth seeing (and riding the very old trams in the inner city.) Look on YouTube for lots of examples.
Also the ex-eastern bloc cities (e.g. Sofia) have some pretty extensive networks... just don't expect them to be fully reliable. We nearly got marooned out at the S end of the network when we walked from the end of one line to what should have been the start of another!
Lisbon is worth seeing (and riding the very old trams in the inner city.) Look on YouTube for lots of examples.
Also the ex-eastern bloc cities (e.g. Sofia) have some pretty extensive networks... just don't expect them to be fully reliable. We nearly got marooned out at the S end of the network when we walked from the end of one line to what should have been the start of another!
Personally I would recommend Budapest and Prague. A good Website is https://www.urbanrail.net/
biko
Member
Not a particular tram enthousiast myself, I think nearly every system which hasn’t been built recently has something of interest. A few systems that come to my mind are:
- Basel (international trams crossing the border into France and Germany, I believe one line even twice, and two operators)
- Karlsruhe and Kassel have tram-trains running through the streets in the city centre and on branch railway lines outside.
- Lissabon has really cute old little trams
- Milan has a mix of old wooden trams and modern ones.
- Amsterdam has a busy network running over narrow streets with interlaced track, but also steep bridges and a modern line through tunnels with coupled trams.
- The Hague has a tram which shares tracks with the Rotterdam metro and also has a tram tunnel and inter urban routes to Delft
These are just the ones I think of now, there are many more
- Basel (international trams crossing the border into France and Germany, I believe one line even twice, and two operators)
- Karlsruhe and Kassel have tram-trains running through the streets in the city centre and on branch railway lines outside.
- Lissabon has really cute old little trams
- Milan has a mix of old wooden trams and modern ones.
- Amsterdam has a busy network running over narrow streets with interlaced track, but also steep bridges and a modern line through tunnels with coupled trams.
- The Hague has a tram which shares tracks with the Rotterdam metro and also has a tram tunnel and inter urban routes to Delft
These are just the ones I think of now, there are many more
D6130
Established Member
I would recommend Milano for its huge network and the large number of beautifully-maintained late 1920s/early 1930s cars with wonderful art deco wooden interiors. Roma has a much smaller network, but has opportunities to photograph trams in front of ancient monuments such as the Colosseum and Porta Maggiore....speaking of the latter, there is the unique (?) flat crossing between the standard gauge tramways and the 950 mm gauge 'Laziali' lines in the middle of the complex junction/roundabout there. Roma also has quite a few late 1950s twin-car articulated single-ended trams still in service.
Fragezeichnen
Member
The Rhein-Ruhr region has an large system of street trams and high floor trams(branded as an U-Bahn). The various city networks are independent but link together. So for the true tram enthusiastic it is possible to spend to spend an entire day traveling from Krefeld near Düsseldorf to the outskirts of Dortmund without any changes of direction.
Berlin has an extensive network including the line 68 which runs through a forest on the outskirts to take sunbathers to the beach in summer. There is also the independently run line to Woltersdorf which still uses it's large collection of heritage stock in daily service.
A number of small towns in former DDR Germany retained their metre gauge tram systems long enough for their value to be recognised. Particularly of interest is the Nordhausen system which uses bi-mode trams to run over parts of the Harz narrow gauge system. Nordhausen itself was unfortunately totally destroyed by WWII bombing and is today fairly unattractive. More interesting is the nearby "palace city" of Gotha which has a "forest tramway" linking it to adjacent towns.
The Belgian coast tram is surely a must-see, though I've yet to visit it myself.
Berlin has an extensive network including the line 68 which runs through a forest on the outskirts to take sunbathers to the beach in summer. There is also the independently run line to Woltersdorf which still uses it's large collection of heritage stock in daily service.
A number of small towns in former DDR Germany retained their metre gauge tram systems long enough for their value to be recognised. Particularly of interest is the Nordhausen system which uses bi-mode trams to run over parts of the Harz narrow gauge system. Nordhausen itself was unfortunately totally destroyed by WWII bombing and is today fairly unattractive. More interesting is the nearby "palace city" of Gotha which has a "forest tramway" linking it to adjacent towns.
The Belgian coast tram is surely a must-see, though I've yet to visit it myself.
