Tram - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

A tram is a passenger rail vehicle

Railroad car

A railroad car or railway vehicle , also known as a bogie in Indian English, is a vehicle on a rail transport system that is used for the carrying of cargo or passengers. Cars can be coupled together into a train and hauled by one or more locomotives...

which runs on tracks

Rail tracks

The track on a railway or railroad, also known as the permanent way, is the structure consisting of the rails, fasteners, sleepers and ballast , plus the underlying subgrade...

along public urban street

Street

A street is a paved public thoroughfare in a built environment. It is a public parcel of land adjoining buildings in an urban context, on which people may freely assemble, interact, and move about. A street can be as simple as a level patch of dirt, but is more often paved with a hard, durable...

s and also sometimes on separate rights of way. It may also run between cities and/or towns (interurban

Interurban

An interurban, also called a radial railway in parts of Canada, is a type of electric passenger railroad; in short a hybrid between tram and train. Interurbans enjoyed widespread popularity in the first three decades of the twentieth century in North America. Until the early 1920s, most roads were...

s, tram-train

Tram-train

A tram-train is a light-rail public transport system where trams run both on an urban tramway network and on main-line railways to combine the tram's flexibility and availability and the train's greater speed...

), and/or partially grade separated even in the cities (light rail

Light rail

Light rail or light rail transit is a form of urban rail public transportation that generally has a lower capacity and lower speed than heavy rail and metro systems, but higher capacity and higher speed than traditional street-running tram systems...

). Trams very occasionally also carry freight.

Trams are usually lighter and shorter than conventional train

Train

A train is a connected series of vehicles for rail transport that move along a track to transport cargo or passengers from one place to another place. The track usually consists of two rails, but might also be a monorail or maglev guideway.Propulsion for the train is provided by a separate...

s and rapid transit

Rapid transit

A rapid transit, underground, subway, elevated railway, metro or metropolitan railway system is an electric passenger railway in an urban area with a high capacity and frequency, and grade separation from other traffic. Rapid transit systems are typically located either in underground tunnels or on...

trains. However, the differences between these modes of public transportation are often unclear. Some trams (for instance tram-trains) may also run on ordinary railway tracks, a tramway may be upgraded to a light rail or a rapid transit line, two urban tramways may be united to an interurban, etc.

Most trams today use electrical power, usually fed by a pantograph

Pantograph (rail)

A pantograph for rail lines is a hinged electric-rod device that collects electric current from overhead lines for electric trains or trams. The pantograph typically connects to a one-wire line, with the track acting as the ground wire...

; in some cases by a sliding shoe on a third rail

Third rail

A third rail is a method of providing electric power to a railway train, through a semi-continuous rigid conductor placed alongside or between the rails of a railway track. It is used typically in a mass transit or rapid transit system, which has alignments in its own corridors, fully or almost...

or trolley pole

Trolley pole

A trolley pole is a tapered cylindrical pole of wood or metal, used to transfer electricity from a "live" overhead wire to the control and propulsion equipment of a tram or trolley bus. The use of overhead wire in a system of current collection is reputed to be the 1880 invention of Frank J....

. If necessary, they may have several power systems. Certain types of cable car

Cable car

A cable car is any of a variety of transportation systems relying on cables to pull vehicles along or lower them at a steady rate, or a vehicle on these systems.-Aerial lift:Aerial lifts where the vehicle is suspended in the air from a cable:...

are also known as trams. Another power source is diesel; a few trams use electricity in the streets and diesel in more rural environments. Also steam and petrol (gasoline) have been used. Horse and mule driven trams do still occur.

Tramways are now included in the wider term "light rail

Light rail

", which also includes segregated systems. Some systems have both segregated and street-running sections, but are usually then referred to as trams, because it is the equipment for street-running which tends to be the decisive factor. Vehicles on wholly segregated light rail systems are generally called trains, although cases have been known of "trains" built for a segregated system being sold to new owners and becoming "trams".

Etymology and terminology

The terms tram and tramway were originally (ca. 1500) Scottish

Scots language

Scots is the Germanic language variety spoken in Lowland Scotland and parts of Ulster . It is sometimes called Lowland Scots to distinguish it from Scottish Gaelic, the Celtic language variety spoken in most of the western Highlands and in the Hebrides.Since there are no universally accepted...

words for the type of truck used in coal mines

Coal mining

The goal of coal mining is to obtain coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content, and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from iron ore and for cement production. In the United States,...

and the tracks on which they ran, probably derived from Middle Flemish tram "beam, handle of a barrow, bar, rung", a North Sea Germanic word of unknown origin meaning the beam or shaft of a barrow or sledge, also the barrow itself. Tram-car is attested from 1873.

Although tram and tramway have been adopted by many languages, they are not used universally in English; North Americans prefer trolley, trolleycar or streetcar. The term streetcar is first recorded in 1840. When electrification came, Americans began to speak of trolleycars or later, trolleys, believed to derive from the troller, a four-wheeled device that was dragged along dual overhead wires by a cable that connected the troller to the top of the car and collected electrical power from the overhead wires, sometimes simply strung, sometimes on a catenary. The trolley pole

Trolley pole

, which supplanted the troller early on, is fitted to the top of the car and is spring-loaded in order to keep the trolley wheel or alternately, a grooved lubricated "skate", at the top of the pole, firmly in contact with the overhead wire. The terms trolley pole and trolley wheel both derive from the troller. Trams using trolley-pole current collection are normally powered through a single pole, grounded through the wheels and rails. The motor circuit is designed to allow electrical current to flow through the underframe. Although this use of "trolley" for tram was not adopted in Europe, the term was associated with "trolleybus": a rubber-tyred vehicle without tracks, which draws its power from overhead wires.

Modern trolley cars often use a metal shoe with a carbon insert instead of a trolley wheel, or have a pantograph

Pantograph (rail)

. In North America, trams are sometimes called trolleys, even though strictly this may be incorrect: for example, cable cars, or conduit cars that draw power from an underground supply.

Tourist bus

Bus

A bus is a road vehicle designed to carry passengers. Buses can have a capacity as high as 300 passengers. The most common type of bus is the single-decker bus, with larger loads carried by double-decker buses and articulated buses, and smaller loads carried by midibuses and minibuses; coaches are...

es made to look like streetcars are sometimes called trolleys in the U.S. (tourist trolley

Tourist trolley

A tourist trolley, also called a road trolley, is a rubber-tired bus , which is made to resemble an old-style streetcar or tram....

). Open, low-speed segmented vehicles on rubber tires, generally used to ferry tourists short distances, can be called trams, for example on the Universal Studios backlot tour

Universal Studios Backlot Tour

The Studio Tour is an attraction at the Universal Studios Hollywood theme park in the USA.The Tour is the signature attraction at the park, and goes into a working movie studio. Guests sit in a multi-car tram for the duration of the ride...

.

Electric buses, which use twin trolley poles (one for live current, one for return) but have wheels with tyres rolling on a hard surface rather than tracks, are called trolleybus
Trolleybus
A trolleybus is an electric bus that draws its electricity from overhead wires using spring-loaded trolley poles. Two wires and poles are required to complete the electrical circuit...

es, trackless trolleys (particularly in the Northeastern U.S.), or sometimes (in the UK, as well as in Seattle and Vancouver

Vancouver

Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...

) simply trolleys.

Horse-drawn

The very first tram was on the Swansea and Mumbles Railway in south Wales

Wales

Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...

