60 years of service to Mannheim/Ludwigshafen

The classic Duewag tram brought a revolution to German tramways in the late 1950s and 1960s, but few of these high-floor cars survive today. 

 

The Mannheim–Ludwigshafen–Bad Dürkheim interurban Rhein-Haardt-Bahn (RHB) introduced a unique variety of this class of tram in 1959-63, six-axle articulated motor trams pulling six-axle trailers. Remarkably three of the 1963 sets are still in use today: motors 1015/7/8 and trailers 1055/7/8 and can be ridden in service as extras on urban routes in Mannheim/Ludwigshafen. Their survival is down to the slow delivery of new Skoda 36T low-floor trams to the RNV (today’s tramway operator). 

 

To mark the 60th anniversary of the class Duewags,On Sunday 6 August a special tour of the network and former RHB lines using all three sets will take place between 09.50 and 20.30 (with a lunch break at Möhlstrasse depot 13.00-14.30). Organised by local tram preservation group Interessengemeinschaft Rhein-Neckar e.V, the tour costs EUR 32.