Opened in 1880 as a horsecar system, the network was converted to an electrically powered system between 1893 and 1898. The network's gauge, originally 914 mm (3 ft), was widened to 925 mm (3 ft 13⁄32 in) by the outbreak of World War I. From the 1950s, the gauge was widened further, to 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge, although the gauge conversion work was not completed until as late as 1988. The infrastructure is currently operated by the Chemnitzer Verkehrs-Aktiengesellschaft [de] (CVAG), and services are operated by them and City-Bahn Chemnitz. The system is integrated in the Verkehrsverbund Mittelsachsen (VMS).
The city used CzechoslovakTatra T3 trams (Tatra T3D and Tatra B3D) from 1969 until they were all decommissioned by 2019. Some were sold to Kazakhstan and Russia. In 1993, the city began using Stadler Variobahn, originally built by ABB (ASEA Brown Boveri, now made by Stadler). In 2019, new Škoda 35 T trams were delivered to the city.[1]
Lines
As of 10 December 2017[update], the network consists of 9 lines, as follows:
Bauer, Gerhard; Kuschinski, Norbert (1993). Die Straßenbahnen in Ostdeutschland [The Tramways in East Germany]. Vol. Band 1: Sachsen [Volume 1: Saxony]. Aachen, Germany: Schweers + Wall. ISBN3921679796. (in German)
Schwandl, Robert (2012). Schwandl's Tram Atlas Deutschland (in German and English) (3rd ed.). Berlin: Robert Schwandl Verlag. pp. 30–31. ISBN9783936573336.