, UK; it was horse-drawn at first, and later moved by steam and electric power. The Mumbles Railway Act was passed by the British Parliament in 1804, and the first passenger railway (similar to streetcars in the US some 30 years later) started operating in 1807.
The first streetcars, also known as horsecar

Horsecar

A horsecar or horse-drawn tram is an animal-powered streetcar or tram.These early forms of public transport developed out of industrial haulage routes that had long been in existence, and from the omnibus routes that first ran on public streets in the 1820s, using the newly improved iron or steel...

s in North America, were built in the United States and developed from city stagecoach

Stagecoach

A stagecoach is a type of covered wagon for passengers and goods, strongly sprung and drawn by four horses, usually four-in-hand. Widely used before the introduction of railway transport, it made regular trips between stages or stations, which were places of rest provided for stagecoach travelers...

lines and omnibus

Bus

lines that picked up and dropped off passengers on a regular route without the need to be pre-hired. These trams were an animal railway, usually using teams of horse

Horse

The horse is one of two extant subspecies of Equus ferus, or the wild horse. It is a single-hooved mammal belonging to the taxonomic family Equidae. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million years from a small multi-toed creature into the large, single-toed animal of today...

s and sometimes mule

Mule

A mule is the offspring of a male donkey and a female horse. Horses and donkeys are different species, with different numbers of chromosomes. Of the two F1 hybrids between these two species, a mule is easier to obtain than a hinny...

s to haul the cars, usually two as a team. Occasionally other animals were put to use, or humans in emergencies. The first streetcar line, developed by Irish-American John Stephenson

John Stephenson (coachbuilder)

John G. Stephenson , an American coachbuilder, invented and patented the first streetcar to run on rails in the United States. On 26 November 1832, the New York and Harlem Railroad was formally opened...

, was the New York and Harlem Railroad

New York and Harlem Railroad

The New York and Harlem Railroad was one of the first railroads in the United States, and possibly also the world's first street railway. Designed by John Stephenson, it was opened in stages between 1832 and 1852 between Lower Manhattan to and beyond Harlem...

's Fourth Avenue Line which ran along the Bowery and Fourth Avenue in New York City. Service began in 1832. It was followed in 1835 by New Orleans, Louisiana

Louisiana

Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...

, which has the oldest continuously operating street railway system in the world, according to the American Society of Mechanical Engineers.
These early forms of public transport developed out of industrial haulage routes or from the omnibus

Bus

that first ran on public streets, using the newly invented iron or steel rail or 'tramway'. These were local versions of the stagecoach lines and picked up and dropped off passengers on a regular route, without the need to be pre-hired. Horsecars on tramlines were an improvement over the omnibus as the low rolling resistance of metal wheels on iron or steel rails (usually grooved from 1852 on), allowed the animals to haul a greater load for a given effort than the omnibus and gave a smoother ride. The horse-drawn streetcar combined the low cost, flexibility, and safety of animal power with the efficiency, smoothness, and all-weather capability of a rail right-of-way.

Steam

The first mechanical trams were powered by steam

Steam engine

A steam engine is a heat engine that performs mechanical work using steam as its working fluid.Steam engines are external combustion engines, where the working fluid is separate from the combustion products. Non-combustion heat sources such as solar power, nuclear power or geothermal energy may be...

. Generally, there were two types of steam tram. The first and most common had a small steam locomotive

Steam locomotive

A steam locomotive is a railway locomotive that produces its power through a steam engine. These locomotives are fueled by burning some combustible material, usually coal, wood or oil, to produce steam in a boiler, which drives the steam engine...

(called a tram engine

Tram engine

A tram engine is a locomotive specially built, or modified, to work on a street, or roadside, tramway.-Steam tram engines:In the steam locomotive era, tram engines had to comply with certain legal requirements, although these varied from country to country:* The engine must be governed to a maximum...

in the UK) at the head of a line of one or more carriages, similar to a small train. Systems with such steam trams included Christchurch

Christchurch

Christchurch is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand, and the country's second-largest urban area after Auckland. It lies one third of the way down the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula which itself, since 2006, lies within the formal limits of...

, New Zealand; Sydney

Sydney

Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...

, Australia; other city systems in New South Wales

New South Wales

New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...

; Munich

Munich

Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...

, Germany (from August 1883 on). Steam tramways also were used on the suburban tramway lines around Milan

Milan

Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...

; the last Gamba de Legn tramway ("Peg-Leg" in Milanese) ran on the Milan-Magenta

Magenta

Magenta is a color evoked by light stronger in blue and red wavelengths than in yellowish-green wavelengths . In light experiments, magenta can be produced by removing the lime-green wavelengths from white light...

-Castano Primo route in late 1958.

Tram engines usually had modifications to make them suitable for street running in residential areas. The wheels, and other moving parts of the machinery, were usually enclosed for safety reasons and to make the engines quieter. Measures were often taken to prevent the engines from emitting visible smoke

Smoke

Smoke is a collection of airborne solid and liquid particulates and gases emitted when a material undergoes combustion or pyrolysis, together with the quantity of air that is entrained or otherwise mixed into the mass. It is commonly an unwanted by-product of fires , but may also be used for pest...

or steam

Steam

Steam is the technical term for water vapor, the gaseous phase of water, which is formed when water boils. In common language it is often used to refer to the visible mist of water droplets formed as this water vapor condenses in the presence of cooler air...

. Usually the engines used coke

Coke (fuel)

Coke is the solid carbonaceous material derived from destructive distillation of low-ash, low-sulfur bituminous coal. Cokes from coal are grey, hard, and porous. While coke can be formed naturally, the commonly used form is man-made.- History :...

rather than coal

Coal

Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock usually occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal beds or coal seams. The harder forms, such as anthracite coal, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure...

as fuel to avoid emitting smoke. And condensers

Steam locomotive condensing apparatus

A steam locomotive condensing apparatus differs in purpose from the usual closed cycle steam engine condenser, in that its function is primarily either to recover water, or to avoid excessive emissions to the atmosphere, rather than maintaining a vacuum to improve both efficiency and power...

or superheating

Superheater

A superheater is a device used to convert saturated steam or wet steam into dry steam used for power generation or processes. There are three types of superheaters namely: radiant, convection, and separately fired...

were used to avoid emitting steam.

The other style of steam tram had the steam engine in the body of the tram, referred to as a tram engine

Tram engine

or steam dummy

Steam dummy

A steam dummy or dummy engine, in the United States of America and Canada, was a steam engine enclosed in a wooden box structure made to resemble a railroad passenger coach....

. The most notable system to adopt such trams was in Paris

Paris

Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

. French-designed steam trams also operated in Rockhampton

Rockhampton, Queensland

Rockhampton is a city and local government area in Queensland, Australia. The city lies on the Fitzroy River, approximately from the river mouth, and some north of the state capital, Brisbane....

, in the Australian state of Queensland

Queensland

Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...

between 1909 and 1939. Stockholm

Stockholm

Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...

, Sweden, had a steam tram line at the island of Södermalm

Södermalm

Södermalm, often shortened to "Söder", is a district in central Stockholm. It covers the large island formerly called "Åsön". With a population of 99,685, it is one of the most densely populated districts of Scandinavia...

between 1887 and 1901. A major drawback of this style of tram was the limited space for the engine, so that these trams were usually underpowered.

Cable-hauled

The next type of tram was the cable car, which sought to reduce labour costs and the hardship on animals. Cable cars are pulled along the track by a continuously moving cable running at a constant speed that individual cars grip and release to stop and start. The power to move the cable is provided at a site away from the actual operation. The first cable car line in the United States was tested in San Francisco, California

San Francisco, California

San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...

, in 1873. The second city to operate cable trams was Dunedin

Dunedin

Dunedin is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand, and the principal city of the Otago Region. It is considered to be one of the four main urban centres of New Zealand for historic, cultural, and geographic reasons. Dunedin was the largest city by territorial land area until...

in New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

, from 1881 to 1957. A large cable system operated in Melbourne

Melbourne

Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...

, Victoria

Victoria (Australia)

Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....

, Australia, from 1885 to 1940. There were also two isolated cable lines in Sydney, New South Wales

New South Wales

, Australia. In Dresden

Dresden

Dresden is the capital city of the Free State of Saxony in Germany. It is situated in a valley on the River Elbe, near the Czech border. The Dresden conurbation is part of the Saxon Triangle metropolitan area....

