Bremer Strassenbahn
Bremer Straßenbahn AG (translates from German as Bremen Tramways Corporation), often abbreviated BSAG, is the public transport provider for Bremen, Germany, offering tramway and bus services.

On March 28, 1876 the Actiengesellschaft Bremer Pferdebahn was founded. The enterprise opened a horse tramway line from Herdentor to Vahrster Brücke on June 4, 1876, extending the line to Horn in 1877. In 1883, the extension from Herdentor to the stock exchange in the city centre was opened.

The rival company Große Bremer Pferdebahn, which used British capital, opened a line from Hastedt to Walle on 3 November 1879; today's line 2 partly follows the trajectory of that horse line. Both companies extended their network, and lines were opened to Freihafen (1888), Hohentor (1889) and Arsterdamm (1880/1884).

In 1890, the line from the stock exchange to the Bürgerweide exhibition grounds was electrified as a trial for the duration of an exhibition. After the exhibition ended, the catenary was removed, but the system had worked so well that it was decided to electrify all tramways. Electrification started in 1892, and lasted until 1913. By thenthe network was fully electrified, with the exception of the Freihafen line, which had been abandoned by then. Meanwhile, Große Bremer Pferdebahn merged with the Bremer Pferdebahn (which had renamed itself to Bremer Straßenbahn in 1890) in 1899.

On June 13, 1945 the first tramways went into operation again. In the immediate WWII aftermath, the Bremen network consisted of two parts, as the bridges over the river Weser had been destroyed. In 1947, the connection between the two parts of the network was made, and apart from the tramway line over the Stephanibrücke, the 1950s BSAG network reached its pre-war spread. In 1953, bus traffic was taken over by the BSAG. The new workshop Flughafendamm near Bremen Airport was constructed in 1959; in 1963 the head offices moved to that site also. In 1965, the main stepover stop was moved from the marketplace to Domsheide.

Source: Wikipedia®