This article needs additional citations for verification .(December 2014) |
This is a list of cities and towns in Europe that have (or once had) town tramway (e.g. urban tramway) systems as part of their public transport system. Cities with currently operating systems, and those systems themselves, are indicated in bold and blue background colored rows. The use of the diamond (♦) symbol indicates where there were (or are) two or more independent tram systems operating concurrently within a single metropolitan area. Those tram systems that operated on other than standard gauge track (where known) are indicated in the 'Notes' column.
Separate lists have been created for the following European countries to improve user-friendliness and to reduce this list article's size:
Location | Name of System | Gauge mm | Traction Type | Date (From) | Date (To) | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Vlorë | Horse | ? | ? | A photograph of a horse-drawn tramcar, dated 1963 (Peschkes, Part Three, 1987, Page 19), establishes that Albania did have a town tramway service. |
Location | Name of System | Gauge mm | Traction Type | Date (From) | Date (To) | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Sarajevo | Trams in Sarajevo | 760 mm (2 ft 5+15⁄16 in) Bosnian gauge | Horsecar | 1 Jan 1885 | 1 May 1895 | |
760 mm -> 1435 mm | Electric | 1 May 1895 | In 1960 regauging from 760 mm to 1435 mm |
Location | Name of System | Gauge mm | Traction Type | Date (From) | Date (To) | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Sofia | Trams in Sofia | Horsecar | "late 19th century" [1] | ? | ||
1000 1435 | Electric | 1 Jan 1901 [1] | Mix of 1,000 mm (3 ft 3+3⁄8 in) metre gauge and 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge . [1] |
Location | Name of System | Gauge mm | Traction Type | Date (From) | Date (To) | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Tallinn | Trams in Tallinn | 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in) [2] | Horse | 24 Aug 1888 | 24 Sep 1919 | |
1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in) [2] | Electric | 28 Oct 1925 | Note: Tallinn also operates a trolleybus network. | |||
♦ Tallinn – Kopli | Steam | 26 Jan 1916 | ? | [2] | ||
Petrol | 26 Jan 1916 | Nov 1953 | [2] | |||
Electric | 6 Nov 1951 | [5 Nov 1953] | Connected with main Tallinn tram system, 05 Nov 1953. |
Location | Name of System | Gauge mm | Traction Type | Date (From) | Date (To) | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Douglas | Douglas Bay Horse Tramway | 914 mm (3 ft) | Horse | 7 Aug 1876 | [3] [4] Winter service withdrawn from November 1927, current operating season early May – late September. Operation suspended 30 September 1939 – 22 May 1946 because of war. | |
Upper Douglas Cable Tramway | 914 mm (3 ft) | Cable | 15 Aug 1896 | 19 Aug 1929 | [5] Winter service withdrawn from 1927. | |
Douglas – Keristal – Port Soderick | Douglas Southern Electric Tramway (Marine Drive Tramway) | 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) | Electric | 1896 | 15 Sep 1939 | Opened to Keristal 7 August 1896, completed 1897. Operation suspended c.1914 – c.1918 because of war. |
Douglas (Derby Castle) – Laxey – Ramsey | Manx Electric Railway | 914 mm (3 ft) | Electric | 7 Sep 1893 | [6] [7] Operates seasonally, from March to November. Note for Manx Electric Railway: Opened to Groudle Glen, 7 September 1893. Extended to Laxey, 27 July 1894. Extended to Ramsey (Ballure), 5 August 1898. Completed to Ramsey (Plaza), 24 July 1899. Operation suspended Laxey – Ramsey, 30 September 1975, restored 25 June 1977. | |
Laxey – Snaefell Summit | Snaefell Mountain Railway | 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in) | Electric | 21 Aug 1895 | Operates only during summer season. Operation suspended 20 September 1939 – 1 June 1946 because of war. Used a third rail for a Fell brake |
Location | Name of System | Gauge mm | Traction Type | Date (From) | Date (To) | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Daugavpils | Daugavpils Tramway | Horse | ? | ? | ||
1524 | Electric | 5 Nov 1946 | [8] | |||
Jūrmala (Kemeri) | 1000 | Electric | 16 Jun 1912 | 1935(?) | [8] | |
Liepāja | Liepājas tramvajs | 1000 | Electric | 26 Sep 1899 | [8] | |
Riga | Rīgas Satiksme | 1524 | Horse | 4 Sep 1882 23 Aug 1903 | 1901 1909 | [8] |
1524 | Electric | 23 Jul 1901 | [8] Note: Riga also operates a trolleybus network. |
Location | Name of System | Gauge mm | Traction Type | Date (From) | Date (To) | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Kaunas | Horse | 5 Jun 1892 | 15 Apr 1929 | [9] | ||
Steam | 1914 | 1936 | [9] | |||
Klaipėda (Memel) | 1000 | Electric | 18 Aug 1904 1950 | Oct 1934 1967 | [9] | |
Palanga | Horse | ? | ? | [9] | ||
Vilnius | Horse | 15 Jun 1893 | 1915 | [9] | ||
Petrol | 1914 | 1926 | [9] | |||
Electric | ? | ? | Gauge: unknown. [9] Excepting microstates, Podgorica, Reykjavík and Tirana, and possibly Vilnius, are the only European capitals where electric town tramways have not (yet) been built. Note: Vilnius operates a trolleybus network. |
Location | Name of System | Gauge mm | Traction Type | Date (From) | Date (To) | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Esch-sur-Alzette canton | Electric | 29 May 1927 | 22 Sep 1956 | |||
Luxembourg City | ||||||
Horse | 22 Feb 1875 | ? | ||||
Electric | 8 Aug 1908 | 5 Sep 1964 | ||||
1435 | Electric | 10 Dec 2017 |
Location | Name of System | Gauge mm | Traction Type | Date (From) | Date (To) | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Malta | Electric | 23 Feb 1905 | 15 Dec 1929 |
