Trams in Leipzig

Leipzig tramway network
Leipzig tramway network
Straßenbahn Leipzig
	Trams at Waldplatz, near Red Bull Arena
Operation
Locale	Leipzig, Saxony, Germany
Horsecar era: May 16, 1872–1897
Status	Converted to electricity
Operator(s)	Leipziger Pferde-Eisenbahn (LPE)
Track gauge	1,458 mm (4 ft 9+13⁄32 in)
Propulsion system(s)	Horses
2022
Electric tram era: since 1896
Status	Operational
Lines	13
Operator(s)	Große Leipziger Straßenbahn (GLSt) (1896–1938); Leipziger Elektrische Straßenbahn (LESt); (1896–1916); Leipziger Außenbahn AG (LAAG) (1900–1946); Leipziger Verkehrsbetriebe; (1938–)
Track gauge	1,458 mm (4 ft 9+13⁄32 in)
Propulsion system(s)	Electricity
Electrification	600 V DC trolley wire
Route length	143.5 km (89.2 mi)
2022	135,000,000
Website	Leipziger Verkehrsbetriebe (in German)

The Leipzig tramway (German: Straßenbahn Leipzig) is a network of tramways which, together with the S-Bahn Mitteldeutschland, forms the backbone of the public transport system in Leipzig, a city in Saxony, Germany. Opened in 1872, the network has been operated since 1938 by Leipziger Verkehrsbetriebe (LVB). The network has been integrated in the Mitteldeutscher Verkehrsverbund (MDV) since 1 August 2001.^[1]

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With its 13 lines, route length of 143.5 km (89.2 mi) and 522 tram stops, the network is currently the third biggest in Germany, after the Cologne and Berlin tramway networks.

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Evolution of the network, the different companies are colour-coded

As of December 2022^[update] there were a total of 228 trams and 43 trailers in regular service,^[1] consisting of the following:

30 Tatra T4D-M (Typ 33c/33d/33h/33i)
56 Low floor articulated trams of type NGT8 (Typ 36/36a)
49 Low floor articulated trams of type NGTW6 Leoliner [de; ja] (Typ 37/37a/37b)
33 Low floor articulated trams of type NGT12-LEI (Bombardier Flexity Classic XXL) (Typ 38/38a)^[2]
61 Low floor articulated trams of type NGT10 Solaris Tramino XL (Typ 39)^[3]
43 Low floor trailers of type NB4 (Typ 68a/68b)

In 2018 Leipzig sold 20 used trams to the Ukrainian city of Dnipro, to be used on its tram routes.^[4]

In 2019 a procurement project for new trams was launched jointly with tram operators in Görlitz and Zwickau. A contract was signed in December 2021 with LEIWAG (a consortium of HeiterBlick [de] and Kiepe Electric) and Leipzig will receive 25 new 45 m long trams, with options for up to 130 more.^[5]

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Replica of horse tram in operation
A 1914/15 postcard depicting a tram
Some vehicles, such as this horse tram, are preserved in the tram museum
Trams are used to bring passengers to Leipzig Trade Fair, 1972
Tatra T4 tram, June 1993
Modern low-floor tram of the NGT12-LEI Type
Service vehicle

[1]
Scholze, Rolf-Roland (September 2023). "2022, Das Julbiläumsjahr" [2022, The anniversary year]. Straßenbahn Magazin (in German). GeraMond. pp. 16–23. ISSN 0340-7071.
[2]
"Leipzig exercises Flexity tram option". Railway Gazette International. 25 January 2010.
[3]
"Leipzig: LVB erweitert Option für Tramino-Bahnen" [Leipzig: LVB extends option for Tramino trams]. Eurailpress (in German). 9 January 2019.
[4]
(in Ukrainian) Dnipro tram fleet will be replenished with cars from Germany, National industrial portal [uk] (2 October 2021)
[5]
"Zwickau, Görlitz and Leipzig jointly order new tram fleet from Heiterblick/Kiepe". Urban Transport Magazine. 2021-12-16. Retrieved 2024-09-22.

Bauer, Gerhard; Kuschinski, Norbert (1993). Die Straßenbahnen in Ostdeutschland [The Tramways in East Germany]. Vol. Band 1: Sachsen [Volume 1: Saxony]. Aachen, Germany: Schweers + Wall. ISBN 3921679796. (in German)
Schwandl, Robert (2012). Schwandl's Tram Atlas Deutschland (in German and English) (3rd ed.). Berlin: Robert Schwandl Verlag. pp. 94–97. ISBN 9783936573336.