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Some 350 tram or light rail transit (LRT) systems are operated worldwide. After a period of little interest in trams during the 1960s and heavy cutbacks or total abandonment of tram networks, a renaissance combined with sociological and technical innovations is now taking place, especially in North America and Western Europe. More than 100 cities worldwide are considering the introduction of a tram/ LRT system. After defining tram and LRT and dealing with nine different types of tram/LRT, this article focuses on current innovations mainly in German and European cities like Hannover, Karlsruhe, Kassel, Oberhausen, Saarbrücken, Sheffield and Vienna. Sociological innovations encompass a changed perception of urban transport, changed traffic policies, the image of modern trams in the view of the citizens, tram or LRT in pedestrian malls, and the high appeal of well-designed vehicles and stops. On the technical side, innovations include low-floor vehicles, modular vehicle systems, lighter and less expensive vehicles, raised platforms at stops, the use of telematics in public transport for central control of vehicles, traffic lights actuated by vehicles, dynamic information of passengers, and track sharing by railway and LRT vehicles. Finally, tram and LRT systems are appropriate to fill the gap in capacity between bus and metro at construction expenses of about a tenth of a metro system.

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West Germany is densely populated, averaging 245 inhabitants/km 2, but varying widely between urban agglomerations and rural areas. Transport volume has increased by 40% since 1970, with virtually all growth due to private automobiles. Since 1981 public transit has been suffering from decreasing demand.

Until the end of the 1950s the tram was the most important mode of urban transport in Germany. In the following 30 years drastic cuts were made in the tram network. This trend has now been reversed: new tramways are being built and old ones upgraded. Five case studies represent different developments of tram and light rail systems in German cities: (a) Hannover, which is typical of the stepwise development of a tram system into a partly underground light rail system; (b) Karlsruhe, where the most intensive utilization of railroad tracks is taking place, including the world's first dual-current tram; (c) Oberhausen, where for the first time in Germany a tram was reintroduced in 1996; (d) Saabrücken, which represents the second case of tram reintroduction according to the Karlsruhe model in 1997; and finally (e) Munich, where dense U-Bahn and S-Bahn networks are going to be complemented by new or reopened tram lines.