Providing complete mobility for Dresden

Dresden is the capital of the German State of Saxony and has a population of about half a million people. It is located about halfway between Berlin and Prague in what was formerly East Germany, or the German Democratic Republic.

The Dresdner Verkehrsbetriebe AG (DVB) is the mobility service provider in Dresden. It is the largest public transport (PT) company in the local region, Upper Elbe, and one of the largest in Germany.

The DVB is an integrated PT company entirely owned by the city of Dresden, through a holding company with the local utilities (such as power, gas, water, district heating), which requires a specified financial result without increasing local taxes.

Besides various subsidiaries involving charter buses and coaches, the DVB also has a consulting arm involved in exporting its expertise to other transit systems around the world.

The DVB runs a light rail network of about 130km on either side of the Elbe river, supplemented by an integrated bus network. The DVB also runs two cable car lines, each over 100 years old, as well as three ferry terminals along the river. Its fleet consists of about 300 trams, including 190 Czech-built Tatras from before the German reunification, based on the American PCC car design, as well as 110 modern light rail trams built by Siemens and Bombardier. By the end of this decade, all Tatras will have been replaced by a total of 155 modern light rail trams. Furthermore, the fleet includes about 150 low-floor buses, manufactured by Mercedes, MAN and the Polish Solaris.

History

Tramway traffic in Dresden started as early as in 1872 with the first horse-drawn tram line. Tramways have been electrically driven since 1893 and Dresden was the first Saxon town to use this modern and future-oriented drive system.

In 1905 the municipality purchased the two privately owned tramway companies in Dresden and merged them into a single company, thus following a general trend of the time. The transport company did not only contribute to the municipal treasury, but also facilitated urban development and structural policy. The enterprise has remained in possession of the municipality for 100 years.

The history of the Dresden tramway system is marked by many ups and downs. There were times of innovation of vehicles, systems and drives, high demand and economic up-swing, but also those of deep crises, death and destruction in two World Wars, as well as restricted operation in penurious times. However, the people of Dresden and the city fathers stood by their tramway in difficult times.

Despite all efforts, the years after the ‘peaceful revolution’ in which Dresden played a decisive role beside Leipzig, the other large Saxon town, revealed an alarming inherited situation.

The situation in 1989/1990

60km, i.e. 22% of the whole track network was subject to speed reduction. A large number of depots, workshops and administration offices were distributed all over the town. Almost all of them were in need of reconstruction and could not be operated efficiently. Only two thirds of the vehicles were usable, the rest could not be repaired or were used as a spare part reserve. The passenger information system and the stop systems were unattractive and in no way adequate for being used by handicapped persons.

Efficiency was low. Out of 4,200 employees, there were only 1,350 drivers – that’s less than one third of the staff. In the repair workshops for trams and buses, 750 and 200 employees, respectively, were working. 900 employees worked in the administration and 1,000 in other fields like infrastructure and the shed and shunting service.

The cost-cover percentage was only 16.8% and the deficit amounted to over €100 million. About 120 million passengers were transported in a year.

This was the basis a modern and attractive traffic system was to be built on.

The development to this day

During the 13 years since reunification, the DVB has been transformed from a state-owned socialist institution to a modern, competitive and customer-oriented transportation company.

Despite the decline in population and considerable increase in the number of private cars, annual ridership has increased from 120 to almost 140 million passengers per year. At the same time, staff numbers have been reduced from about 4,200 down to about 1,720 employees. Fleet availability, in particular of trams, has improved from about 69% to almost 95%. Cost recovery has also increased from 16.8% to about 66% in 2003. A further increase of about 70% remains to be achieved.

An agreement was concluded with the union in 2000 that wages will not rise until 2009, that employees work 40 hours per week, but are only paid for 38, and holidays were shortened. Through this increase in productivity (amounting to about 13 to 14 work days per employee per year), staff is to be reduced by another 150 employees, a further essential step to increasing the efficiency and competitiveness of the DVB. Now over half of the work is done.

The high attractiveness was particularly the result of the 10 minutes interval service, continuous night traffic with secured connections, providing service also at times and in places of low traffic demand by alternative systems, real time data for passenger information, as well as of modernisation of existing, and acquisition of new vehicles, and development of the stops and changing points etc.

Modernisation and acquisition could only be realised on the basis of secure financing. The German municipality traffic financing law (GVFG), under certain limiting conditions and depending on the means available, grants particularly the rail transport services financial allocations for investments into the infrastructure (up to approximately 75%) and into vehicles (up to approximately 50%). Within the first years after the turn the promoting rates were even higher.

The DVB executives in the supervisory board, the executive board and in the works committee soon realised that the enterprise will have a chance to survive only on condition of strict and uncompromising rationalisation as well as drastic staff cuts. Therefore, everything was risked to accomplish this goal by investments. We think that the DVB has already made essential progress on this road.

Development taken place in the vehicle sector

In the 1990s almost 250 Tatra tramcars and carriages were modernised and stabilised so that they became as attractive as possible for the passengers. Today their technical availability is almost 95%. Thus the rolling stock of originally 750 units could be reduced drastically. At the same time, new vehicles with 70% low-floor quota were ordered. Carriages were taken out of use, generally to prevent vandalism and for safety reasons.

Between 1996 and 2002, 60 30m vehicles and 23 42m vehicles were acquired from the Sachsen-Tram consortium. This consortium consisted of Siemens as prime underwriter and Bombardier with their Bautzen production plant. 32 45m bogie cars from Bombardier have been delivered since 2003. This type of vehicle of the Flexity Classic family is currently the longest tram car in the world. At the Innotrans rail vehicle fair in September in Berlin, we concluded a contract with Bombardier for the production of 20 new 30m bogie vehicles with an option for another 20 vehicles. With the delivery of these vehicles, there will be altogether about 155 new vehicles, i.e., the rolling stock will be almost complete and the last Dresden Tatra tram cars could be sorted out by the end of this decade.

The vehicles are suitable for above-ground tramway operation. Building underground lines in Dresden has never been seriously discussed. It would not be acceptable for the town, with its 480,000 inhabitants and its attractive ambiance, as well as the considerable operating costs that would be expected. To enhance the existing above-ground traffic system to a light rail standard, the following premises were set for the modernisation of the lines and the stops:

• Increasing cruising speed and improving punctuality
• Providing barrier-free access to stops and vehicles by means of low platforms and without technical aids
• Separation of the tramway from road traffic
• Ecologically friendly, sound absorbing tracks, lawn tracks
• Joint use of stops for trams and buses

The construction of the pilot line from Gorbitz to Prohlis became a model for the conversion of a tramway to a light rail line which was achieved by direct federal funding. The network is now gradually adapted to light rail operation.

Passenger information another important aspect

Passenger information has to be based on a general internal and external information system. As early as in the 1990s a decision was taken to build up a computer-aided operation guiding system (RBL) in three steps; radio-telephone system, vehicle autonomous operation and the complete RBL. The RBL has been realised since 1998.

The data obtained by target-performance comparison of the schedule are passed on to the passengers and service centres via dynamic passenger information displays at the stops, the Internet and via mobile telephones. The passengers can always ask via SMS when the next vehicle will actually reach their stop. The DVB has become transparent.

Last but not least, DVB also has a freight tram: the CarGoTram. It delivers on a ‘just-in-time’ basis automobile components from the Volkswagen logistics centre in the west of the downtown area via the regular streetcar network to the ‘Glass Manufacturing Plant’ where the VW Phaeton is assembled. The CarGoTram is unique in the world.

Conclusion

Based on a long tramway tradition, Dresden has managed to set up a modern and flexible light rail system on the following conditions:

• Formation of a public limited company with comprehensive competences of its executive board.
• Consistent support by the owner, which is Saxony’s capital Dresden, without affecting the strategic and operative business.
• The investments that paved the way for this quick and positive development became possible particularly thanks to the financial support from the Federal Government and from the Land Saxony.
• The will of the employees, the works committee and the trade union who helped the DVB to become an attractive and competitive enterprise.
• The positive attitude and support by the population, the media and the partners, nationally and internationally, for the DVB trams.

The DVB not only wants to be a simple transport operator, but a complete mobility service provider – a role it must adopt in order to remain competitive and viable in the 21st Century. The goal of the company is, after all, to reduce car traffic in the city and to contribute to enhanced quality of life and the future of Dresden as a sustainable city.