, Germany, in 1901 an elevated suspended

Suspension railway

A suspension railway is a form of elevated monorail where the vehicle is suspended from a fixed track , which is built above street level, over a river or canal, or an existing railway track.-Palmer System:...

cable car following the Eugen Langen one-railed floating tram system started operating.

Cable Cars operated on Highgate Hill in North London and Kennington

Kennington

Kennington is a district of South London, England, mainly within the London Borough of Lambeth, although part of the area is within the London Borough of Southwark....

to Brixton

Brixton

Brixton is a district in the London Borough of Lambeth in south London, England. It is south south-east of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London....

Hill In South London.

They also worked around "Upper Douglas" in the Isle of Man, Cable Car 72/73 being the sole survivor of the fleet.

Cable cars suffered from high infrastructure costs, since an expensive system of cable

Cable

A cable is two or more wires running side by side and bonded, twisted or braided together to form a single assembly. In mechanics cables, otherwise known as wire ropes, are used for lifting, hauling and towing or conveying force through tension. In electrical engineering cables are used to carry...

s, pulley

Pulley

A pulley, also called a sheave or a drum, is a mechanism composed of a wheel on an axle or shaft that may have a groove between two flanges around its circumference. A rope, cable, belt, or chain usually runs over the wheel and inside the groove, if present...

s, stationary engine

Stationary engine

A stationary engine is an engine whose framework does not move. It is normally used not to propel a vehicle but to drive a piece of immobile equipment such as a pump or power tool. They may be powered by steam; or oil-burning or internal combustion engines....

s and vault structures between the rails had to be provided. They also require strength and skill to operate, to avoid obstructions and other cable cars. The cable had to be dropped at particular locations and the cars coast, for example when crossing another cable line. Breaks and frays in the cable, which occurred frequently, required the complete cessation of services over a cable route, while the cable was repaired. After the development of electrically powered trams, the more costly cable car systems declined rapidly.

Cable cars were especially effective in hilly cities as their undriven wheels cannot slip on the rails as they climb a steep hill. The cable physically pulls the car up the hill at a steady pace, unlike a low-powered steam or horse-drawn car. Cable cars do have wheel brakes, but the cable can also hold the car going downhill at a constant speed.

This concept partially explains their survival in San Francisco. However, the most extensive cable system in the U.S. was in Chicago

Chicago

Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...

, a much flatter city. The largest cable system in the world, in the city of Melbourne

Melbourne

, Victoria

Victoria (Australia)

, Australia, had at its peak 592 trams running on 74 kilometres of track.

The San Francisco cable cars

San Francisco cable car system

The San Francisco cable car system is the world's last permanently operational manually operated cable car system, in the US sense of a tramway whose cars are pulled along by cables embedded in the street. It is an icon of San Francisco, California...

, though significantly reduced in number, continue to perform a regular transportation function, in addition to being a tourist attraction. A single line also survives in Wellington

Wellington

Wellington is the capital city and third most populous urban area of New Zealand, although it is likely to have surpassed Christchurch due to the exodus following the Canterbury Earthquake. It is at the southwestern tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Rimutaka Range...

, New Zealand

New Zealand

(rebuilt in 1979 as a funicular

Funicular

A funicular, also known as an inclined plane or cliff railway, is a cable railway in which a cable attached to a pair of tram-like vehicles on rails moves them up and down a steep slope; the ascending and descending vehicles counterbalance each other.-Operation:The basic principle of funicular...

but still called the "Wellington Cable Car

Wellington Cable Car

The Wellington Cable Car is a funicular railway in Wellington, New Zealand between Lambton Quay, the main shopping street, and Kelburn, a suburb in the hills overlooking the central city, rising 120 m over a length of 612 m. It is widely recognised as a symbol of Wellington.-Track and stations:The...

").

Hybrid funicular

The Opicina Tramway

Opicina Tramway

The Opicina Tramway is an unusual hybrid tramway and funicular railway in the city of Trieste, Italy. It links Piazza Oberdan, on the northern edge of the city centre, with the village of Villa Opicina in the hills above....

in Trieste

Trieste

Trieste is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is situated towards the end of a narrow strip of land lying between the Adriatic Sea and Italy's border with Slovenia, which lies almost immediately south and east of the city...

operates a hybrid funicular system where the trams are pushed uphill by cable tractors.

Electric (trolley cars)

Electric trams (known as streetcars or trolleys in North America) were first experimentally installed in Saint Petersburg

Saint Petersburg

Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...

, Russia

Russia

Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

, invented and tested by Fyodor Pirotsky

Fyodor Pirotsky

Fyodor Apollonovich Pirotsky was a Ukrainian-born Russian engineer and inventor of the world's first railway electrification system and electric tram...

as early as 1880

1880 in rail transport

- February events :* February 9 - The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad, building southwestward from Kansas, reaches Santa Fe, New Mexico.* February 12 - The Tawas and Bay County Railroad in Michigan purchases the Lake Huron and Southwestern Railway....

. The first regular electric tram service, the Gross-Lichterfelde Tramway

Gross-Lichterfelde Tramway

The Gross Lichterfelde Tramway was the world's first electric tramway. It was built by the Siemens & Halske company in Lichterfelde, a suburb of Berlin, and went in service on 16 May 1881....

, went into service in Lichterfelde, a suburb of Berlin

Berlin

Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...

, Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

, by Siemens & Halske AG, in May 1881. The company Siemens

Siemens

Siemens may refer toSiemens, a German family name carried by generations of telecommunications industrialists, including:* Werner von Siemens , inventor, founder of Siemens AG...

still exists.

Another was by John Joseph Wright, brother of the famous mining entrepreneur Whitaker Wright

Whitaker Wright

James Whitaker Wright was an exceptionally wealthy English mining company owner. He became infamous when he committed suicide at the Royal Courts of Justice in London immediately following his conviction for fraud....

, in Toronto

Toronto

Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...

in 1883. Earlier installations proved difficult or unreliable. Siemens' line, for example, provided power through a live rail and a return rail, like a model train, limiting the voltage

Voltage

Voltage, otherwise known as electrical potential difference or electric tension is the difference in electric potential between two points — or the difference in electric potential energy per unit charge between two points...

that could be used, and providing electric shocks to people and animals crossing the tracks. Siemens later designed his own method of current collection, from an overhead wire, called the bow collector

Bow collector

A bow collector is one of the three main devices used on tramcars to transfer electric current from the wires above to the tram below. While once very common in continental Europe, it has now been largely replaced by the pantograph.-Origins:...

.

In 1883, Magnus Volk

Magnus Volk

Magnus Volk was a pioneer British electrical engineer. He is most notable for having built Volk's Electric Railway, the world's oldest extant electric railway. He also built the unique, but short lived, Brighton and Rottingdean Seashore Electric Railway, together with its unusual Daddy Long Legs...

constructed his 2 feet (609.6 mm) gauge Volk's Electric Railway

Volk's Electric Railway

Volk's Electric Railway is the oldest operating electric railway in the world. It is a narrow gauge railway that runs along a length of the seafront of the English seaside resort of Brighton...

along the eastern seafront at Brighton

Brighton

Brighton is the major part of the city of Brighton and Hove in East Sussex, England on the south coast of Great Britain...

, England. This two kilometer line, re-gauged to 2 in 9 in (838.2 mm) in 1884, remains in service to this day, and is the oldest operating electric tramway in the world. The first tram for permanent service with overhead lines

Overhead lines

Overhead lines or overhead wires are used to transmit electrical energy to trams, trolleybuses or trains at a distance from the energy supply point...

was the Mödling and Hinterbrühl Tram

Mödling and Hinterbrühl Tram

Mödling and Hinterbrühl Tram or Mödling and Hinterbrühl Local Railway was an electric tramway in Austria, running from Mödling to Hinterbrühl, in the southwest of Vienna. The gauge was 1000 mm...

in Austria. It began operating in October 1883, but was closed in 1932.
Multiple functioning experimental electric trams were exhibited at the 1884 World Cotton Centennial

World Cotton Centennial

The 1884 World's Fair was held in New Orleans, Louisiana. At a time when nearly one third of all cotton produced in the United States was handled in New Orleans and the city was home to the Cotton Exchange, the idea for the fair was first advanced by the Cotton Planters Association...

