Potsdam Tramway

Potsdam tramway network

A "Tatra KT4" at Nauener Tor.
Operation
Locale	Potsdam, Brandenburg, Germany
Horsecar era: 1880 (1880)–1907 (1907) Status Converted to electricity Track gauge 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) (standard gauge) Propulsion system(s) Horses
Electric tram era: since 1907 (1907) Status Operational Lines 7 Operator(s) Verkehrsbetrieb Potsdam ()(ViP) (since 1990) Track gauge 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) ((standard gauge) Propulsion system(s) Electricity Electrification 600 V DC overhead Stock Tatra KT4, Combino, Variotram Route length 28.9 km (18 mi) Stops 63 Map of the network, 2009. Website Stadtwerke (and Verkehrsbetrieb) Potsdam (German)

The Potsdam tramway network (German: Straßenbahnnetz Potsdam) is a network of tramways forming part of the public transport system in Potsdam, the capital city of the federal state of Brandenburg, Germany.

The network is owned by the public citizen company Verkehrsbetrieb Potsdam ()(ViP) and included in the fare zone "C" (Tarifbereich C) of the Berliner public transport area.

The network opened on 12 May 1880: It was a horsecar system owned by the society Reymer & Masch, named Potsdamer Straßenbahn-Gesellschaft and consisted of a pair of lines. 1907 saw the introduction of electric trams which ran on a new line of 8 km. In 1908 the network was composed by 4 lines (named from A to D) and in 1949 by 5 (named from 1 to 5).

At the end of the 1950s, new streetcars models were introduced (typical during the DDR era), the Gothawagen (T57, G4-61, G4-65 and T2-62), produced in the Thuringian town of Gotha by the Gothaer Waggonfabrik.

In the 1980s, a pair of new routes were built: in 1984 through the new residential center in Babelsberg and in 1988 from Am Stern stop to the new south-eastern residential area in Drewitz. The Czech trams Tatra KT4 were introduced in 1993, and the modern Combino and Variotram in the 2000s.