Transport in Dresden

Last updated
Dresden Hauptbahnhof Dresden-Germany-Main station.jpg
Dresden Hauptbahnhof

Dresden is a major German city and capital of Saxony. It is a road, train and air transport hub in eastern Germany. Local and commuter transport services grant accessibility in the Dresden agglomeration. The city has a dense network of tram and bus lines. Dresden has two major train stations, an international airport and an inner harbour on the Elbe river waterway. Autobahns grant access to all cardinal directions. Dresden is the junction of two class-A European routes.

Contents

Dresden is also an international centre of traffic and transport science.

Road

Bundesautobahn 17 crossing the Weisseritz valley in southern Dresden A17 Weisseritztalbruecke Plauenscher Grund.jpg
Bundesautobahn 17 crossing the Weißeritz valley in southern Dresden

The Bundesautobahn 4 (European route E40) crosses Dresden in the northwest. Along the A4 motorway, Dresden has five exits. The A4 connects Dresden with Chemnitz and Frankfurt, and the A14 connects Leipzig and Hanover.

The Bundesautobahn 17 leaves the A4 at the three-junction interchange "Dresden-West" in a south-eastern direction. In Dresden it begins to cross the Ore Mountains towards Prague and provides three exits in the southern parts of Dresden. The Bundesautobahn 13 leaves from the three-point interchange "Dresden-Nord" and goes to Berlin. The A13 and the A17 are on the European route E55.

Bundesstraße roads crossing or running through Dresden are:

Automated parking garage Autom-Parkhaus.JPG
Automated parking garage

Railway

The network of the Dresden S-Bahn Dresden - S-Bahn - Liniennetz.svg
The network of the Dresden S-Bahn

There are two main inter-city transit hubs in the railway network in Dresden: Dresden Hauptbahnhof is the largest station in the city granting access to the network to the southern parts include the Altstadt. Dresden-Neustadt railway station is located to the north of the river Elbe. The most important railway lines run to Berlin, Prague, Leipzig and Chemnitz. A commuter train system (Dresden S-Bahn) operates on three lines alongside the long-distance routes. Other stations in Dresden include: Dresden-Friedrichstadt, Dresden Mitte, Dresden Airport and Dresden Industriegelände.

Airport

Dresden Airport is the international airport of Dresden, located at the north-western outskirts of the town in the district of Klotzsche. After German reunification the airport's infrastructure has been considerably improved. In 1998, a motorway access route was opened. [1] In March 2001, a new terminal building was opened along with the underground S-Bahn station Dresden Flughafen, a multi-storey car park and a new aircraft handling ramp. [2] The only runway of the airport was extended to 2,800 metre. Most of the scheduled flights are domestic flights for example to Munich, Frankfurt or Düsseldorf while there are also some daily international lines to Vienna, Zurich and London Heathrow.

The airport hosts the EADS Elbe Flugzeugwerke which is the EADS-centre of reverting Airbus passenger planes to freighter planes. The Elbe Flugzeugwerke are the largest plant of aircraft industry in eastern Germany.

Public local transport

The longest trams in Dresden set a record in length NGTD12DD front.jpg
The longest trams in Dresden set a record in length
Light rail/tramway network of Dresden Light-rail system Dresden.png
Light rail/tramway network of Dresden

Dresden has a large tramway network that is operated by the Dresdner Verkehrsbetriebe (DVB). The origins of the Dresden tramway can be traced back to the year 1872, when the first horse-drawn line opened between the city centre and the former village of Blasewitz, now a borough of Dresden.

The tramway system is the backbone of public transport in Dresden. DVB operate twelve routes on a 200 km network. [3] On the major lines through the inner city, where different routes intertwine, vehicles run up to every two minutes. Different routes can be identified by a route number scheme, which also extends to local and regional bus services, as well as a colour code which has by now only been applied to the official network diagram of DVB. On all tramway routes, a general 10-minute headway is offered on weekdays, extending to 15 minutes on Saturday, Sunday and in the evening. The system boasts a daily 24 hour service.

