In Vienna, they’ve started running freight over the tram system. The Wiener Linien, the public transport authority, runs perhaps the best system I’ve ever met (especially as they haven’t discovered the ticket barrier yet), including an intricate network of tramways carrying a variety of different trains that I’m not sick enough to detail. The plan, now, is to carry goods needed to maintain the system on goods trams like the one shown, and then perhaps also deliveries to businesses in the city, waste for disposal, and maybe also post. Link (in German) and more pics: here.
The trams are known as “bims” from the sound of the bell that invites the unwary to stand clear, as they go like a bat out of hell at the slightest provocation. For some reason, in my experience, the further east you go in Europe the faster the trams get - the Bratislava ones are quicker, and the huge ones in Budapest are a public menace rivalled only by the cars.
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May 21, 2005 at 11:36 pm
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May 22, 2005 at 10:56 am
btw, there has already been a cargo-tram system here in vienna some years ago. i don’t know why they stopped it back then, it’s a good idea (and a pretty obvious one too, if you think about it).
May 23, 2005 at 5:57 pm
It’s ironic that cities are “rediscovering” using their tram systems for freight as well as passenger use. In the united states at the turn of the last century it was very common for a trolly system to also have cars for mixed-freight, produce & milk, and even a few hearse cars.
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