Austrian Railway Group

Klagenfurt Tramway

Now completely closed and removed, Klagenfurt tramways opened on 5th July 1891, as a metre-gauge horse tramway. The horses plied between the station, the cathedral in the city centre, and the Heiligengeistplatz until 17 November 1910, when the services were withdrawn.

The rails were replaced, and overhead wire was put up. Electric trams, built by Grazer Waggenfabrik, were bought new for the services, which were expanded when they were reintroduced from 06 May 1911.

At it’s fullest extent, the tramways had a total length of 10.2 km. Damaged during World War 2, when 60% of houses in Klagenfurt were destroyed in three days by Allied aircraft, the tramways suffered from bus competition provided by the city’s own services, and although new trams were supplied, in 1943 by Simmering, and in 1949 and 1951 by SGP, the tramways steadily lost passengers in the traffic jams of Klagenfurt of the 1950’s.

Although some of the trailer cars were rebuilt in 1961, 50 years after they were first constructed, following a political decision by the city council, and despite protests from some of the population of the city, the system was closed from 16 April 1963.

Some of the town trams, electric and horse-drawn, are now in the Tramway museum near the Wörthsee.