JGurney
Member
If you were to go to Austria then as well as Vienna's urban network (plus the Wiener Lokalbahn which shares some track with it) there would also be various rural tram/light rail operations such as the Atterseebahn, the Traunsee Tram and the Vorchdorferbahn. While the Atterseebahn and Vorchdorferbahn do not feature street running, they are in all other ways rural trams, bearing much more physical and operational resemblance to tramways than to heavy rail.
Links:
Atterseebahn https://www.stern-verkehr.at/portfolio/atterseebahn/
Traunsee Tram https://www.stern-verkehr.at/portfolio/traunseetram/
Vorchdorferbahn https://www.stern-verkehr.at/portfolio/vorchdorferbahn/
Wiener Lokalbahn https://www.wlb.at/
TT-ONR-NRN
Veteran Member
I find Prague's network to be over-rated and slightly boring but then I do prefer modern cities.
Zürich is probably my favourite tram network in Europe and this comes with a vast network, old and new trams for variety, and a very nice city.
Brussels' most modern trams have leather seats and have to be the classiest trams I've ever travelled on. The old ones are quite quirky too. The middle aged ones are rubbish. Good expansive network and most interesting of all is that some run on Underground Metro-style routes.
Milan's famous yellowy old heritage trams are brilliant, and you can stick your head out of the back window and watch the world go by while the breeze hits your face
But the modern trams have a hideous disgusting pea green interior - walls, seats, doors, that hurts the eyes frankly, and the old ones that aren't the aforementioned heritage ones are rattly and in a bad way.
Stockholm and Gothenburg have decent systems that don't get much appreciation, but then Sweden is my favourite country to visit on the continent so I may be biased.
If you don't mind where you go, have you asked your cousin which tramway he might like to see? He might already have a favourite in mind.
Zürich is probably my favourite tram network in Europe and this comes with a vast network, old and new trams for variety, and a very nice city.
Brussels' most modern trams have leather seats and have to be the classiest trams I've ever travelled on. The old ones are quite quirky too. The middle aged ones are rubbish. Good expansive network and most interesting of all is that some run on Underground Metro-style routes.
Milan's famous yellowy old heritage trams are brilliant, and you can stick your head out of the back window and watch the world go by while the breeze hits your face
But the modern trams have a hideous disgusting pea green interior - walls, seats, doors, that hurts the eyes frankly, and the old ones that aren't the aforementioned heritage ones are rattly and in a bad way.Stockholm and Gothenburg have decent systems that don't get much appreciation, but then Sweden is my favourite country to visit on the continent so I may be biased.
If you don't mind where you go, have you asked your cousin which tramway he might like to see? He might already have a favourite in mind.
Goodness. That certainly wasn't my view. It's the networks that just have fleets of modern articulated trams that I find a bit dull.
Standing at the back of a T3 going down a hairpin bend with two more single T3's following along behind...not boring to me. At all.
Me too.
Basel was mentioned above. There's also Kehl to Strasbourg (Germany to France), and back in Switzerland I believe the Geneva tram network extends into France.
I'd include cross-border travel in the "peculiarities" category mentioned in the initial post.
StephenHunter
Established Member
Kehl to Strasbourg is worth doing, although the trams themselves are pretty generic. Strasbourg does have a small underground at the main station.
You can do a round trip as well - train across the border then tram back or vice versa.
StephenHunter
Established Member
Or walk across one of the bridges.
That's cheating!
I'd certainly add a vote for Lisbon - I've been on a fair few tram systems in my time and seen nothing like the old trams in Lisbon. There aren't many places left still using trolleys.
LNW-GW Joint
Veteran Member
I would have said Trieste Tram 2 up to Villa Opicina (which has a cable section for the steepest incline), but it is still out of service after an accident in 2016.
It's currently bustituted.
It's currently bustituted.
Oh yes that's quite a ride...or it was anyway. I don't know of any rail route elsewhere that is partly cable worked.
Shame to hear that it's still not running again.
dutchflyer
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Best site for all systems and general info: urbanrail.net. It first shows metro, but with some clicks the trams-if there in that city, will also appear. Fleetlists, a potted history and network maps. WIKI in general is also quite good in giving info.
It is only a fairly recent phenomenon that some tramsystems extend to over borders-and all are Swiss/French. There used to be many more in the past, even as I recall from lists US-MX, el Paso. Those existing now are pretty newly build: Strasbourg to Kehl/DE, Basel into FR/St. LOuis (and also to DE), Geneve to Annemasse.
IMHO THE main city for tram-interest ´on the continent´ is Praha, the capital of Czech Rep.
