Betriebsbahnhof Vorgarten, Tram depot in Leopoldstadt district, Vienna, Austria
The Betriebsbahnhof Vorgarten was a tram depot of the Vienna tramways at Walcherstraße 5 in Leopoldstadt, on a large site between Vorgartenstraße, Walcherstraße, Engerthstraße and Weschelstraße. It held several Remisen, bus garages, track loops and open storage sidings; track fans and turning loops let trains and single cars be turned and shunted. Long track runs later served as driving-school and test tracks.
The private Vienna Tramway Company built this facility in 1897 to support electric tram operations on the Transversal line. Operations continued until 1982, when the U1 subway line to Kagran opened and made the service redundant.
The depot's name comes from Vorgartenstrasse, the street bordering the site in Leopoldstadt. Its long tracks, after the line 80 to Lusthaus closed, served as driving-school and test tracks, and surplus cars awaiting scrapping were stored there. Today a Hofer supermarket occupies the former bus garage halls.
The site is no longer accessible to visitors, having been repurposed in the 1980s after closure. The exterior walls of the former depot remain visible from the surrounding streets, though the interior has been converted to commercial use.
The depot's long tracks outlived its 1982 closure as driving-school and test tracks, used after the line 80 to the Lusthaus was discontinued. Surplus cars awaiting scrapping were also stored on the site. In the former bus garage halls a Hofer supermarket now trades.
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