Copenhagen (København)
The Danish capital Copenhagen (approx. 1.2 million inhabitants in the urban area) has two metro routes, which share one branch in the western part. An additional ring line is under construction.
After the tram in Copenhagen was abandoned in 1972, the city's only public transport system were buses, until the first metro route was opened in 2002. The → Metro is completely automated and driverless.
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Aarhus
The city of Aarhus (approx. 270,000 inhabitants) in the Danish region of Midtjylland maintained a metre-gauge tram network from 1904 to 1971. The construction of a new standard gauge tram was started in 2012. So-called tram trains provide direct connections to the surrounding area using two railway lines. The inner-city tram section was opened in December 2017, the first tram trains started operation in August 2018.
The system called "Letbane" is operated by → Midttrafik, the transport company of the region.
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Odense
Odense, die mit ca. 180.000 Einwohnern drittgrößte Stadt Dänemarks, hat im Mai 2022 ihre 1952 eingestellte Straßenbahn wiedereröffnet. Die erste Linie ist gut 14 Kilometer lang, eine zweite Linie ist bereits in Planung. Die neue Bahn wird wie in vielen Städten üblich jedoch nicht als Straßenbahn (Sporvej) bezeichnet, sondern als Stadtbahn (Letbane, wörtlich Leichtbahn). Tatsächlich verläuft die Trasse zwar durch die Fußgängerzone, hat aber außer an Kreuzungen keine Berührungspunkte mit dem Autoverkehr.
Der Betrieb wird koordiniert von der → Odense Letbane P/S, die operative Betriebsführung wurde ausgeschrieben und wird von Keolis erbracht.
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Stockholm
The Swedish capital Stockholm has a more than 100 kilometres long Underground network (Tunnelbana). It is completed by some light rail routes, which either operate tangentially or serve as a feeder to the Underground. After having completely banished the tram from the city centre, there are now regular trams running on the "Djurgårdslinjen", which was only used as a heritage route for a long time and was reactivated as part of the "Spårväg City" project in 2010.
The operation of the public transport routes (subway, suburban train, urban railways and buses) is coordinated by → Storstockholms Lokaltrafik (SL) and distributed to private operators in bundles.
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Göteborg (Gothenburg)
The city of Gothenburg is located in the west of Sweden and has about 600,000 inhabitants. It has the largest tram network in Scandinavia with a system length of about 80 km. Most of the lines are separated from the road traffic outside the city centre. Some of the routes have been built without any crossings, resulting in very attractive travel times.
The network operator is → Göteborgs Spårvägar AB.
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Lund
The city of Lund is located near Malmö in the south of Sweden and has about 90,000 inhabitants. The construction of a tramway was discussed several times at the beginning of the 20th century, but not realised. More than a hundred years later, in 2015, the decision was made to build the tram in order to connect a new development area in the north-east of the city to the city centre and the railway station. The 5.5-kilometre-long line was opened at the end of 2020, and two further expansion stages are planned.
The infrastructure and vehicles are owned by the city respectively the regional administration, the operation is organised by the local transport association → Skånetrafiken.
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Oslo
The Norwegian capital Oslo has a tram network with a system length of 94 kilometres. The tram is called 'Trikken', which is the short form of 'Elektrikken' = electric.
It is supplemented by an almost 90-kilometre-long metro network (Norwegian: T-Bane, short form for Tunnelbane), which runs predominantly above ground outside the inner city. The Holmenkollbahn (line 1), which climbs up almost 500 metres to Frognerseteren, is worth seeing.
Both systems are operated by → Sporveien AS.
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Bergen
The city of Bergen, which is located in the south-west of Norway, has opened a tram line in 2010, after the first tram had been abanoned in 1965. Most subsections of the route are carried out as a light rail. The line has been expanded a few times and is now about 20 kilometres long.
The tram is operated by → Bybanen AS.
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Helsinki
The tram network of the Finnish capital (appox. 600,000 inhabitants) has a system length of some 90 kilometres. The trams run on metre-gauge tracks. There is also a 20-kilometre-long metro line.
The tramway and the metro are operated by HKL / HST ("Helsingin kaupungin liikennelaitos / Helsingfors stads trafikverk") on behalf of the regional association → HSL/HRT (Helsingin seudun liikenne / Helsingforsregionens trafik), the operation of the buses was separated.
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Tampere
The tramway in Tampere, Finland, was inaugurated in August 2021. The city is located about 200 kilometres north of Helsinki and has about 250,000 inhabitants. Two lines operate on a network with a route length of some 16 kilometres, and further expansion is planned. These are the first standard-gauge tracks in Finland, as the tramway in Helsinki runs on a gauge of 1,000 mm, while the Helsinki Metro and the railways use Russian broad gauge.
The tram is operated by a subsidiary of the Finnish state railway VR and is integrated into the regional transport network called → Nysse.
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