Independent transport videos welcome you to this, the 13th programme in our German Trams DVD series. In this programme we cover eight tramway systems as well as the amazing suspension railway at Wuppertal and we see the Solingen trolleybuses operating in Vohwinkel, at the southern terminus of the suspension railway. This programme was filmed entirely by renowned transport photographer Malcolm King on a visit he made in June 2023.

The programme begins at Nordhausen with their small fleet of Siemens Combino trams being featured and updates our visit we made to the town on our German Trams 11 DVD programme. The next system we visit is Halberstadt, also featured on the German Trams 11 DVD. The filming takes place on the 120th anniversary of the electric trams and we see museum trams 29, 31, 36, 61 and 156 in service.  Our cameras take a ride on tram 29, a Reko TZ70 tram from 1975 and 36, a Lowa ET54 car dating from 1957. The oldest car in service is 31, a Lindner/AEG dating from 1939. The current fleet of Leipziger Fahrzeugbau NGTW6-H Leoliners are also seen in service. Dessau is the next system we visit where we see their Bombardier NGT6DE Flexity Classic trams in service in this small former East German town.

Now it is time to visit Germany’s capital – Berlin. The huge tram fleet is made up of Adtranz/Bombardier GT6N types and Bombardier Flexity Berlin trams that feature three different specifications all in the city’s bright yellow and white livery. Filming takes place at many locations around the city where the trams are seen in action. Our previous visit is available on German Trams 10 DVD where you can see the changes that have been made since our filming there in 2014.  Not far from Berlin are the systems of Schöneice-Rüdersdorf, Woltersdorf and Strausberg. These three small systems in the Brandenburg region have very interesting fleets. Schöneice-Rüdersdorf are operating some former ČKD Tatra KT4 trams, previously operated in Cottbus and are introducing some Transtech Artic trams from Helsinki which were new in 2013 and still operate in Helsinki livery. Our cameras take a short ride on Transtech Artic tram 52. At the time of our visit Woltersdorf were still operating Gotha/LEW T57 and B57 trams formally from Schwerin. We take a short ride on tram 27 that dates from 1957.  Strausberg is another small system with just one route. The newest trams are two Bombardier Flexity Berlin F6Z trams built in 2013 to the style of the trams operating in Berlin. The livery is the same as Berlin and also looks well on tram 22, a ČKD Tatra KT8 formally from Košice, which we take a short ride on.  To the south west of Berlin is the town of Potsdam. Here the smart green and white trams consist of some former Berlin ČKD Tatra KT4DC trams and Siemens Combino and Stadler Variobahn trams. Our cameras take a short ride on tram 151+255, a ČKD Tatra KT4DC, ex Berlin. Our final location is Wuppertal in the Nordrhein-Westfalen region of Germany.

Famous for its suspension railway our cameras ride the system from Oberbarmen Bahnhof to Vohwinkel covering the entire length of the railway. We travel on cars 16, 30 and 19, which are known as ‘Vossloh Kiepe Generation 15’. At Vohwinkel we film the trolleybuses from vast Solingen fleet that travel their route 683 from Berger Bahnhof. At Vohwinkel the trolleybuses run on a non-electrified section. The vehicles are Solaris/Kiepe Trollino 18 BOB (Batterie-O-Bus) type. There is plenty of variety to be seen on this programme that we hope you enjoy watching.

Produced by - Independent Transport Videos
Running time - 89 minutes
Filmed: 2019
Format - 16:9 Widescreen
DVD only
Release date - September 2024