Railway routes in the Ruhr area – the Lottental horse-drawn tram route
Another rather unusual Bahntrassenradweg is in the south of Bochum. On the former horse-drawn tram through the Lottental, you can travel 3,5 kilometers from Bochum down into the Ruhr Valley to Lake Kemnader. Some information boards remind of the use of the route at that time. Today, however, cyclists have to share large parts of the route with car traffic.
History of horse trams in the Lottental
The origins of the railway go back to 1825, when the coal wagons were still pulled by human hands over wooden rails fitted with iron. Horses were then used from 1838. Coal from the Glücksburg colliery was transported by rail to the Ruhr, which at the time was a central transport route with its shipping traffic. With the botanical garden of the University of Bochum, a destination worth seeing is located almost directly on the roadside. The Kemnader See is also a popular destination for cyclists.