The fleet is being renewed to replace the ageing Czech Tatra trams. Today many of the low floor vehicles are up to 45 metres long and manufactured by Bombardier Transportation in Bautzen. The newest trams are vehicles of the Flexity Classic XXL series that are adjusted to the topography of Dresden. [4]

The Dresden tramway is a mixed system of traditional street running, especially in the inner city boroughs close to the city centre, and modern light rail. While many tracks in the system are on separated roadbeds (often with grass grown around them to avoid noise) some tracks are still placed on the streets in the midst of individual traffic. Contrary to many other German cities of comparable size, no tunnel sections exist.

A Mercedes-Benz Citaro bus of Dresden transportation, bound for Lobtau Sud Dresden bus citaro.jpg
A Mercedes-Benz Citaro bus of Dresden transportation, bound for Löbtau Süd
CarGoTram VW-Cargotram-Dresden.jpg
CarGoTram

In recent years, street running has been replaced by independent right-of-way arrangements wherever possible. Many stations are now fully accessible to physically disabled people, in compliance with the purchase of low floor rolling stock.

The CarGoTram was a tram that supplied Volkswagen's Transparent Factory, crossing the city. The two trams, up to 60 meters long, was the longest vehicles allowed to use roads in Dresden. The connection by tram was established to reduce the number of trucks used. The transparent factory is located not far from the city centre next to the city's largest park. [5]

DVB provide a night service named GuteNachtLinie ('goodnight lines'), which operates Monday-Sunday, although the frequency of the buses is greater on Friday, Saturday and before holidays when the routes run every 30 minutes between 22:45 and 04:45. [6] Postplatz is the most important hub for night-time travel in Dresden. Most GuteNachtLinie routes meet here at the same time to allow people to switch routes. [6] [7]

Transport science

History

Dresden has a long tradition in transport and traffic science dating back to the 19th century. Scientists of the city's colleges and technical institutes build up one of the world's most densest transport network by designing vessels such as the Saxonia locomotive, facilities such as the Göltzsch Viaduct and security devices. The early success in the rail network was named as a nationwide pattern by Friedrich List's work Über ein sächsisches Eisenbahn-System als Grundlage eines allgemeinen deutschen Eisenbahn-Systems (A Saxon rail system as a basement of a general German rail system) in 1833.

A faculty of traffic and circulation sciences at the Technische Hochschule was founded in 1949 and transformed into an independent University of Transport and Communications in 1952 (Hochschule für Verkehrswesen). The institute is part of the Technische Universität Dresden again since 1992, retransformed into the faculty of traffic and transport sciences. There is also the Fraunhofer Institute for Transportation and Infrastructure Systems close to the faculty's activities in research and development.

Until today the faculty is unique among German university faculties, although there are some universities offering akin courses (for example at the Technical University of Berlin at the faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Transport Systems). The faculty is closely interlocked to the faculties of mechanical engineering and economics as like as to the faculty of electrical engineering and information technology.

Current topics

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Transport in Germany</span> Overview of the transport in the Federal Republic of Germany

As a densely populated country in a central location in Europe and with a developed economy, Germany has a dense transport infrastructure.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dresden</span> Capital city of Saxony, Germany

Dresden is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth largest by area, and the third most populous city in the area of former East Germany, after Berlin and Leipzig. Dresden's urban area comprises the towns of Freital, Pirna, Radebeul, Meissen, Coswig, Radeberg and Heidenau and has around 790,000 inhabitants. The Dresden metropolitan area has approximately 1.34 million inhabitants.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dresden Airport</span> Airport serving Dresden, Germany

Dresden Airport is the international airport of Dresden, the state capital of Saxony, Germany. It is located in Klotzsche, a district of Dresden 9 km (5.6 mi) north of the city centre. It was formerly also known in German as Flughafen Dresden-Klotzsche. Destinations from the airport include a few European cities and several holiday destinations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Night service (public transport)</span> Public transport services operated during the night hours

