CarGoTram

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.

History
The idea of building a "transparent factory" for Volkswagen automobile production in Dresden arose in 1997. In March 2000, Dresdner Verkehrsbetriebe AG (DVB AG, Dresden Public Transport Co.) and Volkswagen Automobil-Manufaktur Dresden GmbH signed a contract for the CarGoTram. Car parts were to be transported from the logistics centre in Friedrichstadt, Dresden to the new factory, using infrastructure normally used for passenger trams. Since the 4 km long route from the logistics centre to the factory ran through Dresden's inner city of Dresden, the tram caused less traffic congestion than trucks.

Two CarGoTrams were built by Schalker Eisenhütte Maschinenfabrik GmbH Gelsenkirchen, at a cost of 6.5 million Deutsche Mark (3.3 million euro) each.

The tram was officially introduced in Dresden on 16 November 2000 and had its first test run on 3 January 2001.

Production of the VW Phaeton in Dresden ended in March 2016, when the service was suspended. It restarted for production of the VW e-Golf in March 2017.

Volkswagen announced in October 2020 that the CarGoTram would stay in service only until late December 2020, when production of the VW e-Golf would end and a new logistics concept would start for VW ID.3 production. The last service was planned for 23 December 2020.

On 10 December 2020, a van crashed into one of the CarGoTrams as it was turning right to the entrance to the Gläserne Manufaktur ("Transparent Factory" of Volkswagen). According to Falk Lösch, spokesman of DVB AG, the van probably passed a red traffic light. Both vehicles were damaged. As the other CarGoTram was not in service at that time, the accident ended the service.

, both trams were still parked in the tram depot.

Route
CarGoTram ran every hour. If necessary, it could run every 40 minutes. Several different routes were used. The main route went from the logistics center in Friedrichstadt via Postplatz and Grunaer Straße to Straßburger Platz and finally on to the factory. If there was heavy traffic, the tram could also take route via the main station or other routes.

Technology
The CarGoTram is a bidirectional vehicle consisting of 5 segments in a standard formation of three all-freight units and two combination freight-and-control units. The control cars have less capacity (7500 kg) than the middle cars (15000 kg) because of space devoted to the driver’s cab. Total capacity is the equivalent of three trucks (214 m³).

The running gear was recycled from out-of-service Tatra trams, mostly Tatra T4. The bodies were newly built. All axles were driven.