Editing Gotha (section)

=== Transport ===
[[File:Thuringia Gotha asv2020-07 img01 Gotha Bahnhof.jpg|thumb|[[Gotha station]] (half rebuilt after 1945 bombings)]]
[[File:Historische Straßenbahn Gotha TWB.JPG|thumb|The historic tram of ''Thüringerwaldbahn'']]
[[File:2025Feb03Gotha.png|thumb|[[File:BUS-Logo-BVG.svg|20px]] [[File:Tram-Logo.svg|20px]] [[File:Paris transit icons - Train.svg|20px]] (2025) [[File:Verkehrsverbund Mittelthüringen logo.svg|50px]]]]

Gotha is connected by the [[Thuringian Railway]] to [[Erfurt]] and [[Leipzig]] in the east and to [[Frankfurt]]/[[Kassel]] in the west. Furthermore, there are some regional railways from Gotha to [[Leinefelde]] (via [[Mühlhausen]]) and to [[Gräfenroda]] (the latter out of service since 2011). Besides the main [[Gotha station]], there is another one on the [[Gotha–Leinefelde railway]]: [[Gotha Ost station|Gotha Ost]] in the north-eastern part of the city. Long-distance trains (ICE or IC) connect Gotha with Frankfurt in the west and Leipzig/[[Dresden]] in the east every two hours, as does a regional express train to [[Göttingen]] in the north-west and [[Zwickau]]/[[Glauchau]] in the east via Erfurt and [[Jena]]. The local trains to [[Eisenach]] in the west, [[Halle (Saale)|Halle]] in the east (via Erfurt and Weimar) and [[Bad Langensalza]] in the north depart once an hour.

The two ''[[Autobahn]]en'' crossing nearby at ''Erfurter Kreuz'' are the [[Bundesautobahn 4]] ([[Frankfurt]]–[[Dresden]]) and the [[Bundesautobahn 71]] ([[Schweinfurt]]–[[Sangerhausen]]). Furthermore, there are two ''[[Bundesstraße]]n'' connecting Gotha: the [[Bundesstraße 7]] from Eisenach in the west to Erfurt in the east and the [[Bundesstraße 247]] from [[Ohrdruf, Thuringia|Ohrdruf]] in the south to [[Mühlhausen]] in the north. Important secondary roads lead from Gotha to [[Bad Tennstedt]] in the north-east, to [[Arnstadt]] in the south-east, to [[Waltershausen]] in the south-west and to [[Goldbach, Thuringia|Goldbach]] in the north-west. An eastern bypass road to relieve the city centre of transit traffic along B 247 is in the planning process.

The [[Erfurt-Weimar Airport]] is situated 20 kilometres east of Gotha and in use for holiday flights to southern European tourist destinations. The next major airport is [[Frankfurt Airport]], approximately {{convert|250|km|0|abbr=on}} to the south-west.

Biking is becoming more and more popular since the construction of quality cycle tracks began in the 1990s. For tourists there is the long-distance ''Radweg Thüringer Städtekette'' (Thuringian city string trail). It connects points of touristic interest along the medieval ''[[Via Regia]]'' from Eisenach via Gotha, Erfurt, Weimar and Jena to [[Altenburg]].

The public transport system consists of a [[Trams in Gotha|tram network]] with three lines, connecting the city centre with the main station in the south-east, the east station in the north-east and the hospital in Sundhausen district in the south-west. A peculiarity is the {{convert|22|km|0|abbr=on}} long ''{{Interlanguage link|Thüringerwaldbahn|de}}'' (established in 1929), one of Germany's last traditional interurban tramway lines, to [[Bad Tabarz]], [[Waltershausen]] and [[Friedrichroda]]. It is used both for everyday traffic and by tourists. Buses serve urban quarters and nearby villages lacking a tram or rail connection.