Night service, sometimes also known as owl service, is a mode of public transport service operated during the night hours. As an intermediate approach – between providing full service around the clock and stopping services altogether – it provides more limited service during times of lower passenger volume, saving resources and allowing for maintenance on primary transportation systems. They typically offer fewer routes and less frequent service. Night-based services may be differently branded compared to daytime services. Examples are London and Chicago, where overnight buses are prefixed with an "N" for "night". Another common way to distinguish night services from their daytime counterparts is dark-colored line numbers. Some cities apply a different fare structure for night services from their daytime services.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dresden Funicular Railway</span> Railway in Dresden, Germany

The Dresden Funicular Railway is a funicular in Dresden, Germany, connecting the districts of Loschwitz, near the "Blue Wonder" bridge, and Weisser Hirsch.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">CarGoTram</span>

The CarGoTram was a freight tram in Dresden, Germany that operated between 2001 and 2020. It supplied Volkswagen's "Transparent Factory" with parts for car assembly.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dresden Hauptbahnhof</span> Railway station in Dresden, Germany

Dresden Hauptbahnhof is the largest passenger station in the Saxon capital of Dresden. In 1898, it replaced the Böhmischen Bahnhof of the former Saxon-Bohemian State Railway, and was designed with its formal layout as the central station of the city. The combination of a station building on an island between the tracks and a terminal station on two different levels is unique. The building is notable for its train-sheds, which are roofed with Teflon-coated glass fibre membranes. This translucent roof design, installed during the comprehensive restoration of the station at the beginning of the 21st century, allows more daylight to reach the concourses than was previously possible.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Karlsruhe Stadtbahn</span> Tram-train system in Karlsruhe, Germany

The Karlsruhe Stadtbahn is a German tram-train system combining tram lines in the city of Karlsruhe with railway lines in the surrounding countryside, serving the entire region of the middle upper Rhine valley and creating connections to neighbouring regions. The Stadtbahn combines an efficient urban railway in the city with an S-Bahn, overcoming the boundary between trams and trains. Its logo does not include the green and white S-Bahn symbol used in other German suburban rail systems and the symbol is only used at stops and stations outside the inner-city tram-operation area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dresdner Verkehrsbetriebe</span>

Dresdner Verkehrsbetriebe AG (DVB) is the municipal transport company of the city of Dresden in Germany. It is a member of the Verkehrsverbund Oberelbe transport association that manages a common public transport structure for Dresden and its surrounding areas. The DVB operates the Dresden tram network comprising 12 tram lines, with a total line length of approximately 210 kilometres (130.5 mi) and a total route length of 132.7 kilometres (82.5 mi), and 28 bus lines, with a total line length of approximately 306 kilometres (190.1 mi). It is also responsible for two funicular railways and three ferries across the River Elbe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rapid transit in Germany</span> Overview of the rapid transit system in Germany

Rapid transit in Germany consists of four U-Bahn systems and fourteen S-Bahn systems. The U-Bahn commonly understood to stand for Untergrundbahn are conventional rapid transit systems that run mostly underground, while the S-Bahn or Stadtschnellbahn are commuter rail services, that may run underground in the city center and have metro-like characteristics in Munich, Hamburg and Berlin which they only have to a lesser extent in other cities. There are also over a dozen premetro or Stadtbahn systems that are rapid transit in the city center and light rail outside.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Transport in Berlin</span> Overview of the transport in Berlin

Berlin has developed a highly complex transportation infrastructure providing very diverse modes of urban mobility. 979 bridges cross 197 kilometers of innercity waterways, 5,334 kilometres (3,314 mi) of roads run through Berlin, of which 73 kilometres (45 mi) are motorways. Long-distance rail lines connect Berlin with all of the major cities of Germany and with many cities in neighboring European countries. Regional rail lines provide access to the surrounding regions of Brandenburg and to the Baltic Sea.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Verkehrsverbund Oberelbe</span>

The Verkehrsverbund Oberelbe is a transport association run by public transport providers in the Saxon Elbeland area of the German state of Saxony. The VVO area comprises the city of Dresden, together with the districts of Meißen and Sächsische Schweiz-Osterzgebirge, and the north-western part of the district of Bautzen.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trams in Dresden</span> Overview of the tram network in Dresden, Saxony, Germany

The Dresden tramway network is a network of tramways forming the backbone of the public transport system in Dresden, a city in the federal state of Saxony, Germany. Opened in 1872, it has been operated since 1993 by Dresdner Verkehrsbetriebe (DVB), and is integrated in the Verkehrsverbund Oberelbe (VVO).

