Strasbourg Tramway - Horse-drawn and Electric, 1878 - 1960

1960

The first tram line in Strasbourg, which was originally horse-drawn, opened in 1878. After 1894, when an electric powered tram system was introduced, a widespread network of tramways was built in the largest city of Alsace, including also several longer distance lines on both sides of the Rhine. The decline of the tramways system began in the 1930s, and ended with the retirement of the service in 1960. After a long drawn out communal political decision process, the tram was reintroduced in 1994. As part of the redevelopment of the city, a track of a total 33 km distance was built, on which 5 tram line services have been developed.

On the 5th April 1877 the Strasbourg Horse Railway Company ("Straßburger Pferde-Eisenbahngesellschaft") was founded, and the name changed on 25 April 1888 to the Strasbourg Tramway Company ("Straßburger Straßenbahngesellschaft"). Since May 1897, the AEG electrical manufacturing company was the main shareholder. In 1912 the company was transferred to the possession of the city of Strasbourg. When Alsace became part of France in November 1918, the name of the company was translated into French, "Compagnie des tramways strasbourgeois“ (CTS). In this form it still exists today.

Public transport in Strasbourg had begun in 1848 with horse-drawn omnibuses and carriages. The first standard gauge tracks of the Horse/Railway Company were opened on 20 July 1878. These passed through the areas of "Hönheim" and "zur Kehler Brücke". In the inner city, horses were used. In the suburbs, small steam locomotives drew the carriages. By 1885 further lines to the suburbs of Königshofen, Robertsau, Neuhof and Wolfisheim were opened, and in 1886 the meter gauge was first used in extending the track to Grafenstaden.

The electric company of AEG was engaged to install electric traction of that line in December 1894. Though the contract between town and company had included the maintaining of standard gauge, since 1897, the standard gauge tracks were converted to one-meter gauge. New lines were built and run to Kronenburg, Lingolsheim and Breuschwickersheim. In addition to the network in town, an overland network was built, mainly worked with steam traction, extending from Strasbourg to the Vosges Mountains, Colmar and across the Rhine into Baden.

After in 1918 Strasbourg had become French, the 1920 all lines east of the Rhine (almost 50% of the overland network or 35% of the total network) were taken over at first by the shortly founded general German railway company of Deutsche Reichseisenbahnen, than in 1922 by the regional Mittelbadische Eisenbahnen (Central Baden Railways).

In 1930, the network comprised 234 km of track, about 100 km in town and 130 km overland lines, all in France. There were 55 million passengers in 1930 and 71.5 million passengers in 1943. In the 1950s, the tram, already weakened by World War II, faced competition from other modes of transport such as the bus, the bicycle and the private automobile. The tram system was abandoned in 1960 and replaced by buses; the last tram ran on May 1, 1960. Much of the traffic was absorbed by the private automobile.