Trams in Lviv

The Lviv tram ( _uk. Львівський Трамвай, translit.: "L’vivs’kyi Tramvai"; _de. Straßenbahn Lemberg) is an electric tramway in Lviv, Ukraine.

In the second half of the 19th century, urban development of cities within the Austro-Hungarian Empire created communication problems, which occasionally led to the construction of transit systems. The first projects for the construction of horse-drawn trams appeared in the 1870s. This network was called "Konka" after the Polish word for horse, "koń". A horse-drawn tramway was built in Lviv and opened on May 5, 1880. The gauge of this first line was 1 meter. In 1906, the Lviv city administration took control of the tramway. In 1908, the tramway was fully electrified.

Running parallel to the Lviv tramway, was the Siemens & Halske tramway which opened on May 31, 1894. In 1896, the Lviv city administration took control of the Siemens & Halske tramway. Only in October 1, 1922 were the tram lines switched to the right-hand-side system.

After the end of the Second World War and the annexation of the city by the Soviet Union, several lines were closed for service, yet most of the tramway infrastructure was preserved. However, many of the tram stops were cancelled. Currently, the average distance between stop is greater than 2 kilometres. On November 27, 1952, the tram lines were changed to the bus systems. Starting in the 1970s, some lines in the city centre were shut down. In 1988, the first fast tram (now operated by the lines 3 and 5) was established in the city. Since then no extensions to the tram network have been built, however various extensions have been planned, most notable of which is the planned tram line to Sykhiv district.

Today, the Lviv tramway runs 9 lines on 75 kilometers of tracks with approximately 220 cars. Previously in bad shape, many tracks were reconstructed in 2006, and even more are to be reconstructed in the subsequent years. Most of the trams are the KT4 type, produced by Czech ČKD Tatra Works. Older T4+T4 trams operate only on the second line. Pre-war Gothaer Waggonfabrik cars, which were built after 1910, are only used for maintenance and utility purposes. Recently Lviv acquired 20 overhauled and modernised KT4 trams previously used in German cities Erfurt and Gera, with them being the first new tramcar purchase since the independence of Ukraine.

In 1991, nearly 140 million passengers used the system. By 2002, this had decreased to 60 million. Despite a large number of passengers, approximately 65% of them ride free of charge. Thus, the considerable debt of the company must be covered by the government of the Lviv Oblast.

Another characteristic of the Lviv tram is the grooved rail that is used. It is one of a few cities of the former Soviet Union that use this type of rail. This oddity resulted from the fact that, when the system was constructed, Lviv was part of Galicia in Austria-Hungary.

The price of a single trip was 50 kopecks (about 0.08 €) in 2007 and was raised to 75 kopecks (about 0.12 €) in 2008.

References

*

ee also

* List of light-rail transit systems

External links

* [http://www.lviv.tramvaj.ru/tram_history.htm lviv.tramvaj.ru] - Lviv tram history uk icon/pl icon/ru icon