Transport in Hamburg comprises an extensive, rail system, subway system, airports and maritime services for the more than 1.8 million inhabitants of the city of Hamburg and 5.3 million people in the Hamburg Metropolitan Region.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trams in Graz</span> Austrian tram system

The Graz tramway network is a network of tramways forming an important part of the public transport system in Graz, which is both the capital city of the federal state of Styria, Austria, and the second largest city in Austria.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trolleybuses in Zürich</span>

The Zürich trolleybus system is part of the public transport network of Zürich, Switzerland. Opened in 1939, it combines the Zürich S-Bahn, the Zürich tramway network and Zürich's urban motorbus network to form an integrated all-four style scheme.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Erfurt Stadtbahn</span> Light rail system in Erfurt, Germany

The Erfurt Stadtbahn is a light rail network that is the basic public transit system of Erfurt, the capital of Thuringia in Germany. It represents the evolution of the city's original tramway which, outside of the city center, travels on track in its own right-of-way. The meter gauge network is made up of six lines, and has a total route length of 45.2 kilometers (28.1 mi), making it one of Germany's more moderate-sized Stadtbahn networks. The network is run by Stadtwerken Erfurter Verkehrsbetriebe AG, and is integrated in the Verkehrsverbund Mittelthüringen (VMT). The Stadtbahn carried 41.933 million passengers in 2012, which corresponds to about 114,885 passengers per day.

The Schöna / Bad Schandau / Pirna–Meißen railway is a two-track, electrified mainline railway in the German state of Saxony, predominantly served by the Dresden S-Bahn. It runs parallel to the pre-existing tracks of the Děčín–Dresden and Dresden–Leipzig railways. The section between Pirna and Dresden-Neustadt has been operated since 2004, afterwards the further sections from Dresden-Neustadt to Coswig have been upgraded. The Radebeul Ost–Coswig section was completed in 2013 and the section from Dresden-Neustadt to Radebeul Ost was completed in March 2016.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dresden-Strehlen station</span> Railway station in Dresden, Germany

Dresden-Strehlen is a railway station located in the district of Strehlen in Dresden. Opening in 1903, the station serves Dresden S-Bahn and DB Regio Südost trains along with public transport from Dresdner Verkehrsbetriebe (DVB).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Postplatz (Dresden)</span> Square in Dresden, Germany

The Postplatz is a central square in Dresden and an important traffic junction, especially for local public transport. It is located in the old town not far from the Zwinger.

References

  1. "1989 to 2000". dresden-airport.de. Retrieved 2020-05-12.
  2. "2001 to the present day". dresden-airport.de. Retrieved 2020-05-12.
  3. Dresdner Verkehrsbetriebe: Profile
  4. Dresdner Verkehrsbetriebe: NGTD12DD data sheet
  5. Dresdner Verkehrsbetriebe: CarGoTram
  6. 1 2 "Night-time travel on the GuteNachtLinie routes". Dresdner Verkehrsbetriebe . Retrieved 2022-05-31.
  7. "GuteNachtLinie network Map (Valid from 2022-01-31)" (PDF). Dresdner Verkehrsbetriebe . Retrieved 2022-05-31.
  8. AutoTram developed at Fraunhofer IVI Archived 2007-06-10 at the Wayback Machine
  9. Traffic and transportation psychology in Dresden Archived 2007-07-29 at the Wayback Machine
  10. Traffic Accident Research Project [ permanent dead link ]