Bremen’s Hub in new Splendour: BSAG opens state-of-the-art Depot

On 19. August 2024, Bremer Straßenbahn AG (BSAG) officially opened the new depot in Gröpelingen after a four-year construction period. Gröpelingen is a significant public transport hub in Bremen and a central intersection for routes heading north of the city. In 2016, the city-state’s senate had approved demolition of the old buildings and construction of a state-of-the-art facility under the project name NEBUG. By Hans-Joachim Pütsch

Apart from tram sidings, the new depot also accommodates workshops, the adjacent transfer facility for buses and trams, and the new West-Platz police station. The project was divided into two lots: lot 1 – transfer facility, lot 2 – depot. Lot 1 comprised six autonomous single point and double point controllers as well as two point-heater controllers for the transfer facility. The transfer facility was commissioned separately back in 2022. 

Lot 2 included the depot controller itself, which, in turn, consists of three autonomous control segments and two point-heater controllers. Visualisation via ConnAct® was implemented on the depot and for the point controllers, and FIVA (for vehicle tracking and display) for workshop and OCC.

Trams can enter via the transfer facility through Gate 5 or from the line via Gate 3. Exit is either via the transfer facility through Gate 4 or onto the line via Gate 2. For entry and exit purposes, there is an interface to the traffic-signal system which regulates the combined motorized private transport and tram traffic. Vehicles are registered when they enter the depot, and the secured route to the parking place already assigned in FIVA is set accordingly via the IMU100 communication system. The FIVA module can make the supporting functions available to OCC staff via the interfaces available in the depot controller. 

During the planning phase, an axle-counting system was considered for vehicle identification along with protection against point re-setting and this was then also implemented. Experience shows that the system must be ‘hardened’ against external influences, especially when an axle-counting system is used in the covered grooved rail area. This can be achieved by a counting-point controller, planned supervisor sections or a combination of conventional vehicle-identification equipment such as track, blocking, mass detection circuits and axle-counters. The introduction of new vehicles also calls for renewed validation of the axle-counting system and, if appropriate, a new setting of the wheel sensors in the line network.

HPS, our programmable operating element for route entry was deployed as a back-up for the setting of secured routes. Operators can intuitively set secured routes through different areas via a touch screen with the corresponding track diagram image.