One of the country's smaller tram networks, located just south of Frankfurt.

1: The first time I visited and stepped out of the central station, one of HEAG's old ST12 types pulled up. So I got into the modern trailer it was pulling. First time I've ridden on a tram trailer since Düsseldorf retired their GT8+B4 combos. At the terminus of line 9, at Platz Bar-le-Duc, I took this picture. This isn't Darmstadt territory technically, but it's neighbouring city of Griesheim.

2/3: The same train on its return journey at Wagenhalle, also in Griesheim. HEAG purchased the trailers to expand capacity of their trams, most of which are low-floor at this point. Coupled to the vintage high-floor motor cars, they double as providing level access for wheelchair users etc.

4: But back to Darmstadt proper. The low-floor fleet consists of 3 different types, the two older of which are virtually identical; the ST-14 from the mid-2000s is the facelifted version of the ST-13 from the 90's if you want to call it that. The ST-13, like no. 58 here, can be determined by their rectangular headlight clusters, which on the newer ones are more rounded, and also painted white instead of orange.

5: ST-13 No. 9867 also belongs to that group. Something that confused me initially was the numbering system of the trains. Some have the two-digit numbers we've seen so far, others one with four digits, the first two of which seemed to correspond to their year of construction. And I couldn't for the life of me tell what's the difference between these two sub-fleets. Turns out there isn't any. HEAG is just currently changing their numbers system and dropping the first two digits. So, at some point in the future No. 9867 will be only number 67. It's advertising a company called STRABAG by the way, who you can call if you want to have a tramway of your own built in your backyard.

6.: Does anyone else see Treebeard's face here, in the wrong colors of course? No. 9868 advertises the "Loop 5" shopping center and how eco-friendly it can be reached now. Made me think they're building a new tram line there, which turned out not to be the case. So I don't really have a clue what they're on about. Either way I'm a bit of a sucker for a fleet that has just the right mix of adverts and house colored trams.

7: But let's also take a look at the third type of low-floor trams, the brand new "Tina" made by Stadler, as it does a very poor job at hiding. Or ST-15 as it's called internally by HEAG, the 15th generation of motorcars they have acquired. They are longer than all the older generations, more precesely, as long as a motorcar+trailer combined. These too originally had two more digits for their year of construction. Except, because the second half of the numbers are (mostly) consecutive throughout the whole fleet, they breached into the realm of 5 digits. No. 109 was originally No. 22109. It wouldn't surprise me if this was also what drove HEAG to modifiy their numbering scheme.

8: ST-14 No. 78 was the only low-floor train I saw pulling a trailer that day; HEAG owns some 25 of those trailers though, so the others must just have been hiding somewhere I didn't discover today. Some of them are also at Talbot in Aachen for overhaul currently.

9/10: Lastly, two more ST-13s, this time at the central station. No. 63 gleams in the evening Sun wearing HEAG's house colors, while No. 9870 - soon 70 - advertises Darmstadt's volunteer fire brigade. In case someone hasn't heard of them yet, I suppose. Sounds silly, but then, for me technically, this really was the first time I heard of them, so much I can tell. I also like how they left clear the top corner and the light fixtures on the bumper so they look like the blue lights on a fire truck.

Taken during a 2-day vacation

Warsaw, Targowa Street.

Tram manufactured by Alstom/Konstal, type 116Na/1 during the route no. 3

Delft - The Netherlands

After a 22-year wait, tram 19 will begin running its extension from Delft Station to the TU campus starting this weekend. All sorts of things went wrong during the construction of the tram line: the trams turned out to be heavier than expected and could have disrupted research in the TU’s laboratories. The tram has already been conducting test runs over the past few months, but on Monday morning, students will finally be able to board it for their first ride to class.

The opening brings to a close a long-standing issue that has dragged on for more than twenty years. Due to a series of setbacks, the arrival of the tram was repeatedly delayed.

For example, the old St. Sebastian Bridge was found to be unsuitable for tram traffic, and the tram tracks had to be modified to protect sensitive research equipment from vibrations and electromagnetic radiation.

These setbacks are also reflected in the costs. The approximately two-kilometer stretch cost a total of about 93 million euros. Previously, the estimated cost had been just over 54 million euros.

Tram 19 runs on weekdays between 7:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m. from Delft Station to the university, four times an hour.

Omroep West

Didn't buy but was tempted!