The Kassel RegioTram is a

tram-train A tram-train or dual-system tram is a type of light rail vehicle that both meets the standards of a light rail system, and also national mainline standards. Tramcars are adapted to be capable of running on streets like an urban tramway but a ...

light rail Light rail (or light rail transit, abbreviated to LRT) is a form of passenger urban rail transit that uses rolling stock derived from tram technology National Conference of the Transportation Research Board while also having some features from ...

system in

Kassel Kassel (; in Germany, spelled Cassel until 1926) is a city on the Fulda River in North Hesse, northern Hesse, in Central Germany (geography), central Germany. It is the administrative seat of the Regierungsbezirk Kassel (region), Kassel and the d ...

Hesse Hesse or Hessen ( ), officially the State of Hesse (), is a States of Germany, state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt, which is also the country's principal financial centre. Two other major hist ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. Kassel's tram-train system follows the

Karlsruhe model The Karlsruhe model is a tram-train system which consists of tram/light rail trains and commuter/regional rail trains running on the same set of tracks, generally between or outside of urban areas. It was initially developed and implemented in ...

, and has been in full operation since 2007. With special RegioTram tramcars, continuous trips between the

Deutsche Bahn (, ; abbreviated as DB or DB AG ) is the national railway company of Germany, and a state-owned enterprise under the control of the German government. Headquartered in the Bahntower in Berlin, it is a joint-stock company ( AG). DB was fou ...

heavy rail network and Kassel's city tram network are easily possible, thus avoiding transfers requiring long walking distances between trains of the

regional rail Regional rail is a public transport, public rail transport service that operates between towns and cities. These trains operate with more stops than inter-city rail, and unlike commuter rail, operate beyond the limits of urban areas, connectin ...

system and

tram A tram (also known as a streetcar or trolley in Canada and the United States) is an urban rail transit in which Rolling stock, vehicles, whether individual railcars or multiple-unit trains, run on tramway tracks on urban public streets; some ...

s of the Kassel city system. The operator of the RegioTram network was, until December 2013, RegioTram mbH, a joint venture between Regionalbahn Kassel (RBK), a subsidiary of the Kasseler Verkehrs-Gesellschaft (KVG), and

DB Regio DB Regio AG () is a subsidiary of Deutsche Bahn which operates regional and commuter train services in Germany. It is a 100% subsidiary of the Deutsche Bahn Group and therefore part of the DB Regio business segment, which also includes DB Regionn ...

. Since 9 December 2013, the RegioTram is operated by a consortium of the KVG and

Hessische Landesbahn Hessische Landesbahn (Hessian State Railway, HLB) is a regional transport company owned by the German state of Hesse, based in Frankfurt am Main. It provides bus and rail passenger transport services and, to a lesser extent, rail freight services ...

(HLB). The system is integrated in the

Nordhessischer Verkehrsverbund The Nordhessischer Verkehrsverbund (NVV) is a List of German transport associations, transport association that organises the cooperation of more than 40 North Hessian transport companies, such as supra-regional public transport and regional rail p ...

(NVV).

Concept

The implementation of the RegioTram project includes various interlocking measures to improve local public transport in Kassel. The aim of the project is to link Kassel's local tram network with the regional rail network so that tram-train vehicles can travel from the city's tram network into the surrounding countryside on regional railroad tracks. The core component of the Kassel RegioTram project is a newly created link between the two rail systems at the Kassel Hauptbahnhof. RT1 and RT4 run up to 4 trains per hour, RT5 up to 2 per hour.

Operations

Services

Kassel is served by the three services of the RegioTram system, which operate on of railway lines of which only are newly built lines (mostly to link the regional rail network to Kassel city's tram network).

Rolling stock

RegioTram operates using 28 tramcars from Alstom RegioCitadis delivered in 2004. There are two versions of these tramcars: 18 dual voltage

s for use on the electrified network in and outside of Kassel, and 10 hybrid tram-trains (DC/diesel) for use with a

diesel engine The diesel engine, named after the German engineer Rudolf Diesel, is an internal combustion engine in which Combustion, ignition of diesel fuel is caused by the elevated temperature of the air in the cylinder due to Mechanics, mechanical Compr ...

outside Kassel on the section around Wolfhagen. Similar vehicles of the same model are also in use on

RandstadRail RandstadRail () is a tram-train network in the Rotterdam–The Hague metropolitan area in the west of the Netherlands that is jointly operated by HTM Personenvervoer (HTM) and Rotterdamse Elektrische Tram (RET). It connects the cities of Rott ...

in the Netherlands.

