Uploaded December 2022 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
The German state-owned railway company (DB) wanted to close a little-used branch line that served a rural area near the city of Karlsruhe.
Local people were not happy with this proposal and it was decided that a locally owned railway operator (AVG) would take over the service.
Their solution was to introduce a new type of light rail train which was a combination of tram / streetcar and train that could provide a through service using street tramway trackage between Karlsruhe main railway station, the city centre pedestrian zone and then the mainline railway branch line.
In addition some new stations were built closer to destinations that people would like to travel to and other stations were refurbished.
This service proved very popular with very significant increases in passenger numbers and a few years later it led to the creation of a regional network of tram-train services. What has become known as 'The Karlsruhe Model' also saw other towns and cities using light rail type tram-trains on similar services. There is even one tram-train service here in the UK - travelling over part of the Sheffield Supertram network and also mainline railway tracks to Rotherham.
Mostly filmed at the weekend shortly after the service had began, this video shows the special tram-trains in action alongside several types of mainline railway trains.
The German state-owned railway company (DB) wanted to close a little-used branch line that served a rural area near the city of Karlsruhe.
Local people were not happy with this proposal and it was decided that a locally owned railway operator (AVG) would take over the service.
Their solution was to introduce a new type of light rail train which was a combination of tram / streetcar and train that could provide a through service using street tramway trackage between Karlsruhe main railway station, the city centre pedestrian zone and then the mainline railway branch line.
In addition some new stations were built closer to destinations that people would like to travel to and other stations were refurbished.
This service proved very popular with very significant increases in passenger numbers and a few years later it led to the creation of a regional network of tram-train services. What has become known as 'The Karlsruhe Model' also saw other towns and cities using light rail type tram-trains on similar services. There is even one tram-train service here in the UK - travelling over part of the Sheffield Supertram network and also mainline railway tracks to Rotherham.
Mostly filmed at the weekend shortly after the service had began, this video shows the special tram-trains in action alongside several types of mainline railway trains.
