Tram systems in Basel

About Basel

Basel is the third-most-populous city in Switzerland, with about 180,000 inhabitants, and is the capital of Kanton Basel-Stadt. The city is situated in northwest Switzerland, where the borders of France, Germany and Switzerland meet. Basel has suburbs in both France and Germany. The official language in Basel is Swiss-German, but the main spoken language is the local Based dialect of German. With its location on the borders of France, Germany and Switzerland, Basel is an important transport hub and also has Switzerland's only cargo port. The EuroAirport Basel Mulhouse Freiburg is located entirely in France, but operated jointly by France and Switzerland and is architecturally split into 2 independent sectors, one serving the French side and the other the Swiss. The city also has three international railway stations, operated by the French, German and Swiss networks.

Overview of public transport in Basel

There is an extensive network of buses and trams serving the city and surrounding suburbs. The tram network is operated by two separate companies, the Basler Verkehrs-Betriebe (BVB) operate the green-coloured local trams as well as the buses, while the Baselland Transport (BLT) operate the yellow-coloured trams that connect connect areas in the nearby half-canton of Baselland to central Basel.

Basel's current tram system

The Basel tram network is operated by two separate companies, Basler Verkehrs-Betriebe (Basel Transport Service) (BVB) and Baselland Transport (BLT), who are part of the integrated fare network Tarifverbund Nordwestschweiz (TNW). The green trams of the BVB operate mostly in the city limits, although lines 3 and 6 run into the Basel-Land canton and line 8 terminates across the border in Germany. The yellow and red trams of the BLT operate in the outer suburbs of southern Basel, although three of its lines run over BVB track in central Basel and in some cases run into French territory.

Cross-border routes

The Basel tram network is something of a rarity as it crosses international borders. Line 10 runs via Leymen in France and passengers alighting there can only do so if they have goods within the customs limits. In addition, line 3 runs to Saint-Louis in France and Line 8 runs to Weil am Rhein in Germany.

Basel currently has 12 tram lines, details of which can be found on the Lines tab

History of trams in Basel

Basel's first tram line opened in 1895, running from Centralbahnhof to Badischer Bahnhof, via Marktplatz, Mittlere Brücke and Aeschenplatz. This was followed in 1897, with the addition of 6 new sections. In 1900, the first cross-border line was opened, running to Sankt-Ludwig in the German Empire (now Saint-Louis in France). This was followed in 1910 by a line to Hüningen (now Huningue) and in 1919 by a line to Lörrach. These lines were suspended during the two World Wars and were fully closed in 1950, 1961 and 1967 respectively.

A seperate line operated by Birsigthalbahn ran from Basel to Rodersdorf via Leymen in France as early as 1887, but the line was not joined to the city network until 1984.

In 1971, the various companies that were operating the suburban lines merged to form Baselland Transport AG (BLT).

Basel tram lines

Basel currently has 12 tram lines, which are listed below. To see more information about a particular line, click on the link in the table below (where applicable).

Line	Description
1	Line 1 is operated by BVB and runs from Dreirosenbrücke to Badischer Bahnhof via Bahnhof SBB.
2	Line 2 is operated by BVB and runs from Binningen Kronenplatz to Riehen Grenze.
3	Line 3 is operated by BVB and runs from Birsfelden Hard to Saint-Louis in France.
6	Line 6 is operated by BVB and runs from Allschwil to Riehen Grenze.
8	Line 8 is operated by BVB and runs from Neuweilerstrasse to Weil am Rhein in Germany.
10	Line 10 is operated by BLT and runs from Rodersdorf to Dornach via Leymen in France.
11	Line 11 is operated by BLT and runs from St. Louis Grenze to Aesch.
14	Line 14 is operated by BVB and runs from Dreirosenbrücke to Pratteln.
15	Line 15 is operated by BVB and runs from Bruderholz to Messeplatz. Lines 15 and 16 share the same vehicles and change numbers at Bruderholz.
16	Line 16 is operated by BVB and runs from Bruderholz to Schifflände. Lines 15 and 16 share the same vehicles and change numbers at Bruderholz.
17	Line 17 is operated by BLT and runs from Wiesenplatz to Ettingen.
21	Line 21 is operated by BVB and runs from Bahnhof St. Johann to Badischer Bahnhof.