World's Fair in New Orleans, Louisiana

New Orleans, Louisiana

New Orleans is a major United States port and the largest city and metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana. The New Orleans metropolitan area has a population of 1,235,650 as of 2009, the 46th largest in the USA. The New Orleans – Metairie – Bogalusa combined statistical area has a population...

, but they were not deemed good enough to replace the Lamm

Emile Lamm

Emile Lamm was an inventor and dentist.Lamm was born in Ay, France, and moved to Louisiana in 1848. He patented various improvements in techniques of gold dental fillings, and developed a number of innovative designs for street railways...

fireless engines that then propelled the St. Charles Avenue Streetcar in that city.

Electric trams were first tested in service in the United States in Richmond, Virginia

Richmond, Virginia

Richmond is the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia, in the United States. It is an independent city and not part of any county. Richmond is the center of the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Greater Richmond area...

, in 1888, in the Richmond Union Passenger Railway

Richmond Union Passenger Railway

The Richmond Union Passenger Railway, in Richmond, Virginia, was the first practical electric trolley system, and set the pattern for most subsequent electric trolley systems around the world. It is an IEEE milestone in engineering....

built by Frank J. Sprague

Frank J. Sprague

Frank Julian Sprague was an American naval officer and inventor who contributed to the development of the electric motor, electric railways, and electric elevators...

, though the first commercial installation of an electric streetcar in the United States was built in 1884 in Cleveland, Ohio

Cleveland, Ohio

Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Cuyahoga County, the most populous county in the state. The city is located in northeastern Ohio on the southern shore of Lake Erie, approximately west of the Pennsylvania border...

and operated for a period of one year by the East Cleveland Street Railway Company.

The first electric street tramway in Britain, the Blackpool Tramway

Blackpool tramway

The Blackpool tramway runs from Blackpool to Fleetwood on the Fylde Coast in Lancashire, England, and is the only surviving first-generation tramway in the United Kingdom. The tramway dates back to 1885 and is one of the oldest electric tramways in the world. It is run by Blackpool Transport as...

, was opened on 29 September 1885 using conduit collection along Blackpool Promenade. Since the closure of the Glasgow Corporation Tramways

Glasgow Corporation Tramways

Glasgow Corporation Tramways were formerly one of the largest urban tramway systems in Europe. Over 1000 municipally-owned trams served the city of Glasgow, Scotland with over 100 route miles by 1922...

in 1962, this has been the only first-generation operational tramway in the UK.

Sarajevo

Sarajevo |Bosnia]], surrounded by the Dinaric Alps and situated along the Miljacka River in the heart of Southeastern Europe and the Balkans....

had the first electric trams on the continent of Europe, with a city-wide system in 1885. Budapest

BKV

BKV is the unified public transport company of Budapest, established in 1968...

established its system in 1887, and this line has grown to be the busiest tram line of Europe. Its tram cars run every 60 seconds at rush hour. Bucharest

Bucharest

Bucharest is the capital municipality, cultural, industrial, and financial centre of Romania. It is the largest city in Romania, located in the southeast of the country, at , and lies on the banks of the Dâmbovița River....

and Belgrade

Belgrade

Belgrade is the capital and largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers, where the Pannonian Plain meets the Balkans. According to official results of Census 2011, the city has a population of 1,639,121. It is one of the 15 largest cities in Europe...

ran a regular service from 1894.

In Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

there were electric systems in Sydney, Newcastle

Newcastle, New South Wales

The Newcastle metropolitan area is the second most populated area in the Australian state of New South Wales and includes most of the Newcastle and Lake Macquarie Local Government Areas...

, Broken Hill, Melbourne

Melbourne

, Geelong, Ballarat, Bendigo, Brisbane

Brisbane

Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...

, Adelaide

Adelaide

Adelaide is the capital city of South Australia and the fifth-largest city in Australia. Adelaide has an estimated population of more than 1.2 million...

, Perth

Perth, Western Australia

Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia. The Perth metropolitan area has an estimated population of almost 1,700,000....

, Kalgoorlie, Laverton, Hobart

Hobart

Hobart is the state capital and most populous city of the Australian island state of Tasmania. Founded in 1804 as a penal colony,Hobart is Australia's second oldest capital city after Sydney. In 2009, the city had a greater area population of approximately 212,019. A resident of Hobart is known as...

and Launceston

Launceston, Tasmania

Launceston is a city in the north of the state of Tasmania, Australia at the junction of the North Esk and South Esk rivers where they become the Tamar River. Launceston is the second largest city in Tasmania after the state capital Hobart...

. By the 1970s, the only trams remaining in Australia were the Melbourne system and a single line connecting Adelaide to the beachside suburb of Glenelg

Glenelg, South Australia

Glenelg is a popular beach-side suburb of the South Australian capital of Adelaide. Located on the shore of Holdfast Bay in Gulf St Vincent, it has become a popular tourist destination due to its beach and many attractions, home to several hotels and dozens of restaurants.Established in 1836, it is...

. An unusual line that operated from 1889 to 1896 connected Box Hill

Box Hill, Victoria

Box Hill is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 14 km east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Whitehorse. At the 2006 Census, Box Hill had a population of 8,616....

, then an outer suburb of Melbourne, to Doncaster

Doncaster, Victoria

Doncaster is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 15 km north-east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Manningham. At the 2006 Census, Doncaster had a population of 17,879....

, then a favoured picnic spot but now a dormitory suburb. In recent years the Melbourne system, generally recognised as one of the largest in the world, has been considerably moderrnised and expanded. The Adelaide line has also been extended to the Entertainment Centre, and there are plans to expand further.

In 1904

1904 in rail transport

- February events :* February 8 - Service begins on Canadian Pacific Railway's Maniwaki line between Hull, Québec and Maniwaki, Québec.-March events:...

trams were put into operation in Hong Kong. The Hong Kong Tramway is still in operation today and uses double-decker trams exclusively.

Gas trams

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries a number of systems in various parts of the world employed trams powered by gas, naphtha

Naphtha

Naphtha normally refers to a number of different flammable liquid mixtures of hydrocarbons, i.e., a component of natural gas condensate or a distillation product from petroleum, coal tar or peat boiling in a certain range and containing certain hydrocarbons. It is a broad term covering among the...

gas or coal gas

Coal gas

Coal gas is a flammable gaseous fuel made by the destructive distillation of coal containing a variety of calorific gases including hydrogen, carbon monoxide, methane and volatile hydrocarbons together with small quantities of non-calorific gases such as carbon dioxide and nitrogen...

in particular. Gas trams are known to have operated between Alphington

Alphington, Victoria

Alphington is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 7 km north-east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area are the Cities of Darebin and Yarra. At the 2006 Census, Alphington had a population of 4,483...

and Clifton Hill

Clifton Hill, Victoria

Clifton Hill is a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 4 km north-east from Melbourne's central business district. The border between Clifton Hill and Fitzroy North is Queens Parade and Smith Street. Merri Creek defines the eastern border of Clifton Hill. Its Local Government Area is...

in the northern suburbs of Melbourne

Melbourne

, Australia

Australia

(1886–1888); in Berlin

Berlin

and Dresden

Dresden

, Germany

Germany

; in Estonia

Estonia

Estonia , officially the Republic of Estonia , is a state in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia , and to the east by Lake Peipsi and the Russian Federation . Across the Baltic Sea lies...

