Trams in Linz

Trams in Linz (German: Linzer Straßenbahn-Netz) is a network of tramways forming the backbone of the urban public transport system in Linz, which is the capital city of the federal state of Upper Austria in Austria.

The network is operated by the Linz Linien division of Linz AG, the city-owned utility company, and uses the unusual track gauge of 900 mm (2 ft 11+7⁄16 in). It consists of four lines, including the Pöstlingbergbahn mountain tramway with which it has been integrated since 2009. Linz Linien also operates the Linz citybus network [de] and the Linz trolleybus network.

The first trams operated in the city of Linz in 1880, when a 2.6-kilometre-long (1.6 mi) horse-drawn tramway was opened from the main station, then known as the Westbahnhof, through the city centre and across the Danube to a terminus at the present Hinsenkampplatz. The line was built to the unusual tramway gauge of 900 mm (2 ft 11+7⁄16 in), which, outside the Linz area, is only used by the trams in Lisbon. In 1895, the line was extended by 300 metres (980 ft) at its northern end to the Linz Urfahr railway station, popularly known as the Mühlkreisbahnhof. In 1897, the tramway was electrified.

In 1898, the then-independent Pöstlingbergbahn opened from Linz Urfahr railway station to the summit of the Pöstlingberg. This line was built to 1,000 mm (3 ft 3+3⁄8 in) metre gauge and there was therefore no possibility of trams running through from Linz city centre to the Pöstlingberg. Instead passengers changed trams at Linz Urfahr.

In 1902 the main tram network was expanded by a line linking Blumauerplatz, on the existing line south of the city centre, with the northern side of the bridge over the Traun river in Kleinmünchen, giving a total length of 5.88 kilometres (3.65 mi). With this extension, the Linz tramway took on the form it was to retain for many years, with a long north to south line and a short branch to the main railway station. In 1914, the transverse route M opened, whilst the north-south line was covered by routes B from Urfahr to the station and E from Urfahr to the southern terminus.

In 1929, the north-south axis was lengthened to the south, with a new bridge to the suburb of Ebelsberg. Here a connection was made with the independent Florianerbahn to Sankt Florian. The tram lines were damaged during the Second World War, and the situation post-war was not helped by the Danube bridge forming a control point between the US and Russian occupied sectors of Austria, forcing passengers to change trams there.

After 1955, some reconstruction took place, but in 1969, the transverse route M was replaced by buses. In 1985 a branch was opened from Kleinmünchen to Auwiesen. Between 2002 and 2005 the route to Ebelsberg was extended in sections to solarCity. In 2004, the main north-south route was diverted in a tunnel via the main railway station, thus removing the need for a separate branch to that location. In 2011, a new branch diverging from this tunnel at the railway station was extended to Doblerholz.

Meanwhile, in 2008, the previously separate Pöstlingbergbahn was closed and rebuilt to the same gauge as the Linz trams. A connection between the two systems was created at Urfahr, enabling trams to run through. The line reopened in 2009.