To celebrate the day, the official opening of the Lichtwiesenbahn, speakers almost exclusively took to the microphone in Darmstadt, and the long-controversial large-scale project had even brought criminal charges.

The Hessian Transport Minister Tarek Al-Wazir (Die Grünen), like his two party friends, Darmstadt's Lord Mayor Jochen Partsch and Head of the Mobility Department Michael Kolmer, was at times accused of frivolously wasting public money with the extension of the route to the Lichtwiese campus of the Technical University .

At least that's what the critics argued.

The fact that all three politicians - as well as the managing director of Heag mobilo GmbH, who was also reported by citizens, Michael Dirmeier - was unmistakably happy at the ceremony at the new terminus,

Markus Schug

Correspondent Rhein-Main-Süd.

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Only Manfred Efinger, the chancellor of the TU Darmstadt, had to admit that he had just lost a bet.

The victorious district president Brigitte Lindscheid will therefore receive a bottle of champagne from him.

Because he was actually certain that during his tenure he would no longer be able to take the tram on the new line to the second largest campus of the Technical University, which had been the subject of controversy for twelve years.

A misjudgment, the manageable costs of which he would gladly bear in this case, which is pleasant for everyone.

Fixed "Birth Defect".

Finally, the extended line 2, which goes beyond the main station, connects the Lichtwiese campus with the Griesheim campus, which currently offers the greatest development potential.

In addition, the "birth defect" has finally been corrected, that around 50 years ago a campus was created on the outskirts of the city that was not well connected from the start.

According to Efinger, the time to put the train on the track could hardly have been better: After all, the TU wants to offer face-to-face classes to students on the Lichtwiese campus again in the summer semester.

With the new tram line, half of the articulated buses that previously had to struggle through the Woogviertel to reach the TU campus could be dispensed with.

More than 10,000 people visit the campus every day to work and study, said Kolmer, head of the mobility department.

Basically, it is a "part of the city of its own", which is now connected to the city center by the 1200 meter long branch from Nieder-Ramstädter-Straße via Lichtwiesenweg.

Further expansion plans

The infrastructure project, which was launched against intense resistance from some residents, should ultimately cost around 28 million euros.

However, the final accounts are not yet complete, Heag boss Dirmeier explained to the FAZ. The investment will be borne 60 percent by the state of Hesse;

The municipality will take care of the rest.

All in all, Darmstadt currently has a tram network with a length of 42 kilometers, with further expansion plans, for example to the Ludwigshöhviertel.

Partsch referred to the more than 125-year-old tradition of the tram city.

And also that Mayor Adolf Morneweg already knew around 1900 that electricity was “a means of promoting prosperity”.

For Partsch and Minister Al-Wazir, it is much more than that these days: namely an attractive and efficient local transport service that is environmentally and climate-friendly because it is low in emissions;

and that is simply much better accepted by the passengers than a bus.