If you mention in front of your collegues that you're going to Munich at the end of September, they'll think you're going there because of the Octoberfest, the world-famous beer festival. You can tell them that you're only visiting your mother who lives there, or that you don't like beer, they won't believe you. There's only one thing that'll get you a worse reception than the "I don't like beer"-excuse: if you tell them that you're going there to take photos of trams. And that's exactly what I did!

One of the many things I like about Munich is that despite the fact that many tram lines were abandoned and/or supplemented by subway, the city still has a well-organised tram network. And that makes special services like the Christmas-Tram ("ChristkindlmarktTram") or a sigthseeing tour like "MünchenTram" possible. "MünchenTram" was a 45-minute guided tour through the city running regularly during the Oktoberfest. The vehicle they used for this service was a "P-train" consisting of a P3.16 four-axle articulated motorcar and a p3.17 four-axle articulated trailer. The picture was taken at the turning loop at Sendlinger Tor, where the tour started.

Junctions like this are needed to operate a flexible network, and Munich has lots of junctions and turning loops! "MünchenTram" used many of these on its way from Sendlinger Tor via Karlsplatz - Karolinenplatz - Hauptbahnhof - Karlsplatz - Lenbachplatz - Maximilianstraße - Maxmonument - Max-Weber-Platz - Isartor - Sendlinger Tor.

The interior of the cars (here motorcar 2031) was decorated, and you could also listen to some authetic bavarian music.

BTW, the seats are made of wood. Strange, but not uncomfortable!

The driver's cab.

After the tramcar of the past, the tramcar of the future: low-floor articulated vehicle R3.3 from ADTranz/Siemens. Twenty of them were bough since 1999.

The older brother of the R3.3: predecessor R2.2, another low-floor vehicle from ADTranz/Siemens. This type is now the backbone of tram operation in Munich.

Another R2.2 at Deutsches Museum. As you can see on most of the pictures, we had bad weather, so I couldn't take as many pictures as I wanted...

R2.2 at Isartor.

(I was all wet by the time I took this photo, so I went home, and hoped that it won't be raining the next day...)

Et voila: the sun was shining so after we went to see the Oktoberfest with my girlfriend (we did not drink any beer of course:-), we rode the trams for a couple of hours. The sun was shining so bright that I was able to do interior shots, too! (Type R2.2)

Another interior shot of the R2.2.

R2.2's at the terminus of routes 17 and 18 at Effnerplatz.

Another terminus: Amalienburg.

A "P-train" on route 20 (21 is a sub-route of line 20, that's why it's presented as "20/21" on the signs).

There's only seven of these trains now: some of them were not converted for the usage of 750V (instead of the 650V used before 11. November 2001).

R3.3 on route 20 and...

... another one on route 21.

The interior of this long low-floor vehicle.

Interestingly seats in the front half of the car are made of wood, while the others are carpeted.

This series also features a new livery: "blue-violet" and "aluminium" instead of the traditional blue and white (which are the colors of Bavaria).

Car 2212 at Karlsplatz/Nord. I'm curious whether there will be new orders for this type now that ADTranz was bought by Bombardier (if I'm not mistaking), or a new type will be considered!