The tram crossing Barbarossaplatz in Cologne seen from the 17th floor of the
<a href="http://www.tausendfensterturm.de/">TausendFenster-Turm</a> on 18
January 2005. This is the busiest tram junction in Cologne (as long as only
lines running on the surface are considered) with seven lines running in
different directions. Line 6, 12 and 15 run from the northern ring line (upper
left corner, next station Z&uuml;lpicher Platz) to the southern ring line
(lower right corner, next station Eifelstra&szlig;e). Line 18 and 19 come from
the city center tunnel (upper right corner, next station Poststra&szlig;e) and
proceed along the Luxemburger street (lower left corner, next station
Eifelwall). Line 16 and 17 do also come from the city center, but turn left
towards the southern ring. All platforms are located on the north side
(towards the northern ring respectively the city center), so a train using the
connection at the lower edge of the picture would not pass a platform. The
train waiting at the upper left corner consists of low-floor cars of 4000
series, so it is line 12. The livery with the "125" on the first car was applied
in 2002, when the K&ouml;lner Verkehrsbetriebe (KVB) were 125 years old. A train
of 2300 series cars is just crossing the area towards Luxemburger street, this
could be a line 18 or 19. The green car entering in the opposite direction
belongs to the Stadtwerke Bonn (SWB). It is similar to the 2000 series of
Cologne, but in Bonn another numbering scheme is used. As this train comes from
Bonn, it must be line 18. The 5100 series car in the lower right corner is
waiting to proceed to the northern ring, so it is line 15, as line 6 uses the
old eight-axled cars of 3100 and 3200 series.
<p>
Digital photo by
<a href="http://www-users.rwth-aachen.de/christoph.schmitz2/index.html">Christoph
Schmitz</a>
(<a href="mailto:christoph.schmitz2@post.rwth-aachen.de">christoph.schmitz2@post.rwth-aachen.de</a>)