Previous page

Graz

I have also visited Austria's second largest city (250,000 inhabitants) before, but all I had at hand then was a 35-mm compact camera, limiting my "photographic urge". Now, equipped with my digital, I concentrated more on trams...

We arrived to Graz by train, with a delay of more than two hours. We were tired, because on a long section we were transported with buses instead of train, and since my legs were too long for the seats, I could not get a sleep.

One of the first trams we saw was this track-grinder, doing its deeds right in the middle of the morning rush hours, when headways in this street are less than a minute! I liked the way it sparkled in the morning greyness!

The Cityrunner, or as it's now known, the Bombardier "Flexity Outlook" is one of my favorite low-floor tramcars. It's got a remarkably smooth running (in contrast to some other types) - in fact so smooth that my girlfirend fell asleep while riding one of them!

A "Mannheim-type" DÜWAG car manufactured by SGP of Austria.

The same eight-axle car from behind. Note how close the tracks run to the cafe terrace to the right!

Some cars feature monitors displaying ads, actual news and traffic information.

Before we have seen a DÜWAG car built on license, now let's see an original: this "Mannheim-type" was built for Duisburg at the end of the seventies.

Another type based on a DÜWAG: the localised version of the M/N series, built by SGP around 1986.

Bombardier Transportation has extended the cars with low-floor middle parts (B'2'2'B') in 1999.

The interior of such a car: note the deep "hole" in the middle, which is the low-floor middle part.

Number 604, another of the same type.

This DÜWAG-license tramcar was built by Lohner.

Driving school just before Jakominiplatz.

A Cityrunner with all-over-ad.

The interior of a Cityrunner. These cars are quite narrow (2.2 m), but the rounded design (instead of other, more boxy designs) makes them a comfortable vehicle.

The wheels of the car are located under these seats.

Another ex-Duisburg car.

Jakominiplatz, where all six tram lines meet.

Number 534 slightly bended.

Number 581 was built out of number 273 built by SGP and number 552 built by DÜWAG for Wuppertal. There are four similar vehicles in Graz. These DÜWAG's are like LEGO: you can make them longer or shorter easily :-)

If you take a closer look, you can see that the ex-Wuppertal middle-part has a different roof and different windows.

Number 501.

Number 607...

... and a Cityrunner in the bend at Jakominiplatz.

Old and new together in the main shopping street.

These two trams were both built as six-axle cars, and extended later to eight axles.

The back of an "extended" DÜWAG/SGP at the main railway station.  By then we were so tired that we sat down at the station and waited for our train instead of making more photos...
 

End is good, all is good...

On the trip back to Budapest we changed trains in Vienna. During that transfer I caught this rainbow over a tram 58 at Westbahnhof. A nice ending of a nice tour!