History

Preliminary operations started on 10 June 2001, initially with six borrowed Saarbahn tramcars, on the Warburg–Kassel line. Thus, the previous regional railway timetable was now being served by the new vehicles. RegioTram operation with 30-minute headways was realized. RegioCitadis type vehicles manufactured by

Alstom Alstom SA () is a French multinational rolling stock manufacturer which operates worldwide in rail transport markets. It is active in the fields of passenger transportation, signaling, and locomotives, producing high-speed, suburban, regional ...

Salzgitter Salzgitter (; Eastphalian dialect, Eastphalian: ''Soltgitter'') is an independent city#Germany, independent city in southeast Lower Saxony, Germany, located between Hildesheim and Braunschweig. Together with Wolfsburg and Braunschweig, Salzgitte ...

were delivered in July 2004, and took over the operation on this line on 8 May 2005; the borrowed Saarbahn tramcars were then returned. This route is now served by RegioTram Line 1 (RT1). Starting on 29 January 2006, the first RegioTram operations began on the Kassel tram rail network itself. The hybrid RegioTram vehicles joined the tram tracks in the downtown core of Kassel on the Lossetalbahn to

Hessisch Lichtenau Hessisch Lichtenau () is a small town in the Werra-Meißner-Kreis in eastern Hesse, Germany. In 2006, the town hosted the 46th Hessentag state festival. Geography Location Hessisch Lichtenau lies in the Werra-Meißner-Kreis 20 km southeast o ...

during peak hours, the terminus of the tram line. The diesel-electric vehicles used a direct route over the

Waldkappel Waldkappel () is a small town in the Werra-Meißner-Kreis district in northern Hesse, Germany. Geography Location Waldkappel is located between Hessisch Lichtenau in the west and Eschwege in the east in the North Hesse Upland between the Meißner ...

rail line between Ober- and Nieder-

Kaufungen Kaufungen () is a municipality in the district of Kassel, in Hesse, Germany. It is situated in the narrow valley of the river Losse, surrounded by the steep, wooded hills of the Kaufunger Wald, approx. 10 kilometres east of Kassel. Geography Di ...

which is not electrified. This meant, in contrast to the trams which served all stops, a reduction in journey time. In August 2007, the switch to the continuous use of conventional tramcar vehicles on this line was made. The former tram-train runs over the non-electrified railway through Waldkappel were replaced by tram "express" trips that do not operate at all stops along the route. Starting 1 June 2006, RegioTram operations from Kassel Hauptbahnhof, through

Baunatal Baunatal (, ) is a town in the district of Kassel, in Hesse, Germany. It is a comparatively young town which arose from fusion of the formerly independent municipalities ''Altenbauna'', ''Altenritte'', ''Großenritte'', ''Guntershausen'', ''Hertin ...

, Guxhagen and Körle, to Melsungen, began. This RegioTram Line 5 (RT5) runs alternately once and twice every hour. Operations between Kassel and Wolfhagen, through Ahnatal and Zierenberg, began on 10 December 2006 on RegioTram Line 4 (RT4). Between 16 September 2007 and the timetable change in December 2007, the RegioTram Line 9 (RT9) operated in advance from Kassel Hauptbahnhof to Treysa. RegioTram routes in Kassel started running on the Inner City Ring to Leipziger Straße on 19 August 2007 (RT4), 16 September 2007 (RT3 and RT5) and December 2007 (RT9). The full development of the infrastructure to allow for a 30-minute headways on all lines was implemented in December 2013. On the lines RT3 and RT4, new stops at Kassel-Jungfernkopf, and Vellmar-Osterberg/EKZ on the Harleshäuser Kurve, were put into operation on 13 December 2008. On 25 April 2009, a new station Kassel-Kirchditmold was also added to the same section. In Melsungen, a new stop at Melsungen-Bartenwetzerbrücke was put into operation on the RT5 on 20 May 2011. In December 2015, the RT9 line to Treysa was discontinued and replaced by

Regionalbahn The ''Regionalbahn'' (; lit. Regional train; abbreviated ''RB'') is a train categories in Europe, type of Regional rail, local passenger train (stopping train) in Germany. It is similar to the Regionalzug (R) and Regio (Swiss railway train), R ...

and

Regional-Express In Germany, Luxembourg and Austria, the Regional-Express (; RE, or in Austria: REX) is a type of regional train. It is similar to a semi-fast train, with a top speed of and an average speed of about as it calls at fewer stations than ''R ...

trains.

References

Inline references

Bibliography

External links

Kasseler Verkehrs-Gesellschaft (KVG) – official site
* {{coord missing, Hesse Buildings and structures in Kassel

Transport in Hesse North Hesse