(1920s–1930); between Jelenia Góra

Jelenia Góra

----Jelenia Góra is a city in Lower Silesia, south-western Poland. The name of the city means "deer mountain" in Polish, Czech and German. It is close to the Krkonoše mountain range running along the Polish-Czech border – ski resorts such as Karpacz and Szklarska Poręba can be found...

, Cieplice

Cieplice

Cieplice may refer to the following places in Poland:*Cieplice, Lesser Poland Voivodeship *Cieplice, Subcarpathian Voivodeship *Cieplice, Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship...

, and Sobieszów

Sobieszow

Sobieszów is a part of the town of Jelenia Góra in Poland.It is located near Karkonosze National Park. The ruined castle Chojnik is located in Sobieszów....

in Poland

Poland

Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...

(from 1897); and in the UK at Lytham St Annes

Lytham St Annes

Lytham St Annes is a conurbation in the Fylde district of Lancashire, England. The neighbouring towns of Lytham and St-Anne's-on-the-Sea have grown together and now form a seaside resort...

, Neath

Neath

Neath is a town and community situated in the principal area of Neath Port Talbot, Wales, UK with a population of approximately 45,898 in 2001...

(1896–1920), and Trafford Park

Trafford Park

Trafford Park is an area of the Metropolitan Borough of Trafford, in Greater Manchester, England. Located opposite Salford Quays, on the southern side of the Manchester Ship Canal, it is west-southwest of Manchester city centre, and north of Stretford. Until the late 19th century it was the...

, Manchester

Manchester

Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...

(1897–1908).

Comparatively little has been published about gas trams. However, research on the subject was carried out for an article in the October 2011 edition of "The Times", the historical journal of the Australian Association of Timetable Collectors.

A tram system powered by compressed gas is due to open in Malaysia in 2012.

Other power sources

In some places, other forms of power were used to power the tram. Hastings

Hastings

Hastings is a town and borough in the county of East Sussex on the south coast of England. The town is located east of the county town of Lewes and south east of London, and has an estimated population of 86,900....

and some other tramways, for example Stockholms Spårvägar

Stockholms Spårvägar

AB Stockholms Spårvägar , was a company founded in 1915 and owned by the City of Stockholm to coordinate and operate public transportation within the City...

in Sweden and some lines in Karachi

Karachi

Karachi is the largest city, main seaport and the main financial centre of Pakistan, as well as the capital of the province of Sindh. The city has an estimated population of 13 to 15 million, while the total metropolitan area has a population of over 18 million...

, used petrol

Petrol engine

A petrol engine is an internal combustion engine with spark-ignition, designed to run on petrol and similar volatile fuels....

trams. Paris operated trams that were powered by compressed air

Pneumatics

Pneumatics is a branch of technology, which deals with the study and application of use of pressurized gas to effect mechanical motion.Pneumatic systems are extensively used in industry, where factories are commonly plumbed with compressed air or compressed inert gases...

using the Mekarski system

Mekarski system

The Mekarski system was a compressed-air propulsion system for trams invented by Louis Mékarski or Louis Mékarsky in the 1870s. He worked in France, was born in 1843 in Clermont-Ferrand of Polish origin...

. In New York City some minor lines used storage batteries; a longer battery-operated tramway line ran from Milan to Bergamo

Bergamo

Bergamo is a town and comune in Lombardy, Italy, about 40 km northeast of Milan. The comune is home to over 120,000 inhabitants. It is served by the Orio al Serio Airport, which also serves the Province of Bergamo, and to a lesser extent the metropolitan area of Milan...

(about 60 km) during the 1950s.

Galveston Island Trolley

Galveston Island Trolley

The Galveston Island Trolley is a heritage streetcar in Galveston, Texas, United States. As of late 2006, the total network length was 6.8 miles with 22 stations. The Galveston Island Trolley is operated by Island Transit...

in Texas operates diesel trams

Galveston Island Trolley

due to the city's hurricane-prone location, which would result in frequent damage to an electrical supply system.

Although Portland, Victoria

Portland, Victoria

The city of Portland is the oldest European settlement in what is now the state of Victoria, Australia. It is the main urban centre of the Shire of Glenelg. It is located on Portland Bay.-History:...

promotes its tourist tram as being a cable car it actually operates using a hidden diesel motor. The tram, which runs on a circular route around the town of Portland, uses dummies and salons formerly used on the extensive Melbourne cable tramway system

Melbourne cable tramway system

The Melbourne cable tramway system was a cable car public transportation system operated from 1885 to 1940 in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia....

and now beautifully restored.

Low floor

The latest generation of light rail vehicles is of partial or fully low-floor design, with the floor 300 to 360 mm (11.8 to 14.2 in) above top of rail, a capability not found in older vehicles. This allows them to load passengers, including those in wheelchair

Wheelchair

A wheelchair is a chair with wheels, designed to be a replacement for walking. The device comes in variations where it is propelled by motors or by the seated occupant turning the rear wheels by hand. Often there are handles behind the seat for someone else to do the pushing...

s, directly from low-rise platforms that are not much more than raised footpaths/sidewalks. This satisfies requirements to provide access to disabled passengers without using expensive wheelchair lift

Wheelchair lift

A wheelchair lift, also known as a platform lift, is a powered device designed to raise a wheelchair and its occupant in order to overcome a step or similar vertical barrier....

s, while at the same time making boarding faster and easier for other passengers.
Various companies have developed particular low-floor designs, varying from part-low-floor (with internal steps between the low-floor section and the high-floor sections over the bogies), e.g. Citytram and Siemens S70, to 100% low-floor, where the floor passes through a corridor between the drive wheels, thus maintaining a relatively constant (stepless) level from end to end of the tram. However, prior to the introduction of the Škoda ForCity

Škoda 15 T

Škoda 15T is a 100% low floor tram developed by Škoda for the Transport Company of Prague in the years 2005-2008. The order and subsequent construction was influenced by experiences with operation of the Škoda 14 T in the Prague tram network...

, this carried the mechanical penalty of requiring bogies to be fixed and unable to pivot (except for less than 5 degrees in some trams) and thus reducing curve negotiation

Minimum railway curve radius

The minimum railway curve radius, the shortest design radius, has an important bearing on constructions costs and operating costs and, in combination with superelevation in the case of train tracks, determines the maximum safe speed of a curve. Superelevation is not a factor on tramway tracks...

. This creates undue wear on the tracks and wheels. However, passengers appreciate the ease of boarding and alighting from low-floor trams and moving about inside 100% low-floor trams. Passenger satisfaction with low-floor trams is high.
Low-floor trams are now running in many cities around the world, including Milan

Milan

, Dublin, Prague

Prague

Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...

, Riga

Riga

Riga is the capital and largest city of Latvia. With 702,891 inhabitants Riga is the largest city of the Baltic states, one of the largest cities in Northern Europe and home to more than one third of Latvia's population. The city is an important seaport and a major industrial, commercial,...

, Melbourne

Melbourne

, Hiroshima

Hiroshima

is the capital of Hiroshima Prefecture, and the largest city in the Chūgoku region of western Honshu, the largest island of Japan. It became best known as the first city in history to be destroyed by a nuclear weapon when the United States Army Air Forces dropped an atomic bomb on it at 8:15 A.M...

, Houston, Vienna

Vienna

Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...

, Istanbul

Istanbul

Istanbul , historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople , is the largest city of Turkey. Istanbul metropolitan province had 13.26 million people living in it as of December, 2010, which is 18% of Turkey's population and the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Europe after London and...

and Strasbourg

Strasbourg

Strasbourg is the capital and principal city of the Alsace region in eastern France and is the official seat of the European Parliament. Located close to the border with Germany, it is the capital of the Bas-Rhin département. The city and the region of Alsace are historically German-speaking,...

