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Nordhausen tramway
Nordhausen tramway
Straßenbahn Nordhausen
	Combino Duo tram at Nordhausen Bahnhofsplatz
Operation
Locale	Nordhausen, Thuringia, Germany
Open	25 August 1900
Status	Operational
Lines	3
Operator(s)	Verkehrsbetriebe Nordhausen
Infrastructure
Track gauge	1,000 mm (3 ft 3+3⁄8 in) metre gauge
Propulsion system(s)	Electricity
Electrification	600 V DC
Stock	9 Combino; 3 Combino Duo;
Statistics
Route length	6.6 km (4.1 mi)
Overview
	Network map
Website	https://www.stadtwerke-nordhausen.de/ Stadtwerke Nordhausen (in German)

The Nordhausen tramway (German: Straßenbahn Nordhausen) is a network of tramways forming part of the public transport system in Nordhausen, a city in Thuringia, Germany.

Opened in 1900, the network is currently operated by Verkehrsbetriebe Nordhausen and has three lines, including one linking Nordhausen with nearby Ilfeld which runs as a tram-train on tracks belonging to the Harz Narrow Gauge Railways.^[2]

Tram-train

Tram on unelectrified single-track railway line — Combino Duo on the Harzquerbahn

Nordhausen also practices a unique model of tram-train operation, in which metre-gauge dual-power railcars operate using electric power in the town, and change to diesel-electric to operate on the Harzer Schmalspurbahnen (HSB) line to Ilfeld.

On the centenary of the Harzquerbahn in 1999, HSB and Stadtwerke Nordhausen stated their intent to connect the railway and tram systems.^[6] A track along Oskar-Cohn-Straße connecting the Bahnhofsplatz tram stop to the Harzquerbahn sidings at Nordhausen Nord station opened on 28 April 2002, and since then HSB railcars have terminated at the tram stop instead of the railway station.^[3]

Since the HSB is not electrified, new dual-power vehicles had to be procured. On 3 June 2000, as part of the centenary celebrations of the Nordhausen tram, the first such vehicle was presented. Dubbed the Twino, it was a GT4 railcar fitted with a five-cylinder passenger car diesel engine, and was used for practical testing of dual-power operation.^[7] In December 2001 three Combino Duo trams were ordered,^[4] fitted with BMW M67 3.9-litre twin-turbocharged V8 engines.^[8]

On 1 May 2004, route 10 was launched. It follows the course of route 1 from the Südharz Klinikum hospital through Nordhausen town centre to the station forecourt, and then along the Harzquerbahn track as far as Ilfeld Neanderklinik, a distance of 11.4 km.^[3]

In 2024 a study into the future of the tram-train line suggested electrification of the railway line and operation with standard trams would be a better option than new hybrid vehicles powered by batteries or hydrogen when the Combino Duos need replacing.^[9]

Lines

In 1990 the network had two lines. Line 1 linked Bahnhofsplatz, outside Nordhausen railway station, to the hospital in the north of the town and line 2 ran from Parkallee to Arnoldstraße, where it met line 1.^[10] A 1.8 km (1.1 mi) long extension from Theaterplatz to the new housing development in Nordhausen-Ost was opened on 3 October 1993, and is operated as an extension of line 2.^[11]

Since the opening of the tram-train line 10 in 2004, Nordhausen has had the following three tram lines:

Line	Route	Length	Headway
1	Krankenhaus – Rathaus/Kornmarkt – Bahnhofsplatz	3.2 km (2.0 mi)^[2]	Mon–Fri: 15 min Sat–Sun, holidays: 30 min
2	Parkallee – Landratsamt – Rathaus/Kornmarkt – Nordhausen Ost	4.6 km (2.9 mi)^[2]	Mon–Fri: 15 min Sat–Sun, holidays: 30 min
10	Krankenhaus – Rathaus/Kornmarkt – Bahnhofsplatz – Niedersachswerfen Ost – Ilfeld Neanderklinik	14.6 km (9.1 mi)^[2]	Mon–Fri: 60 min Sat–Sun, holidays: 120 min^[3]

If sections of the network are blocked there are four replacement lines with fixed numbers and routes. These are:

Line	Route
3^[12]	Krankenhaus – Rathaus/Kornmarkt – Nordbrand – Grimmel – Parkallee
4^[13]	Nordhausen Ost – Rathaus/Kornmarkt – Nordbrand – Bahnhofsplatz
5^[14]	Krankenhaus – Nordhausen Ost
6^[14]	Parkallee – Grimmel – Bahnhofsplatz

When it is not possible to use their normal route on the tram network, trams on line 10 switch to and from lines 4 or 6 at Bahnhofsplatz.

