62 (SWB line)

Bonn tramway network

Trams at Route 62's terminus, Oberkassel Süd.
Operation
Locale	Bonn, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany
Status	In service
Horsecar era: 1891 (1891)–1905(?) (1905(?)) Status Converted to electricity Owner(s) Havestadt, Contag. & Cie. co. (first) City of Bonn (second) Track gauge 1,000 mm (3 ft 3 3⁄8 in) metre gauge Propulsion system(s) Horses
Steam engine era: 1892 (1892)–1911 (1911) Status Converted to electricity Lines 1 Track gauge 1,000 mm (3 ft 3 3⁄8 in) metre gauge Propulsion system(s) Steam engine
Electric tram era: Since 1905(?) (1905(?)) Status Operational Lines 3 Owner(s) City of Bonn Operator(s) Stadtwerke Bonn (SWB) Track gauge 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) standard gauge Propulsion system(s) Electric Stock 24 low-floor tramcars Route length 29.52 km (18.34 mi) Bonn Straßenbahn network Website SWB Bus und Bahn

The Bonn tramway network (German: Straßenbahn Bonn) forms part of the public transport system in the city Bonn, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, along with the Bonn Stadtbahn with which the tramlines are heavily integrated. The tram network consists of three tram lines which makes Bonn's tramway relatively small, as it comprises only 29.52 kilometres (18.34 mi) of route. The tramway is operated by 24 low-floor tramcars.

In addition to the Stadtbahn, Bonn is served by three Straßenbahn (English: tram or streetcar) lines, covering 29.52 kilometres (18.34 mi) of route, that remain in service. Two of the tram lines (Lines 61 and 62) are regular routes, while the third line (Line 65) is a limited service route:

The first trams in Bonn were opened on 19 April 1891 as horsecar tramlines. The tramway was built by the Havestadt, Contag. & Cie. company, with which the city of Bonn had concluded an agreement on 22 and 25 August 1890. The operator of this first tramway was the AG Rheinische-Westfälische Bahngesellschaft, which was founded on 19 November 1889 by the master builder Christian Havestadt and several banks in Berlin.

The Havestadt, Contag & Cie. company initially opened two lines. The first traveled from the intersection Koblenzer Straße/Reuterstraße (today Bundeskanzlerplatz) to Markt, then on to Münsterplatz and Poststraße to the train station and from there to Poppelsdorf. On the return trip, the tramway ran from the train station through Wesselstraße back to Markt. The second tramline ran from Markt to Wilhelmplatz.

After the routes were sold to AG Rheinische-Westfälische Bahngesellschaft on 27 October 1899, a final extension of the horse-drawn tramway followed in 1903, when it was extended from the Poppelsdorfer Allee to Jagdweg in Endenich.

Under an agreement dated 15 and 17 October 1904, the horse-drawn trams passed into the possession of the city of Bonn.

Except for the Pützstraße–Koblenzer Straße line, all the horse tramlines were eventually electrified. The depots for the horse trams lay next to the Villa Loeschigk (the Palais Schaumburg today).

A steam tramline was started on 22 May 1892 that connected Bonn with Godesberg Mehlem. As with the horse tramlines, this steam tram line came into the possession of the city of Bonn on 15 and 17 October 1904, thought this line was co-owned with the city of then-independent city of Godesberg. The steam operation in 1911 was revamped in three stages, and converted to a standard gauge electrified tramline; at the same time, the terminus was also relocated to Kaiserplatz in Bonn.