Kirnitzschtal Tramway

Kirnitzschtal tramway
Cars at the Beuthenfall stop
Overview
Type	Electric tramway
Status	Operational
Locale	Saxony, Germany
Termini	Bad Schandau Lichtenhain Waterfall
Stations	9 including 2 termini
Operation
Opened	1898
Owner	OVPS
Operator(s)	OVPS
Technical
Line length	7.9 km (4.9 mi)
Number of tracks	Single track with passing loops
Track gauge	1,000 mm (3 ft 3 3⁄8 in) metre gauge
Electrification	600 V DC
Route diagram 0.0 Bad Schandau Hotel Lindenhof(closed in 1969) Bad Schandau Forellenbrücke(closed in 1969) 0.4 Bad Schandau Stadtpark Bad Schandau Pflanzengarten to depot Depot loop Waldhäusel(near Ostrau) Ostrauer Mühle (Zeltplatz)(near Altendorf) Mittelndorfer Mühle(near Mittelndorf) Forsthaus(near Mittelndorf) Schneider loop Nasser Grund 7.5 Beuthenfall 8.3 Lichtenhainer Wasserfall(near Lichtenhain)

The Kirnitzschtal tramway, also known as the Kirnitzschtalbahn (Kirnitzsch Valley Tramway), is an electric tramway in Saxony, Germany. The line runs through the valley of the Kirnitzsch river in Saxon Switzerland, from the town of Bad Schandau up to the Lichtenhain Waterfall, in the municipality of Sebnitz. The line is principally a tourist service, being the only tramway to serve a National Park in Germany, and uses historical rolling stock built between 1925 and 1968.

The line is operated by the Oberelbische Verkehrsgesellschaft Pirna Sebnitz mbH (OVPS), which translates to the Upper Elbe Public Transport Company Pirna Sebnitz Ltd. This company also operates local bus services in the area around and between Pirna and Sebnitz, together with boat services on the Elbe river.

The first plans for the line were introduced in 1893. These were for a tramway from Bad Schandau to Rainwiese (now Mezní Louka in the Czech Republic). The decision on the form of propulsion to use was controversial, with both steam locomotives or electric traction proposed. However steam propulsion proved uneconomic, and electrification was selected. This required the construction of an additional power plant.

The line opened from Bad Schandau as far as the Lichtenhain Waterfall on Saturday, May 28, 1898. The first service was delayed by 45 minutes when the car derailed on its maiden trip. The line was operated a tourist service from the beginning, with service from May to October. In the opening year 80,000 passengers rode the line. The remainder of the line to Rainweise was never built for economic reasons.

The initial vehicle fleet comprised six enclosed motorcars and six trailers, which were built by Busch in Bautzen. During the night of July 26, 1927, fire destroyed the depot and the entire fleet. Traffic was restored on August 12 and continued until October 31 using cars borrowed from the Lößnitz Tramway. In 1928, a new fleet of five motorcars and six trailers built by MAN were put into service and the Lößnitz Tramway cars were returned to Radebeul. However a works car from the Lößnitz Tramway remained on the Kirnitzschtal tramway until 1954, over 20 years after the other borrowed cars had been scrapped. It was transferred to the Lockwitztal tramway, where it remained in regular transport service until 1968.