Rolling stock

The current fleet consists entirely of Siemens Combino trams manufactured between 2000 and 2011. All are three-section vehicles, 2.3 metres (7 ft 7 in) wide and roughly 20 metres (65 ft 7 in) long, but the different models (Basic, Advanced and Classic) have different designs of cab end and there is a mixture of uni-directional and bi-directional vehicles. Due to the gradients on the tram network all wheels are powered. The Combino Duo trams are fitted with a diesel engine to allow operation on the unelectrified section of tram-train line 10 on the Harzquerbahn.^[4]

Numbers	Type	Uni-/bi-directional	Year built
101, 102	Basic	uni-directional	2000
103, 104	Advanced	uni-directional	2002
105–107	Advanced	bi-directional	2002
108, 109	Classic	uni-directional	2011
201–203	Combino Duo	bi-directional	2004

References

^ "Besonderes Jubiläum des Nordhäuser Nahverkehrs 120 Jahre Nordhäuser Straßenbahn" [Special anniversary of local transport in Nordhausen 120 years of Nordhausen tramway] (in German). Stadt Nordhausen. 25 August 2024. Retrieved 25 October 2024.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g Streeter, Tony (June 2014). "Nordhausen: An unusual "Duo"". Tramways & Urban Transit. Light Rail Transit Association. pp. 244–246. ISSN 1460-8324.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Much, Christian (May 2024). "20 Jahre Nordhäuser Modell" [20 years of the Nordhausen model]. Straßenbahn Magazin (in German). GeraMond. pp. 28–33. ISSN 0340-7071.
^ ^a ^b ^c Kochems, Michael (March 2022). "286 Fahrzeuge für sieben deutsche Betriebe" [286 vehicles for seven German operators]. Straßenbahn Magazin (in German). GeraMond. pp. 34–41. ISSN 0340-7071.
^ Strassenbahn Jahrbuch 2021 (in German). GeraMond. 2020. p. 54. ISBN 978-3-96453-501-6.
^ Koschinski, Konrad. Eisenbahn-Paradies Harz [Railway Paradise Harz]. Eisenbahn Journal Extra (in German). Vol. 1/2019. Verlagsgruppe Bahn. p. 38. ISBN 978-3-89610-714-5.
^ "Geschichte der Combino Duo" [History of the Combino Duo]. IMG Electronic & Power Systems (in German). Retrieved 25 October 2024.
^ Jamieson, Craig. "The sometimes-strange places BMW engines have ended up". Top Gear. Retrieved 25 October 2024.
^ Müller, Kristin (17 June 2024). "Linie 10 hat Zukunft: Ende der Combino-Duos in Nordhausen soll Anfang einer neuen Ära sein" [Line 10 has a future: End of the Combino-Duos in Nordhausen should be the start of a new era]. Thüringer Allgemeine (in German). Archived from the original on 17 June 2024. Retrieved 25 October 2024.
^ Budach, Dirk (11 April 2020). "Nordhausen's trams in 1990". Urban Transport Magazine. Retrieved 25 October 2024.
^ Spühr, Alfred (July 2023). "Einst & Jetzt" [Then & Now]. Straßenbahn Magazin (in German). GeraMond. p. 55. ISSN 0340-7071.
^ "Bauarbeiten an den Haltestellen August-Bebel-Platz und Rückertstraße verzögern sich" [Construction work at the Albert-Bebel-Platz and Rückertstraße stops is delayed] (in German). Stadt Nordhausen. 11 February 2021. Retrieved 29 October 2024.
^ "VBN informiert: Gleisgrunderneuerung in der Dr.-Robert-Koch-Straße" [VBN informs: Track replacement in Dr.-Robert-Koch-Straße] (in German). Stadt Nordhausen. 22 June 2021. Retrieved 29 October 2024.
^ ^a ^b "Gleisgrunderneuerung zwischen Rautenstraße und Bahnhofstraße – Behinderungen auf den Straßenbahnlinien 1, 2 und 10 sowie den Stadtbuslinien A und F" [Track replacement between Rautenstraße and Bahnhofstraße – Hindrances on the tram lines 1, 2, and 10 and the bus line A] (in German). Stadt Nordhausen. 19 February 2024. Retrieved 29 October 2024.

Bibliography

Bauer, Gerhard; Kuschinski, Norbert (1994). Die Straßenbahnen in Ostdeutschland [The Tramways in East Germany]. Vol. Band 2: Sachsen-Anhalt, Thüringen [Volume 2: Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia]. Aachen, Germany: Schweers + Wall. ISBN 392167980X. (in German)
Schwandl, Robert (2012). Schwandl's Tram Atlas Deutschland (in German and English) (3rd ed.). Berlin: Robert Schwandl Verlag. ISBN 9783936573336.