History
The Cologne Stadtbahn traces its history to the first horsecar lines that started operating in 1877. Within a few years, several companies had built an extensive network. Because none of these companies showed interest in electrifying their lines, the city of Cologne bought them on 1 January 1900. Electric streetcars were introduced and additional lines built until 1912, including Vorortbahnen to surrounding villages outside the city limits. Outside the city center, these lines had separated right-of-way and were more similar to "real" railroads than to trams.
During World War II, Cologne suffered heavy damage. The city center was almost completely destroyed and the tram lines with it. After the war, only a few of the existing lines were rebuilt in the downtown area, while at the same time automobile traffic increased heavily. To improve the situation, construction of the first tunnel began in 1963. When the tunnel was opened in November 1968, it was integrated into the tram network, instead of a separate subway operation. Since then, street-running tram lines have gradually been replaced with tunnels, some elevated track and surface lines with separated right of way. From 1973 until 2006 light rail vehicles have operated together with classic trams on the same lines.
Underground construction in downtown Cologne, one of Germany's oldest cities, is often obstructed by archeologists' legal rights to dig in all future building sites within the medieval city limits before all heavy construction machinery.
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