St. Petersburg's Tram Celebrates Its Anniversary

Saint Petersburg celebrates the 107th anniversary of launching the first tram in the city on September, 29.
The XIX century made a great contribution to turning electricity into public good. One of the branches of electrical progress was transportation. The first country to set a tram in motion was Germany – in 1881. Saint Petersburg introduced the new machine on September, 29 in 1907.

Above: Retro-tram parade in St. Petersburg to celebrate the 310th anniversary of the city.

Trams started to function in the Russian Empire since 1892. Trams came to Saint Petersburg later because of strong opposition from horsecars (horse-drawn trams) which were extremely popular in the Northern Capital.

Above: Izmaylovsky regiment barracks. Soldier barracks. The end of the XVIII century, architect F. I. Volkov. On the left - the Trinity Cathedral of the Izmailovsky regiment of Imperial guards – constructed in 1835 under architect V. P. Stasov’s project.

Though the first tram was launched in 1907, a Russian inventor Fyodor Pirotsky demonstrated back in 1880 that a horsecar could move using electricity. Experimentally, he accomplished this new type of transportation during a month but then had to stop because he had run out of money.

Above: Retro-tram parade in St. Petersburg to celebrate the 310th anniversary of the city.

During the Great Patriotic War Leningrad (renamed Saint Petersburg) trams stopped only from December, 1941 to April, 1942 because of energy failure. Then trams continued their service to the citizens, helped ship goods and materials.

Above: Anti-aircraft mount and tram #12 on city streets. Leningrad, October, 1942. October 26, 1942.

During the Great October Revolution tram business incurred economic losses because authorities allowed soldiers and workers to use public transport free of charge.

Above: Retro-tram parade in St. Petersburg to celebrate the 310th anniversary of the city.

In 1921, tram business in Leningrad started to develop successfully, as the Soviet authorities paid great attention to technology improvement. The number of routes in 1936 reached 42, whereas in 1918 it was just nine.

Above: Old tram driving in the street in St. Petersburg.

In 1965, due to the growth of the city, new tram routes were drawn. In 1980s the overall length exceeded 600 kilometers, being a world record.

Above: Retro-tram parade in St. Petersburg to celebrate the 310th anniversary of the city.

The collapse of The Soviet Union inflicted heavy losses on tram business: lack of specialists and repair decreased the speed and lengthened the intervals. Together with fast growth of the car park, it made tram business lose passengers.

Above: Nevsky Prospect in Sieged Leningrad. October, 1942.

However, later the tram park recovered and continued to function effectively. Currently, St. Petersburg trams concentrate on short trips to railway and underground stations.

Above: A memorial run of Siege trams. First Siege trams restarted runs after a four-month break. Saint Petersburg.

There are several monuments to trams in Saint Petersburg including a Siege tram and a XIX-century horsecar on Vasilyevsky Island.

Above: Passengers of a retro-tram on a festive run to commemorate the 68th anniversary since the restart of tram motion in the Sieged Leningrad.

Today, Saint Petersburg trams run along 44 routes and sport a reputation of a convenient and fast transport.

Above: Olympic tram in a street in Saint Petersburg.