trams in Linz, Austria

the Taubenmarkt (dove market)

The old bridge over the Danube; needless to say, it needed replacing after WW2.

Now called the Hauptplatz, in the past at different times named after Franz Josef, Adolf Hitler and 12 November 1931.

Car on Line M, 1965 (wikimedia)

A work service car.

The Linz Strassenbahn or tramway network today extends some 26.8 km in the unusual gauge of 900 mm.

The horse-tram era began in 1880 when a line was opened from the main railway station or Hauptbahnhof (then the 'Westbahnhof') to the present day Hinsenkampplatz. In 1895 it was extended to the Mühlkreisbahnhof. In 1897 the trams were electrified and in the following year the electric Pöstlingbergbahn was opened.

In 1968 the first articulated cars were ordered from the Lohnerwerken in Vienna, thereby introducing moderisation of the system. The year 1977 saw significant network expansaion. In the north the new line from Sonnensteinstrasse to the university was opened. The next expansion was in the south: the city area of Auwiesen was served from 1985.

From 2 April 2002 the trams served Ebelsberg and Hillerstraße. On 2 September 2005 this section extended to the new SolarCity. In 2004 an underground section under the Hauptbahnhof as part of the "Nahverkehrsdrehscheibe Linz" was put into service and since then all lines have run under the Hauptbahnhof.

On 29 May 2009 the Pöstlingbergbahn was incorporated into the network and the extension of line 3 to Leonding was begun, which was opened from the Hauptbahnhof to the terminus of Doblerholz on 13 August 2011.