After many years of neglect, the Innsbruck tramway has developed into a modern operation over the past two decades through noticeable new investments. In addition to a complete renewal of the vehicle fleet, this programme also includes various line extension projects, and it is precisely of these that a further section of the line started revenue service today, 4 March 2023. 1.1 km long, the new line shares its track with public streets, including the large Bundesstrasse, only the terminus has its own alignment, separated from individual car traffic. Line 5 now branches off from line 2 at Schützenstraße and runs via two new stops, Neu-Rum Volksschule and Glungezerstraße, to Rum Bahnhof (railway station), where a state-of-the-art transfer hub to ÖBB regional trains and various bus lines has been created.
Lines 2 and 5 form an essential part of the Innsbruck tramway’s Regionalbahn (regional light rail) concept. Line 5 will in future extend beyond the city limits into the surrounding area at both ends of the line. At Rum this is already the case, in the west the extension from the current terminus Technik West to Völs is expected by 2026. Lines 2 and 5 overlap for most part of their routes. Until yesterday – 3 March – line 5 had its terminus at Schützenstraße. On large sections, both lines replaced the trolleybus service that was discontinued in 2009. This served the current terminuses Technik West and Peerhofsiedlung,, too, and had been created as a cost-saving alternative to the new tram construction in 1988-92.
The section of line that has now been opened has already been used regularly since January 2023 for test runs and familiarisation trips for the driving personnel. Line 5 now runs every 10 minutes on Mondays-Fridays, every 15 minutes on Saturdays and every 30 minutes in the evenings and on Sundays and public holidays.
Another map of the tram network of Innsbrucker Verkehrsbetriebe and Stubaitalbahn GmbH can be found here: https://www.urbanrail.net/eu/at/innsbruck/innsbruck.htm
Picture gallery (click on it to enlarge the photos):
The route extensions of the IVB in the past years:
26 October 2012: Philippine-Welser-Str. – Amras (new terminus) (0.4 km).
14 December 2012: Bürgerstraße – Höttinger Au/West (1.5 km)
10 December 2017: Höttinger Au/West – Technik West and Peerhofsiedlung (together 3.0 km)
26 January 2019: Defreggerstraße – Josef-Kreschbaumer Straße and connection Terminal Marktplatz – Klinik/Uni (together 3.5 km)