The german Ruhr area has around a dozen or so, some also quite big, networks interlocked and/or very near.
Right at this mo I am in Lisbon/PT also most famous (in fact to my bewilderment compared to last visit some 12/15 yrs ago) and tourist-draw in its (renovated) century-old looking tiny yellow trams in utmost narrow curvy and hilly small streets.
It is only a fairly recent phenomenon that some tramsystems extend to over borders-and all are Swiss/French. There used to be many more in the past, even as I recall from lists US-MX, el Paso. Those existing now are pretty newly build: Strasbourg to Kehl/DE, Basel into FR/St. LOuis (and also to DE), Geneve to Annemasse.
IMHO THE main city for tram-interest ´on the continent´ is Praha, the capital of Czech Rep.
The german Ruhr area has around a dozen or so, some also quite big, networks interlocked and/or very near.
Right at this mo I am in Lisbon/PT also most famous (in fact to my bewilderment compared to last visit some 12/15 yrs ago) and tourist-draw in its (renovated) century-old looking tiny yellow trams in utmost narrow curvy and hilly small streets.
I find that Openrailwaymap is also very useful for seeing what interesting rail infrastructure is in a given area, including trams.
You can choose colour coding based on various things including infrastructure type, gauge and electrical power supply.
(It doesn't seem interested in funiculars though).
Once you decide where you're going, especially if you visit a country that has quite a few systems, a nice 'going away' present might be one of Robert Schwandl's tram atlases.
I haven't visited many myself, but Amsterdam and Basel would be the picks of those I have.
I haven't visited many myself, but Amsterdam and Basel would be the picks of those I have.
Gloster
Established Member
I am not really a tram enthusiast, but I did enjoy the inter-urban between Köln (Cologne) and Bonn. There is also the Mannheim/Ludwigshafen/Heidelberg network which has a lot of variety.
61653 HTAFC
Veteran Member
Another vote for Prague. For one thing it has a bit of everything. A mix of modern and heritage vehicles -including heavily modernised/rebuilt Tatras with low-floor sections, but also a couple of designated historic tram routes; and a mix of older and modern infrastructure. Whatever aspect of trams your cousin is most into, Prague has you covered!
Honourable mention to Brussels, as they also have quite a few older trams still in service. I rode a few in 2017 (during a stopover on the way to Prague, fittingly) but didn't have time to explore much of the network.
Honourable mention to Brussels, as they also have quite a few older trams still in service. I rode a few in 2017 (during a stopover on the way to Prague, fittingly) but didn't have time to explore much of the network.
To be fair that's good advice for using any crowded transit system in any city. My ratio of "Cities I've visited" to "Cities I've been specifically warned about pickpockets in" is near enough 1:1, so I'd be wary of singling any one place out.
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We went there deliberately to ride on it... to find it had just been shut down after the accident. A great shame, but still a city worth visiting, even if it has no tram!
Coincidentally a repeat of Portillo's Great Continental Rail Journeys featured it this evening.
Serco don't seem to be able to get it mended, but I am starting to wonder whether they haven't paid off the correct "facilitators," or they just won't pay the contract prices asked. A relative who lived in Italy for 3 years said how difficult it was to get things done - especially if you wanted several quotes to decide where to award a contract. It doesn't work that way there!
AlbertBeale
Established Member
I especially enjoy some of the Austrian and Swiss cities with an interconnected mix of trams and trolleybuses - for the sheer complexity of the overhead knitting. A wonder to behold.
I think there's a Basel route which crosses into France (though I didn't use it when I was last there, so can't be certain). And Strasbourg-Kehl?
Yes - the Lisbon trams are glorious; though I haven't used them since the time you could hop on one at the end of the metro line and flash your 1Esc50 metro ticket for a free continuation.... A very very long time ago...
Basel and Geneva, as mentioned in earlier posts.
Yes, but my comment was in post #3!
I spent a day in Basel in 2019 and I 'did' each of the border crossings. There's 3 routes:
3 - crosses into France and terminates at St. Louis Station
8 - crosses into Germany and terminates at Weil am Rhein Station
10 - crosses briefly into France to serve Leymen and then crosses back into Switzerland to terminate at Rodersdorf.
Note that route 10 is run by regional operator BLT but to all intents and purposes it's part of the main Basel tramway network.
As far as I can remember, local 'Tarifverbund' day tickets are valid on the whole of route 10 but for cross-border travel on routes 3 and 8 a 'TriRegio' day ticket is required.
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