The first of the new low-floor trams supplied by Czech manufacturer ŠKODA TRANSPORTATION have entered passenger service in Bonn. Stadtwerke Bonn Verkehrs-GmbH (SWB) officially unveiled the new tram beforehand and invited guests to take the first tour.
A brief historical review
Bonn is not only one of the oldest German cities (first documented mention in 11 BC), but also one of the largest with a population of 336,000. It is in 19th place in the ‘ranking’, many German cities that are large and important are smaller than Bonn – including state capitals such as Wiesbaden, Kiel, Magdeburg and Saarbrücken.
Local public transport in the city has existed since 1891, when the ‘Rheinisch-westfälische Bahngesellschaft’ based in Berlin opened the Bonn horse-drawn railway. The company belonged to the railway company ‘Havestadt, Contag & Cie’, which was also based in Berlin.
Bonn’s first electric tram line went into operation on 21 May 1902. It ran between the ‘state railway stations’ in Bonn on the left bank of the Rhine and the then still independent municipality of Beuel on the right bank of the Rhine via the Rhine bridge, which opened in 1898. And because the horse-drawn railway ran on a metre gauge, the electric tramway also started out on a 1,000 mm gauge.
At the end of 1904, the city took over its own tramway. Havestadt & Contag is paid off and the municipal transport company now operates under the name ‘Bahnen der Stadt Bonn’. On 7 December 1905, the city council decides that new tram lines should no longer be built in metre gauge, but in standard gauge. Just nine months later, on 8 September 1906, the line between the two ‘state railway stations’ was also completely converted to standard gauge. The eight electric tramcars available at this time are also converted. Only the existing horse-drawn trams are not converted to standard-gauge trailers: this is too costly.
Bonn’s tram network has lines to the west and east of the Cologne – Bonn – Koblenz railway line on the left bank of the Rhine. The city’s tramway would like to unite these two networks by having the trams cross the tracks of the state railway at the same level in the area of the main station. However, the state railway administration refuses to do this. The reason given was that the expected dense train sequence on the tramway would severely disrupt train traffic on the railway. So there are still two networks: west of the railway and east of the railway. Passengers can change between the two networks by taking the tram to a level crossing at the main railway station, crossing the level crossing on foot and then getting back on the tram on the other side.
In 1905, the Viktoria Bridge was opened over the railway north of the main station as part of the Ringe. Initially there were no regular services here, but since then it has been possible to travel to and from the depot (on Graurheindorfer Straße) via this bridge.
The ‘southern subway’ at the main station is opened in 1936. The fact that there was not much space available can still be seen today in the winding course of the subway, including a veritable S-curve, which places special demands on the trams used. Nevertheless, both parts of the network are now connected by this subway. This means that the following lines can be served:
1: Graurheindorf – Nordstadt – Friedensplatz – Hauptbahnhof – Südstadt – Kessenich – Dottendorf
2: Beuel railway station – Rhine bridge – Friedensplatz – Hauptbahnhof – Südstadt – Argelanderstraße
3: Friedensplatz – main railway station – Weststadt – Endenich
4: Stadthalle (Gronau) – Koblenzer Straße (today Adenauerallee) – Markt – Friedensplatz – Meckenheimer Allee – Poppelsdorf.
For a short time, there was also a line 5 over the Viktoriabrücke bridge.
In 1955, the two lines 3 and 4 as well as the Südstadt – Argelanderstraße section of line 2 are closed. Line 4 is replaced by the two trolleybus lines 15 and 16, line 3 and the Südstadt – Argelanderstraße section of line 2 are replaced by the new bus line 24.
Bonn’s tram fleet
To date, there have been (and still are) essentially four generations of tram trams in Bonn. Here is an overview in table form:
1. two-axle vehicles from the founding years (from 1902, manufacturer: van der Zypen & Charlier, Cologne). Tramcars 1 – 8 from 1902 were converted to standard gauge when the track gauge was changed, all others came later. The last 2x tramcar was No. 48 from 1914. There were also 21 two-axle trailers (101 to 121). There was no conversion of metre-gauge horse-drawn trams to standard gauge: this was too costly
2. Düwag 4- and 6-axle tramways built between 1957 and 1968
3. Low-floor tramcars from Siemens/Düwag, built in 1994 (no. 9451 to 9474)
4. Skoda ForCity Smart T 41.
The new Skoda ForCity Smart T 41
On 7 December 2024, SWB invited guests to the ‘maiden voyage’ of the brand new Skoda tramcar 2253. Around 70 guests attended, from the Mayor of Bonn to the Czech Ambassador in Berlin, Skoda Transportation management and sales staff, SWB Bus und Bahn Managing Director Anja Wenmakers, as well as representatives from the press and WDR television, and who else SWB had invited to the maiden voyage.
No. 2253 rolled out of the Beuel depot at around 11.00 am. It went through the Beuel district centre to the Kennedy Bridge, crossed the Rhine on it and reached Bertha-von-Suttner-Platz in the city centre on the left bank of the Rhine. We continued along Oxfordstrasse and Thomas-Mann-Strasse to the main railway station. Here we rode through the winding ‘southern subway’ (see above) to the Poppelsdorfer Allee/Quantiusstraße railway triangle. After a short reset, we returned to the Beuel depot.
Bonn’s new ‘Skoda Transportation’ trams are three-car articulated vehicles for two-way operation, as there is only a turning loop at the Dottendorf terminus. At the other terminal stops, the trams have to change direction. Between two ‘head’ trams, both of which run on two bogies each, they have a shorter floating centre tram. The end trams have a double-width door on each side, the centre tram even has two. The previous low-floor tramcars are three-door vehicles, the new Skoda tramcars of the same length are now four-door vehicles, and passenger changes at the stop will be correspondingly faster.
The 2.40 wide tramcar is characterised by a friendly and bright interior. It has two seats on either side of the centre aisle, which are arranged as compartments. Nevertheless, the centre aisle is sufficiently wide. There are also two multi-purpose areas in the centre tram for wheelchairs, pushchairs, bicycles, luggage and also as a standing area. The previous low-floor tramcars usually only had three seats per row, so the Skoda trains offer significantly more comfort.
The seats are framed by a light-coloured wooden frame, the seat cushions and backrests are upholstered in a bright red fabric. Grab handles are silver.
For the first time in Bonn trams, the new Skoda trams have air conditioning and not just air conditioning for the driver’s seat as in the succesor generation of the well-known “B-Wagen”.
Initially, four of the Skoda tramcars were be available for the timetable change on 15 December 2024 (trams nos. 2251 to 2253 + 2351). The 24 other tramcars will now be delivered from the factory in Plzen every two weeks. This will take almost a whole year – simple maths: 24 x 2 = 48 weeks. It is not entirely unlikely that the last new lorry will even arrive in Bonn at the beginning of 2026.
Some technical data of the new Skoda ForCity Smart T 41 in Bonn
- Three-part double-articulated low-floor tramcars for bi-directional operation (four powered bogies)
- 28 tramcars
- Length: 30,600 mm
- Width: 2,400 mm
- Carrying capacity: 180 passengers (key four persons per square metre)
- 60 seats (plus 4 folding seats)
- Maximum speed: 80 km/h
- Two multifunctional areas (in the centre tram)
- Information system with exterior and interior displays
- Operation on lines 61, 62 and 65
- Deployment from the timetable change on 15 December, initially on line 61
- The new Bonn ‘Skoda ForCity Smart T 41’ have been honoured with the ‘Red Dot Award’ in the ‘Product Design 2024’ category.