Location | Name of System | Gauge mm | Traction Type | Date (From) | Date (To) | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Chişinău | 1000 | Horse | 29 Oct 1888 | 1914 | ||
1000 | Electric | 25 Jan 1914 | 13 May 1961 |
Location | Name of System | Gauge mm | Traction Type | Date (From) | Date (To) | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Monte Carlo | 1000 | Electric | 1898 | 1932 |
Location | Name of System | Gauge mm | Traction Type | Date (From) | Date (To) | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Bratislava | Trams in Bratislava | 1000 | Electric | 27 Aug 1895 | DPB also operates buses and trolleybuses | |
Košice | Trams in Košice | Horse | 18 Nov 1891 | 28 Feb 1914 | ||
Steam | 7 Jul 1893 | 28 Feb 1914 | ||||
1435 | Electric | 28 Feb 1914 | DPMK also operates buses and trolleybuses | |||
Trenčianske Teplice | 760 | Electric | 27 Jul 1909 |
Location | Name of System | Gauge mm | Traction Type | Date (From) | Date (To) | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Ljubljana | Trams in Ljubljana | 1000 | Electric | 6 Sep 1901 | 20 Dec 1958 | Reintroduction planned |
Piran | Trams in Piran | 760 | Electric | 20 Jul 1912 | 31 Aug 1953 |
A tram is a type of urban rail transit. It consists of a rail vehicle, either alone or coupled in a multiple train unit, traveling on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport are called tramways or simply trams/streetcars. Many recently built tramways use the contemporary term light rail.
Conservation and restoration of rail vehicles aims to preserve historic rail vehicles.
The Douglas Bay Horse Tramway on the Isle of Man runs along the seafront promenade for approximately 1 mile (1.6 km), from the southern terminus at the Villa Marina, to Derby Castle station, the southern terminus of the Manx Electric Railway, where the workshops and sheds are located. It is a distinctive tourist attraction. However works have been underway to relay all of the track in 2019 and at present only a third is usable, with no published completion date for the works.
The Manx Electric Railway is an electric interurban tramway connecting Douglas, Laxey and Ramsey in the Isle of Man. It connects with the Douglas Bay Horse Tramway at its southern terminus at Derby Castle at the northern end of the promenade in Douglas, and with the Snaefell Mountain Railway at Laxey. Many visitors take an excursion on the trams. It is the oldest electric tram line in the world whose original rolling stock is still in service.
The Snaefell Mountain Railway is an electric mountain railway on the Isle of Man in Europe. It joins the village of Laxey with the summit of Snaefell, at 2,036 feet (621 m) above sea level the highest point on the island. It connects with the Manx Electric Railway (MER) in Laxey. The line is 5 miles (8 km) long, is built to 3 ft 6 in gauge and uses a Fell Incline Railway System centre rail for braking on the steep gradients. It is electrified using overhead wires at 550 volts direct current, with bow collectors.
Djurgårdslinjen is a heritage tram line with the route number 7N, running between Norrmalmstorg and Waldemarsudde in Stockholm, Sweden.
Europe has an extensive number of tramway networks. Some of these networks have been upgraded to light rail standards, called Stadtbahn in Germany, premetros in Belgium, sneltram in the Netherlands, trem ligeiro in Portugal and fast trams in some other countries.
Laxey Railway Station is an interchange station in the village of Laxey on the east coast of the Isle of Man. It is the principal intermediate station on the Manx Electric Railway as well as being the lower terminus of the Snaefell Mountain Railway. It is thus the island's only dual-gauge station, albeit with completely separate tracks. Some MER services from/to Douglas terminate here.
The Isle of Man has a rich transport heritage and boasts the largest narrow-gauge railway network in the British Isles with several historic railways and tramways still in operation. These operate largely to what is known as "Manx Standard Gauge" and together they comprise about 65 miles (105 km) of Victorian railways and tramways. The Isle of Man Railway Museum in Port Erin allows people to find out more about the history of the Manx railways, and was until 1998 accompanied by a similar museum in Ramsey, which was dedicated to the history of the electric line, but this was closed and converted into a youth club. The steam railway to the south of the island, electric to the north and mountain line to the summit of Snaefell, the island's only mountain, are all government-owned, and operated under the title Isle of Man Railways, as a division of the island's Department of Infrastructure. The lines at Groudle Glen and Curraghs Wildlife Park are both privately owned but open to the public.
Ramsey Station serves the town of Ramsey in the Isle of Man; it is the northern terminus of the Manx Electric Railway. It was formerly known as Ramsey (Plaza) Station after the nearby Plaza cinema, now demolished and turned into a car park. Today it is often also known as Ramsey Tram Station and signage to this effect adorns the station, despite the line being described as a railway. It should not be confused with Ramsey's former station on the Isle of Man Railway.
The Upper Douglas Cable Tramway was a tram line serving all points between the southern end of the promenade and the upper part of the town of Douglas in the Isle of Man. It opened on 15 August 1896 and closed on 19 August 1929.
The Nordhausen tramway network is a network of tramways forming part of the public transport system in Nordhausen, a city in the federal state of Thuringia, Germany.
Sources, references and external links: