!!!Straßenbahnen

Trams: In 1824 F. A. von  Gerstner, a Prague citizen, built 
a 228 m long trial track in the Vienna Prater for a horse-drawn train 
project, 1840-1842 the Brigittenau line connected the Augarten area of 
Vienna and the Colosseum music hall. The first regular horse-drawn 
trams in Vienna were operated from 1865 between Schottenring and 
Hernals; horse-drawn trams were also opened in Baden (1873), Graz 
(1878), Linz (1880), Klagenfurt (1891) and Salzburg (1892). The Neue 
Wiener Tramway-Gesellschaft (NWT, 1872-1902) took on the building and 
operation of trams in the outskirts. In Vienna the 
Dampftramwaygesellschaft Krauss & Co. built the Hietzing- 
Perchtoldsdorf line in 1883 and the Donaukanal- Gross Enzersdorf and 
Donaukanal- Stammersdorf lines in 1886. In 1880 the first electric 
tram was operated for demonstration purposes at the Rotunde exhibition 
centre. In 1883 the Moedling- Hinterbruehl line was opened as the 
first regular European tram service. It was followed by electric trams 
in Baden and Gmunden (1894), Vienna and Linz (1897), Graz (1899), 
Dornbirn (1902), Innsbruck (1905), Ybbs an der Donau (1906), Unterach 
(1907), Salzburg (1909), St. Poelten and Klagenfurt (1911). The Vienna 
 Stadtbahn, designed by O.  Wagner and opened in 1898, constitutes a 
major engineering and artistic achievement. In 1902 the Staedtisches 
Wiener Strassenbahn-Unternehmen company was founded by mayor K.  
Lueger and all lines were electrified. Between World War I and 
II, and especially after World War II, an institution owned by 
the Vienna municipality, from 1942 called "Wiener 
Verkehrsbetriebe", since 1992 "Wiener Linien", 
considerably extended its services. In 1949 it was merged with the 
electricity and gas works (and in 1953 with the Staedtische Bestattung 
funeral service) to form the Wiener Stadtwerke. Its development over 
the past decades has been marked by the construction of the Vienna  
Underground Railway and the expansion of the bus service, reducing the 
importance of trams. Since 1998 Ultra Low Floor trams (floor height 
18 cm) have been in use in Vienna. Trams operate on 
500-750 V D.C.; the Vienna and Graz tram lines use a gauge of 
1,435 mm (standard gauge), which was also used for the former 
tram lines in Baden, Salzburg and St. Poelten; the tram lines in 
Innsbruck and Gmunden (formerly also Dornbirn, Klagenfurt and 
Unterach) use a gauge of 1,000 mm; the tram line in Ybbs had a 
gauge of 760 mm; the tram service in Linz runs at the rare gauge 
of 900 mm.


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