Austrian town tramway

GMUNDEN TRAMWAY

(Both © Steve Sainsbury/Rail Thing 16.2.1977)

In 1977 Britain was a tramway wilderness, with just Blackpool and Llandudno remaining. But on the continent they were everywhere, Austria being no exception.

These shots were taken on the excellent Gmunden Tramway which connected the main OBB station with the centre of town. This will no doubt become a common site even in Britain as the oil runs out! Of course the Gmunden Tramway is still going strong 38 years later and has in fact been re-extended back deeper into Gmunden town.

More info (from Wikipedia)

The Gmunden Tramway (Straßenbahn Gmunden or Gmundner Straßenbahn), located in Gmunden, Austria, is the shortest and oldest remaining tram system in Austria. It is operated by Stern & Hafferl, which was founded in 1893. The tramway was opened on 13 August 1894. It is 2.3 km long. The line's maximum gradient of 9.6% makes it one of the world's steepest surviving adhesion-only tram lines.

History

The works, directed by the engineers Josef Stern and Franz Hafferl, began on 25 February 1894. It took five months to build the entire tramway, one depot, one power plant and two buildings for employees. The original route ran from the railway station (named Rudolfsbahnhof at that time) to "Rathausplatz" (i.e. Town Hall Square). In 1975 the route was shortened to Franz-Josef-Platz.

There were several renovations in the late 90's and the following decade, including the renewal of "Keramik" station and of the Tennisplatz - Franz-Josef-Platz route. In February 2013, the municipal council of Gmunden decided to link the tram to the Traunseebahn at Gmunden Seebahnhof terminus station. The trams will in future also reach Vorchdorf as part of a project named StadtRegioTram.

Route

The tramway route runs entirely in the town, from the railway station to the central Franz-Josef-Platz on the Traunsee lake. It counts 8 stations, plus 2 closed and one substituted. A planned extension to the Seebahnhof, terminal station of the Traunsee Railway Gmunden-Vorchdorf has been partially built. It will count 3 stations and will use the route "Franz-Josef-Platz" - "Rathausplatz", closed in 1975. The reopening of Postgebäude is not planned.

Station	Km	Notes
Gmunden (Bahnhof)	0.00	Station on the Salzkammergut Railway, tram depot planned
Gmunden Grüner Wald	0.35	closed
Gmundner Keramik	0.60	Built in 2005 to substitute the nearby "Gmunden Kraftstation", passing loop, tram depot
Gmunden Rosenkranz	1.00
Gmunden Tennisplatz	1.36	passing loop
Gmunden Kuferzeile	1.60
Gmunden Parkstraße	1.77	closed
Gmunden Bezirkshauptmannschaft	2.05
Gmunden Korso	2.22	closed
Gmunden Franz-Josef-Platz	2.32	Terminal since 1975
Gmunden Postgebäude	2.42	closed in 1975
Gmunden Rathausplatz	2.54	closed in 1975, reactivation planned
Gmunden Klosterplatz	2.84	since 2014
Gmunden Seebahnhof	3.09	New terminal station on the Traunsee Railway, since 2014