Must See Tram Systems Around The World
Before there were buses and trains our mass urban transport systems were horse drawn carriages. The world's very first tram system was actually a horse train called the Oystermouth Railway, a commercial service which began operation in 1804, in order to transport limestone between the south Wales areas of Mumbles and Swansea. The system would later become known as the Swansea / Mumbles Railway, see image below, and would become the world's first ever horse drawn passenger railway service when it began operation in March 1807.
The world's first electric tram was seen upon the streets of Berlin in Germany in 1881 and was known as the Gross Lichterfelde Strassenbahn. This idea soon caught on, with cities all over the world changing to electric tram networks as they were much cheaper and quicker to construct than the conventional railway lines or underground systems and the expense of having to care for horses and clear up their waste became obsolete.
During the 1960's the tram saw a decline in favour of diesel driven buses but with the later problems of air pollution and traffic chaos witnessed upon the streets in towns and cities all over the world there has been a resurgence in electric tram systems in recent years.
Today hundreds of cities and towns all over the world have a tram system as part of their urban transport network, some of them making up a large part of a city's mass rapid transit system, some of which operate as part or all of an underground system and some even making up a city's entire MRT system.
The electric tram has come a long way since those first wooden open box car trams in Germany, as you can see by the last image on this page. But the older systems have not been forgotten, even in cities that have completely reverted to bus or train MRT systems, with many cities still keeping the odd tram or two for prosperity for use as a major tourist attraction or heritage line.
Below is a small fact file about the world's largest tram systems, followed by some information about the world's more interesting tram systems.
The cities with the world's ten largest tram systems are;
Melbourne, Australia with 27 routes covering 250 kilometers.
St Petersburg, Russia with 22 routes covering 240 kilometers.
Vienna, Austria with 40 routes covering 215 kilometers.
Berlin, Germany with 28 routes covering 188 kilometers.
Milan, Italy with 17 routes covering 160 kilometers.
Toronto, Canada with 11 routes covering 156 kilometers.
Budapest, Hungary with 33 routes covering 153 kilometers.
Bucharest, Romania with 26 routes covering 143 kilometers.
Prague, Czech Republic with 33 routes covering 141 kilometers.
Warsaw, Poland with 24 routes covering 120 kilometers.
THE WORLD'S MUST SEE TRAM SYSTEMS
MELBOURNE
The world's largest tram system is situated in Melbourne in Australia, pictured above. The system began operation with horse drawn trams in 1884. Today the system consists of 487 electric trams which run on 250 kilometers of track which are served by 27 routes and 1,763 stops. This vast network is owned and operated by KDR Yarra Trams.
You can visit their website by visiting www.yarratrams.com.au
VIENNA
The largest tram system in Europe is situated in Vienna in Austria. The city's iconic tram system, known as the Strassenbahn, began operation in 1865 as a horse drawn system followed in 1883 by steam powered trams and finally introducing electric trams in 1887.
The original system run as a left hand traffic system, changing to it's present right hand traffic system in 1938.
The system is run by the Viennese transport company Wiener Linien, who also operate the city's Ring Tram, pictured above, which provides daily tram tours around the city and the Vienna Tram Museum, located on Ludwig Koessler Platz in Vienna.
You can visit the tram system's website by visiting - www.wienerlinien.at/eportal
SAN FRANCISCO
The world's most famous tram system, despite it being quite a small one, is the San Francisco Cable Car, pictured above.The system began operation in 1873 and is owned and run by the Muni company, the San Francisco Municipal Railway.
The system consists of three lines and one heritage line which operate around San Francisco's residential streets and tourist districts such as Nob Hill, China Town and Fisherman's Wharf.
You can visit the cable car system website by visiting - www.sfcablecar.com
BLACKPOOL
Three urban areas around the world still provide double decker tram systems, Hong Kong, Alexandria in Egypt and Blackpool in the United Kingdom. Birkenhead on the Wirral also have double decker trams but they are run as heritage routes only.
The Blackpool Tram, pictured above, was opened in 1885 and was the very first electric tramway in Britain. Today the tram travels a route of eleven miles between the towns of Stargate and Fleetwood, situated on Lancashire's picturesque Fylde Coast.
You can find out more about this iconic system by visiting - www.blackpooltransport.com/LRT1
TORONTO
North America's largest street car network is situated in Canada's largest city Toronto, pictured above. The system began operation in 1861 and today boasts 90 miles / 156 km of track which are served by eleven routes.
You can visit the street car's website by visiting - transit.toronto.on.ca
DOUGLAS
The world's oldest continuously used horse drawn tram system is situated along a 1.6 mile track of the Douglas Promenade, pictured above, in Douglas on the Isle of Man.
The Douglas Bay Tramway system began operation in May of 1876 and is still in use to this day travelling between the seaside town's Victoria Pier and Derby Castle.
You can find out more about this unique tram system by visiting - www.douglashorsetramway.net
BELGIUM
The Kusttram or coastal tram, pictured above, is situated along the entire North Sea coast of Belgium, from it's border with France at De Panne in the south of the country to it's border with the Netherlands at Knokke - Heist in the north of the country.
The system, which was opened in 1885, is sixty eight kilometers long and is served by seventy stops. The route passes through the port cities of Zeebrugge and Ostend and several of Belgium's popular coastal resorts.
You can find the Kusttram's website by visiting - www.delijn.be/dekusttram
BIRKENHEAD
Europe's very first public tramway was opened in the Wirral town of Birkenhead in August 1860 and ran four horse drawn public service routes until the service was electrified in 1901. The service eventually ceased operation in 1937 in favour of petrol driven buses.
Today the Merseyside town runs a seven mile long heritage tramway on one of it's former routes, by way of two Hong Kong double decker trams, pictured above, in conjunction with the town's Taylor Street Transport and Tramway Museum and a local tramway preservation society, both of which combined operations in 1995.
You can find the heritage tramway's preservation website by visiting - www.mtps.co.uk.
BUENOS ARIES
Once the site of the world's largest ever tram network at 857 kilometers / 532 miles long the Argentinian capital city of Buenos Aries, whose original network opened in 1885 but was completely dismantled during the 1960's in favour of petrol driven buses, is gradually bringing back it's once iconic city transportation system with the introduction of two small inner city tram routes and one seven mile long coastal route.
You can find the Buenos Aries Tramway appreciation society by visiting - www.tranvia.org.ar
IMAGE ATTRIBUTIONS
Image 1 - A tram at Moscow Gate, Vorota Square, St Petersburg, Russia.
Image 2 - A Melbourne Tram, Victoria, Australia - Courtesy of Bahnfriend, wikimedia commons.
Image 3 - The Viennese Ring Tram in Austria - Courtesy of myfriend, wikimedia commons.
Image 4 - A San Francisco cable car - Courtesy of Aude, wikimedia commons.
Image 5 - A Blackpool double decker tram in England.
Image 6 - A Toronto street car in Canada - Courtesy of David Arthur, wikimedia commons.
Image 7 - The Douglas Bay Tramway on the Isle of Man.
Image 8 - The Kusttram, Belgium - Courtesy of BenZin, wikimedia commons.
Image 9 - Birkenhead's Heritage Tramway, England - Courtesy of Thomas Harrison, wikimedia commons.
Image 10 - Buenos Aries' new tram system - Courtesy of Christain.O.Arone, wikimedia commons.
Image 11 - The Combino Supra tram, seen here upon the streets of Bucharest in Romania - Courtesy of Hunyadym, wikimedia, commons
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