Articulated

Articulated vehicle

An articulated vehicle is a vehicle which has a permanent or semi-permanent pivoting joint in its construction, allowing the vehicle to turn more sharply. There are many kinds of articulated vehicles, from heavy equipment to buses, trams and trains...

trams, invented and first used by the Boston Elevated Railway

Boston Elevated Railway

The Boston Elevated Railway was a precursor first to the Metropolitan Transit Authority in Massachusetts, now the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, operating rapid transit, streetcars and buses in the Boston, Massachusetts area. It was formerly known as the West End Street Railway.The...

in 1912-13 at a total length of about twelve meters long (40 ft) for each pioneering example of twin-section articulated tram car, have two or more body sections, connected by flexible joints and a round platform at their pivoting midsection(s). Like articulated bus

Articulated bus

An articulated bus is an articulated vehicle used in public transportation. It is usually a single-deck design, and comprises two rigid sections linked by a pivoting joint...

es, they have increased passenger capacity. In practice, these trams can be up to 53 metres (173.9 ft) long (such as in Budapest, Hungary), while a regular tram has to be much shorter. With this type, the articulation is normally suspended between carbody sections. In the Škoda ForCity

Škoda 15 T

, which is the world's first 100% low floor tram with pivoting bogies, a Jacobs bogie

Jacobs bogie

Jacobs bogies are a type of rail vehicle bogie commonly found on articulated railcars and tramway vehicles....

supports the articulation between the two or more carbody sections. An articulated tram may be low-floor variety or high (regular) floor variety. Newer model trams may be up to 72 metres (236.2 ft) long and carry 510 passengers at a comfortable . At crush loadings this would be even higher.

Double decker

Double decker trams were commonplace in Great Britain

Great Britain

Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...

before most tramways were torn up in the 1950s

1950s

The 1950s or The Fifties was the decade that began on January 1, 1950 and ended on December 31, 1959. The decade was the sixth decade of the 20th century...

and 60s.

Hobart

Hobart

, Tasmania, Australia made extensive use of double decker trams. Arguably the most unusual double decker tram used to run between the isolated Western Australian outback

Outback

The Outback is the vast, remote, arid area of Australia, term colloquially can refer to any lands outside the main urban areas. The term "the outback" is generally used to refer to locations that are comparatively more remote than those areas named "the bush".-Overview:The outback is home to a...

village of Laverton and its small suburb of Gwalia

Gwalia, Western Australia

Gwalia is a former gold-mining town located 233 kilometres north of Kalgoorlie and 828 kilometres east of Perth in Western Australia's Great Victoria Desert. Today, Gwalia is essentially a ghost town, having been largely deserted since the main source of employment, the Sons of Gwalia...

.

Double decker trams still operate in Alexandria

Alexandria Tram

The Alexandria tramway network serves the city of Alexandria, Egypt. It consists of 38 stations. It is one of only 3 non-heritage tram systems in the world that use double-deck cars. The others are Blackpool in the UK and Hong Kong.- History :...

, Blackpool

Blackpool tramway

and Hong Kong

Hong Kong Tramways

Hong Kong Tramways is a tram system in Hong Kong and one of the earliest forms of public transport in Hong Kong. Owned and operated by Veolia Transport, the tramway runs on Hong Kong Island between Shau Kei Wan and Kennedy Town, with a branch circulating Happy Valley...

Tram-train

operation uses vehicles such as the Flexity Link

Flexity Link

The Flexity Link is a low-floor tram-train manufactured by Bombardier Transportation. It is designed to be able to run both on an urban tram network and on main railway lines, in order to provide direct journeys into a city's centre without passengers having to transfer from a regional train to a...

and Regio-Citadis

Citadis

The Citadis is a low-floor tram built by Alstom in La Rochelle, France, and Barcelona, Spain. 1,140 Citadis are currently in use in 28 cities, among others: Bordeaux, Grenoble, Lyon, Montpellier, Orléans, the Paris area, and Barcelona, Dublin, Gdańsk, Katowice, Adelaide, Melbourne, Jerusalem and...

, which are suited for use on urban tram lines and also meet the necessary indication, power, and strength requirements for operation on main-line railways. This allows passengers to travel from suburban areas into city-centre destinations without having to change from a train to a tram.

It has been primarily developed in Germanic countries, in particular Germany and Switzerland. Karlsruhe

Karlsruhe

The City of Karlsruhe is a city in the southwest of Germany, in the state of Baden-Württemberg, located near the French-German border.Karlsruhe was founded in 1715 as Karlsruhe Palace, when Germany was a series of principalities and city states...

is a notable pioneer of the tram-train.

Cargo trams

Goods have been carried on rail vehicles through the streets, particularly near docks and steelworks, since the 19th century (most evident on the Weymouth Harbour Tramway

Weymouth Harbour Tramway

The Weymouth Harbour Tramway is a goods and passenger railway constructed almost entirely on the streets of Weymouth, England...

in Weymouth, Dorset), and some Belgian vicinal tramway

Vicinal tramway

The Tramways vicinaux or Buurtspoorwegen were a system of narrow gauge tramways or local railways in Belgium, which covered the whole country and had a greater route length than the mainline railway system...

routes were used to haul timber. Several of the US interurbans carried freight. At the turn of the 21st century, a new interest has arisen in using urban tramway systems to transport goods. The motivation now is to reduce air pollution, traffic congestion and damage to road surfaces in city centres. Dresden

Dresden

has a regular CarGoTram
CarGoTram
The CarGoTram is a freight tram in Dresden. It supplies Volkswagen's "Transparent Factory" with parts for their automobile production.- History :The idea of building a "transparent factory" for Volkswagen automobile production in Dresden arose in 1997...

service, run by the world's longest tram trainsets (59.4 metres (194.9 ft)), carrying car parts across the city centre to its Volkswagen

Volkswagen

Volkswagen is a German automobile manufacturer and is the original and biggest-selling marque of the Volkswagen Group, which now also owns the Audi, Bentley, Bugatti, Lamborghini, SEAT, and Škoda marques and the truck manufacturer Scania.Volkswagen means "people's car" in German, where it is...

factory. Vienna

Vienna

and Zürich

Zürich

Zurich is the largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is located in central Switzerland at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich...

use trams as mobile recycling depots. Kislovodsk

Kislovodsk

Kislovodsk is a city in Stavropol Krai, Russia, which lies in the North Caucasian region of the country, between the Black and Caspian Seas. The closest airport is located in the city of Mineralnye Vody. Population:...

had a freight-only tram system comprising one line which was used exclusively to deliver bottled Narzan mineral water to the railway station.

In the spring of 2007, Amsterdam

Amsterdam

Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...

piloted a cargo tram operation, aiming to reduce particulate pollution

Pollution

Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into a natural environment that causes instability, disorder, harm or discomfort to the ecosystem i.e. physical systems or living organisms. Pollution can take the form of chemical substances or energy, such as noise, heat or light...

by 20% by halving the number of lorries—currently 5,000—unloading in the inner city

Inner city

The inner city is the central area of a major city or metropolis. In the United States, Canada, United Kingdom and Ireland, the term is often applied to the lower-income residential districts in the city centre and nearby areas...

during the permitted timeframe from 07:00 till 10:30. The pilot, operated by City Cargo Amsterdam, involved two cargo trams, operating from a distribution centre and delivering to a "hub" where electric trucks delivered to the final destination.

