150 years of tramway operation in München Munich

The Bavarian city of München in southern Germany is celebrating 150 years of tramway operation in 2026, starting with a Mother’s Day event at the tramway museum in Ständlerstrasse on 10 May with glasses of sekt offered to visitors. This also marked the opening of a new exhibition on the history of the tramway. One of the city’s newest trams, Siemens Avenio 2559 has been given a special retro look, with each section painted to represent a livery of the past, all of course featuring the traditional blue. The big day will be 17 October when historic trams from the museum are due to run through the streets on a special anniversary line taking visitors for a ride. Made ready for this event will be bogie tram 256 (1901), motor and trailer set 490+1401 (1911), KSW tram 721 (1944) with trailer 1509, three-axle set 2412+3407 (1957) and articulated set 20095+3004 (1967). 

 

Ingo Wortmann, CEO of municipal operator MVG said, “The tram shapes the face of the city and the lifestyle of the people in Munich. For the anniversary, we want to trace a broad arc from the impressive history of the tram to its growing importance for our mobility today. Our modern fleet and the new lines in the west, north and east of the city would be inconceivable without the historical legacy of the tram since 1876.” 

 

Horse trams started running in the city on 21 October 1876, with electric operation starting in 1895. Today there is 85km of tramway with 12 lines carrying some 104M passengers/year using 192 trams. The tramway shrank with the expansion of the city’s metro (1971-2007 ) but is slowly expanding again due to the daunting cost of metro construction.