Around 20,000 people took the opportunity for a free ride on the first day of operation.

The new line runs from from a triangular junction at Siegesdenkmal on Line 2, passing through the old town along Rotteckring, Werthmannstrasse and Kronenstrasse to join lines 3 and 5 on Basler Strasse.

With the opening of the new section, the bus and tram timetable was recast to take advantage of the extra capacity available in the core of the network.

The Rotteckring line relieves the interchange at Bertoldsbrunnen and improves access to northern and western parts of Freiburg city centre, while also improving step-free access to the tram network.

Germany’s Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure (BMVI) contributed €23m to the €57.5m project through the Municipal Transport Financing Act (GVFC).

For detailed data on light rail projects around the globe, subscribe to IRJ Pro.