The trial was successful, releasing an intended investment of €100 million in a fleet

Fleet vehicles

Fleet vehicles are groups of motor vehicles owned or leased by a business or government agency, rather than by an individual or family. Typical examples are vehicles operated by car rental companies, taxicab companies, public utilities, public bus companies, and police departments...

of 52 cargo trams distributing from four peripheral "cross docks" to 15 inner-city hubs by 2012. These specially built vehicles would be 30 feet (9.14 m) long with 12 axle

Axle

An axle is a central shaft for a rotating wheel or gear. On wheeled vehicles, the axle may be fixed to the wheels, rotating with them, or fixed to its surroundings, with the wheels rotating around the axle. In the former case, bearings or bushings are provided at the mounting points where the axle...

s and a payload

Cargo

Cargo is goods or produce transported, generally for commercial gain, by ship, aircraft, train, van or truck. In modern times, containers are used in most intermodal long-haul cargo transport.-Marine:...

of 30 t (33.1 ST; 29.5 LT). On weekdays, trams are planned to make 4 deliveries per hour between 7 a.m. and 11 a.m. and two per hour between 11 a.m. and 11 p.m. With each unloading operation taking on average 10 minutes, this means that each site would be active for 40 minutes out of each hour during the morning rush hour. In early 2009 the scheme was suspended owing to the financial crisis impeding fund-raising.

Between 1927 and 1977, three different Freight Cars operated in Melbourne

Melbourne

Hearse-tram

Specially appointed hearse trams were used for funerals in Milan, Italy, from the 1880s (initially horse-drawn) to the 1920s. The main cemeteries, Cimitero Monumentale and Cimitero Maggiore, included funeral tram stations. Additional funeral stations were located at Piazza Firenze and at Porta Romana.

In the mid-1940s at least one special hearse tram was used in Turin, Italy. It was introduced due to the wartime shortage of automotive fuel.

Newcastle, NSW, Australia also operated two hearse trams between 1896 and 1948.

Dog car

In Melbourne

Melbourne

a "dog car" was used between 1937 and 1955 for transporting dogs and their owners to the Royal Melbourne Showgrounds

Royal Melbourne Showgrounds

The Melbourne Showgrounds is located in the inner north-western suburb of Ascot Vale, Victoria, Australia, next door to Flemington Racecourse. Is the home of the annual Royal Melbourne Show, as well as major exhibitions, trade shows, and music concerts....

Contractors' mobile offices

Two former passenger cars from the Melbourne

Melbourne

system were converted and used as mobile offices within the Preston Workshops between 1969 and 1974, by personnel from Commonwealth Engineering

Commonwealth Engineering

The Commonwealth Engineering Company Limited is the brand name of a former Australian Engineering Company that designed Locomotives, Electrical Multiple Units , Diesel Multiple Units and Trams.-History:...

and ASEA

ASEA

Allmänna Svenska Elektriska Aktiebolaget was a Swedish industry company. It merged with the Swiss Brown, Boveri & Cie in 1988 to form Asea Brown Boveri...

who were connected with the construction of Melbourne's Z Class cars.

Restaurant trams

A number of systems have introduced restaurant

Restaurant

A restaurant is an establishment which prepares and serves food and drink to customers in return for money. Meals are generally served and eaten on premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and food delivery services...

trams, particularly as a tourist attraction. This is specifically a modern trend. Inter alia, tram systems which have or have had restaurant trams include: Adelaide

Adelaide

Adelaide is the capital city of South Australia and the fifth-largest city in Australia. Adelaide has an estimated population of more than 1.2 million...

, Australia

Australia

; Bendigo, Australia

Australia

; Milan

Milan

, Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

; Melbourne

Melbourne

, Australia

Australia

and Christchurch

Christchurch

, New Zealand

New Zealand

(currently suspended pending post earthquake infrastructure assessment).

These type of vehicles are particularly popular in Melbourne where three of the iconic "W" class trams have been converted to restaurant trams. All three often run in tandem and there are usually different sittings for meals. Bookings often close months in advance.

Other

Most systems had cars that were converted to specific uses on the system, other than simply the carriage of passengers. As just one example, the Melbourne

Melbourne

system used or uses the following: a Ballast Motor, Ballast Trailers, a Blow Car, Breakdown Cars, Conductors and/or Drivers' Instruction Cars, a Laboratory Testing Car, a Line Marking Car, a Pantograph Testing Car, Per Way Locomotives, Rail Grinders, a Rail Hardner Loco., a Scrapper Car, Scrubbers, Sleeper Carriers, Track Cleaners, a Welding Car, a Wheel Transport Car and a Workshops Locomotive.

Many systems have passenger carrying vehicles with all-over advertising on the exterior and/or the interior.

Tramway operation

There are two main types of Tramways, the classic tramway build in the early 20th century with the tram system operating in mixed traffic and the latter type which is most often associated with the tram system having it own right of way. Tram systems that have their own right of way are often call Light Rail

Light rail

but this does not always hold true. Though these two systems have difference in their operation their equipment is much the same.

Infrastructure and equipment

Tram stop
Controls
Track
Power supply

Ground-level power supply
Ground-level power supply
Ground-level power supply, also known as surface current collection and Alimentation par Sol is a modern method of third-rail electrical pick-up for street trams. It was invented for the Bordeaux tramway, which was constructed from 2000 and opened in 2003. Until 2011, this is the only place it is...
Conduit current collection
Conduit current collection
Conduit current collection is a system of electric current collection used by electric trams, where the power supply is carried in a channel under the roadway, rather than located overhead.-Description:...

Tram and light-rail transit systems around the world

Throughout the world there are many tram systems; some dating from the late 19th or early 20th centuries. However a large number of the old systems were closed during the mid-20th century because of such perceived drawbacks as route inflexibility and maintenance expense. This was especially the case in North American, British, French and other West European cities. Some traditional tram systems did however survive and remain operating much as when first built over a century ago. In the past twenty years their numbers have been augmented by modern tramway or light rail systems in cities that had discarded this form of transport.

Popularity

Tramways with tramcars (British English

British English

British English, or English , is the broad term used to distinguish the forms of the English language used in the United Kingdom from forms used elsewhere...

) or street railways with streetcars (American English

American English

American English is a set of dialects of the English language used mostly in the United States. Approximately two-thirds of the world's native speakers of English live in the United States....

) were common throughout the industrialised world in the late 19th and early 20th centuries but they had disappeared from most British, Canadian, French and U.S. cities by the mid-20th century.

By contrast, trams in parts of continental Europe

Trams in Europe

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, and fast trams in some other countries.- Overview :...

continued to be used by many cities, although there were contractions in some countries, including the Netherlands.

Since 1980 trams have returned to favour in many places, partly because their tendency to dominate the roadway, formerly seen as a disadvantage, is now considered to be a merit. New systems have been built in the United States, Great Britain, Ireland, France and many other countries.

In Milan, Italy, the old "Ventotto

Peter Witt streetcar

Peter Witt was a Cleveland Railway commissioner, who designed a model of streetcar known by his name, and used in many North American cities, most notably in Toronto and Cleveland.-Features:...

" trams are considered by its inhabitants a "symbol" of the city.

Largest tram systems

The Silesian Interurbans

Silesian Interurbans

Silesian Interurbans - one of the largest tram systems in the world has been in existence since 1894. The system is spread over more than 50 kilometres and covers thirteen towns in the Upper Silesia metropolitan area and their suburbs Silesian Interurbans - one of the largest tram (streetcar)...

in Poland and the Trams in Melbourne

Trams in Melbourne

The Melbourne tramway network is a major form of public transport in Melbourne, the capital city of the state of Victoria, Australia. , the network consisted of of track, 487 trams, 28 routes, and 1,773 tram stops. It was therefore the largest urban tramway network in the world, ahead of the...

, Australia, are claimed to be the largest tram networks in the world. Before its decline the BVG

Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe

The is the main public transport company of Berlin, the capital city of Germany. It manages the city's U-Bahn underground railway, tram, bus and ferry networks, but not the S-Bahn urban rail system....

in Berlin operated a very large network with 634 km of route. Probably the largest tram system ever with 857 km existed in Buenos Aires before the 1960s. During a period in the 1980s the world's largest tram system was in Leningrad

Tramways in Saint Petersburg

The city of Saint Petersburg, Russia once had the largest tram network in the world, consisting of about 340 kilometres of unduplicated track in the late 1980s. However, since 1995 the tramway network has declined sharply in size as major portions of track were removed, particularly in the city...

