Trams in Lviv

Trams in Lviv
Overview

Locale	Lviv, Ukraine
Transit type	Tram
Number of lines	9
Operation
Began operation	1880
Technical
Track gauge	1,000 mm

The Lviv tram (Ukrainian: Львівський Трамвай, translit.: L’vivs’kyi Tramvai; German: Straßenbahn Lemberg; Polish: Tramwaje we Lwowie) is an electric tramway in Lviv, Ukraine.

History

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 on October 1, 1922, after the city became part of the Second Polish Republic 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. On November 27, 1952, some tram lines were changed to the trolleybus 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.

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.

View of the Lviv trams in the depot (1920s).

Modern trams

Today, the Lviv tramway runs 10 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.

The price of a single trip was 50 kopecks (about €0.08) in 2007. It was raised to 75 kopecks (about €0.12) in 2008 and to 1 hrn in 2009. The price as of 2012 is 1 hrn and 50 kopecks, with the cost having risen from 1 hrn and 25 kopecks just prior to the Euro 2012 football championships as Lviv was one of the host cities. In April 2015 the price of a single trip was 2 hrn (about €0.08).

In September 2012, a contract to supply modern low-floor trams was awarded to Elektrotrans, a joint venture of Electron and TransTec Vetschau.^[1] These newest additions to Lviv's long tram history were introduced in August 2013 and now run on route 9a. There are five sections in the 100% low floor tram Electron T5L64, designed by Lviv's constructors in the Lviv-based company Electron.

Images

Trams in Lviv
Tram type T4SU at line 2
Tram KT4D in Lviv, Market Square
Tram KT4SU, line 9
Lviv's tram depot
Modern low-floor tram Electron T5L64 on route 9a

Routes

Routes map

References

↑ "World rolling stock market September 2012 - Railway Gazette". Railway Gazette International. Retrieved 24 September 2012.

External links

lviv.tramvaj.ru - Lviv tram history (Ukrainian)/(Polish)/(Russian)
Tramway in Lviv (English)/(German)

Lviv

History	Timeline Armenian Statute Dormition Brotherhood Jesuit Collegium First Siege by Cossacks Second Siege by Cossacks Lwów Oath Siege by Turks Leopolis Triplex Stauropegion Institute Stauropegion Press Ossolineum Galician Rada Halytsko-Ruska Matytsia Prosvita Ruthenian Triad Ruthenian National House Hutsul Secession Batiars Lwów Eaglets Battle 1918 Pogrom 1918 Battle 1920 Secret Ukrainian University Lwów–Warsaw school of logic Lwów School of Mathematics Battle 1939 Massacre of Lviv professors Lviv pogroms Lwów Ghetto Lwów Uprising Sknyliv air show disaster

Religion	Armenian Cathedral Cathedral of St. George Boim Chapel Bernardine Church Bridgettine Convent Carmelite Church Convent of Benedictines Church of St. Anne Church of John the Baptist Church of Mary of Snow Church of St. Elizabeth Church of St. Mary Magdalene Church of St. Onuphrius Church of the Dormition Church of the Purification, Lviv Church of the Transfiguration Dominican Church Jesuit Church Latin Cathedral

Attractions	Arena Lviv Arsenal Museum Bandinelli Palace Black Kamienica Catholic University Cemetery of the Defenders of Lwów Forum Lviv Freedom Boulevard Government House King Cross Leopolis Korniakt Palace Lviv High Castle Lviv University Lychakivskiy Cemetery Market Square Mickiewicz Square National Museum Polytechnic University Lubomirski Palace Metropolitan Palace Old Town Pharmacy Museum Potocki Palace Sapieha Palace Scottish Café Shevchenkivskyi Hai Theatre of Opera and Ballet Skarbek Theatre Town Hall Ukraina Stadium Union of Lublin Mound

Transport	International Airport Tramway Lviv railway station Lviv Suburban railway station

Urban public transport networks and systems in Ukraine

Metros	Kiev Kharkiv Dnipropetrovsk Kryvyi Rih (metrotram) Donetsk (cancelled) Lviv (cancelled)

Trams	Avdiivka Berdychiv Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi Chernivtsi Dniprodzerzhynsk Dnipropetrovsk Donetsk Druzhkivka Horlivka Kerch Kirovohrad Kharkiv Konotop Kostiantynivka Kiev Kramatorsk Kryvyi Rih Luhansk Lviv Makiivka Mariupol Molochne Mykolaiv Nizhyn Odessa Poltava Sevastopol Simferopol Sviatohirsk Sloviansk Stakhanov Vinnytsia Yenakiieve Yevpatoria Zaporizhia Zhytomyr

Trolleybuses	Alchevsk Antratsyt Bila Tserkva Cherkasy Chernihiv Chernivtsi Dnipropetrovsk Donetsk Horlivka Ivano-Frankivsk Kerch Kiev Kharkiv Khartsyzk Kherson Khmelnytskyi Kirovohrad Kramatorsk Krasnodon Kremenchuk Kryvyi Rih Luhansk Lutsk Lviv Lysychansk Makiivka Mariupol Mykolaiv Odessa Poltava Rivne Sevastopol Severodonetsk Simferopol–Alushta–Yalta Sloviansk Sumy Ternopil Vinnytsia Vuhlehirsk Zaporizhia Zhytomyr

Misсellaneous	Kiev Funicular Kiev Light Rail Odessa Funicular

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