With news that freight trials are under consideration in Karlsruhe, could British tram operators follow their German counterparts and carry more than passengers on their light urban rails? Would frustrated business owners welcome the opportunity for congestion free delivery, or would the fixed-link solution prove too inflexible to be a viable alternative to the ubiquitous delivery truck.
Yellow trams frequenting the city centre and a network of around 100 kilometres in length, including services to a regenerated inland dock area. There, some would say, the similarities end between Karlsruhe in south west Germany, and Manchester in north west England. Could they though emulate each other in one other significant way, carrying more than just passengers on their respective urban systems?
It is certainly true that Karlsruhe differs from Manchester in many fundamental ways. At just a tenth the size of its English counterpart, the 300,000 inhabitants of Karlsruhe enjoy a dense tram network that makes city centre hops a breeze. Manchster on the other hand connects ten boroughs, each comparable in size to Karlsruhe, with the urban heart, in an effort to reduce congestion on the regional roads, and make the city centre a more accessible and liveable place. In the latter respect, Manchester has certainly succeeded, with the city centre population increased ten-fold in ten years.