The German city of Gießen has awarded a planning contract for a preliminary study on the technical feasibility of a rail-based public transport system in the university town of Giessen.
Mayor Alexander Wright hopes that the study will provide well-founded conclusions as to whether a tram system in the Gießen urban area or, if necessary, a RegioTram extending further into the surrounding area is feasible and, if so, under what structural, traffic planning and urban design assumptions and conditions, as well as at what approximate cost. ‘The study is intended to help political bodies decide whether further steps towards a more comprehensive feasibility study and cost-benefit analysis are advisable, or whether the existing bus system should be further expanded as an alternative,’ said Wright.
Several years ago, there was a ‘residents’ petition’ calling on the city council to examine the integration of tram lines into construction work, taking into account costs and possible subsidies, before expanding or building new roads in Giessen that are designated as possible tram routes in the so-called transport transition plan.
The contract has now been awarded to TransportTechnologie-Consult Karlsruhe GmbH (TTK), a renowned planning and consulting company specialising in transport and infrastructure planning. TTK is a subsidiary of Albtal-Verkehrs-Gesellschaft mbH (AVG), the Karlsruhe regional transport company, and PTV Transport Consult GmbH. AVG is known as the founder of mixed light rail/rail operation (the ‘Karlsruhe model’). TTK has international expertise in tram, light rail and bus projects. Comparable studies have been carried out for the RegioTram Aachen, the Heilbronn light rail system, the Rhine-Neckar region and Strasbourg, among others.
Trams last ran in Gießen in 1953, when they were largely replaced by a trolleybus system that remained in operation until 1968.
(Info/sources: Stadt Gießen Press, www.projektwerkstatt.de, etc.)
10.01.2026