, USSR, being included in Guinness World Records

Guinness World Records

Guinness World Records, known until 2000 as The Guinness Book of Records , is a reference book published annually, containing a collection of world records, both human achievements and the extremes of the natural world...

.

The longest single tram line in the world is the Belgian

Belgium

Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...

Coast tram, which runs almost the entire length of the Belgian coast. Other large systems include (but not limited to) Vienna

Wiener Linien

Wiener Linien are the company running the largest part of the public transit network in the city of Vienna, Austria. They are part of the city corporation Wiener Stadtwerke Holding AG.- Governing structure and statistics :...

, Budapest

Trams in Budapest

The Budapest tramway network is a vital part of the public transport system in Budapest, the capital city of Hungary.In operation since 1866, the network is presently one of world's largest tram networks, at about in total length...

, Leipzig, Prague

Prague Tram System

The Prague tram system is the largest tram system in the Czech Republic, consisting of 140 kilometres of track, over 900 tram cars, and 33 lines with a total route length of 540 km. It is operated by Dopravní podnik hlavního města Prahy a.s., a company owned by the City of Prague. The system...

, Kiev, Milan

Trams in Milan

The Milan tramway network is an important part of the public transport network of the city and comune of Milan, in the region of Lombardy, northern Italy.In operation since 1876, the network is presently about long...

, Warsaw, Amsterdam

Gemeentelijk Vervoerbedrijf

The Gemeentelijk Vervoerbedrijf is the municipal transport company of Amsterdam. As of 2007, the GVB is an independent corporation wholly owned by the city of Amsterdam.-History:...

, Brussels

Brussels trams

The Brussels tram system is one of the ten largest in the world, carrying some 75.6 million passengers in 2009. Its development demonstrates many of the quandaries that face local public transport planners...

, Zagreb, Zurich

Zürich trams

Trams make an important contribution to public transport in the city of Zurich in Switzerland. The tram network serves most city neighbourhoods, and is the backbone of public transport within the city, albeit supplemented by the inner sections of the Zurich S-Bahn, along with urban trolleybus and...

, Bucharest

Transport in Bucharest

Bucharest has the largest transport network in Romania, and one of the largest in Europe. The Bucharest transport network is made up of a metro network and a surface transport network...

and Toronto

Toronto streetcar system

The Toronto streetcar system comprises eleven streetcar routes in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, operated by the Toronto Transit Commission , and is the largest such system in the Americas in terms of ridership, number of cars, and track length. The network is concentrated primarily in downtown and in...

.

Until the system started to be converted to trolleybus (and later bus) in the 1930s, the first-generation London network was also one of the world's largest, with 526 km (327 mi) of route in 1934. While the largest streetcar network in the world used to be located in Chicago

Chicago

, with over 850 kilometres (530 mi) of track, all of it was converted to bus service by the late 1950s.

On the basis of work effectiveness, another measure of size is patronage. The ten largest systems are (figures in millions of passengers carried per year):

1. St Petersburg: 476 million
2. Budapest: 364 million
3. Prague: 350 million
4. Warsaw: 270 million
5. Moscow: 251 million
6. Vienna: 240 million
7. Zagreb: 214 million
8. Zurich 199 million
9. Yekaterinburg: 180 million
10. Melbourne: 176 million
(Sources: most recent annual reports of operators)

Asia

Tramway systems were well established in the Asian region at the start of the 20th century, but started a steady decline during the mid to late 30s. The 1960s marked the end of its dominance in public transportation with most major systems closed and the equipment and rails sold for scrap; however, some extensive original lines still remain in service in Hong Kong and Japan. In recent years there has been renewed interest in the tram with modern systems being built in Japan, the Philippines, and South Korea.

The first Japanese tram line was inaugurated in 1895 as the Kyoto Electric Railroad. The tram reached its zenith in 1932 when 82 rail companies operated 1,479 kilometers of track in 65 cities. The tram declined in popularity through the remaining years of the 30s, a trend that was accelerated by the damages of the War and continued through the Occupation and rebuilding years. During the 1960s many of the remaining operational tramways were shut down and dismantled in favor of auto, bus, and rapid rail service; however, when one compares the number of operational lines that survived this era to their American counterparts, they can be defined as quite extensive.

Europe

In many European cities much tramway infrastructure was lost in the mid-20th century, though not always on the same scale as in other parts of the world such as North America. Most of Eastern Europe retained tramway systems until recent years but some cities are now reconsidering their transport priorities. In contrast, some Western European cities are rehabilitating, upgrading, expanding and reconstructing their old tramway lines. Many Western European towns and cities are also building new tramway lines.

North America

In North America trams are generally known as streetcars or trolleys; the term tram is more likely to be understood as a tourist trolley

Tourist trolley

A tourist trolley, also called a road trolley, is a rubber-tired bus , which is made to resemble an old-style streetcar or tram....

, an aerial tramway

Aerial tramway

An aerial tramway , cable car , ropeway or aerial tram is a type of aerial lift which uses one or two stationary ropes for support while a third moving rope provides propulsion...

, or a people-mover.

In most North American cities, streetcar lines were largely torn up in the mid-20th century for a variety of financial, technological and social reasons, mainly as a result of the Great American Streetcar Scandal. Exceptions included Boston

Boston

Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...

, New Orleans, Newark

Newark, New Jersey

Newark is the largest city in the American state of New Jersey, and the seat of Essex County. As of the 2010 United States Census, Newark had a population of 277,140, maintaining its status as the largest municipality in New Jersey. It is the 68th largest city in the U.S...

, Seattle, Philadelphia (with a much smaller network than once had existed), Pittsburgh, San Francisco and Toronto

Toronto

. In a trend started in the 1980s, some American cities have brought back streetcars, examples of these being Memphis

Memphis, Tennessee

Memphis is a city in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the county seat of Shelby County. The city is located on the 4th Chickasaw Bluff, south of the confluence of the Wolf and Mississippi rivers....

, Portland

Portland, Oregon

Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...

, Tampa

Tâmpa

Tâmpa may refer to several villages in Romania:* Tâmpa, a village in Băcia Commune, Hunedoara County* Tâmpa, a village in Miercurea Nirajului, Mureş County* Tâmpa, a mountain in Braşov city...

, Little Rock and Seattle. Several additional cities, such as Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....

, Tucson and Detroit are planning or proposing to do the same. Pittsburgh kept most of its streetcar system serving the city and many suburbs until January 27, 1967, making it the longest-lasting large-network U.S. streetcar system. In the late 20th century, several cities installed light rail systems, in part along the same corridor as the old streetcars.

Toronto

Toronto

currently has the largest streetcar system

Toronto streetcar system

in the Americas in terms of track length and ridership, operated by the Toronto Transit Commission

Toronto Transit Commission

-Island Ferry:The ferry service to the Toronto Islands was operated by the TTC from 1927 until 1962, when it was transferred to the Metro Parks and Culture department. Since 1998, the ferry service is run by Toronto Parks and Recreation.-Gray Coach:...

. It is the only streetcar system existing in Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

, not including the light rail systems that some Canadian cities currently operate, or heritage streetcar

Heritage streetcar

Heritage streetcars or heritage trams are a development of the heritage railways that are becoming popular across the world. As with modern streetcar systems, the vehicles are referred to as trams or tramcars in the United Kingdom, Australasia and certain other places , but as streetcars or...

lines operating only seasonally. Toronto's system uses Canadian Light Rail Vehicle

Canadian Light Rail Vehicle

The Canadian Light Rail Vehicle ' is a type of streetcar that is used by the Toronto Transit Commission in Toronto, Canada.-Background:...

s and Articulated Light Rail Vehicles, after a history of using PCC

PCC streetcar

The PCC streetcar design was first built in the United States in the 1930s. The design proved successful in its native country, and after World War II was licensed for use elsewhere in the world...

s, Peter Witt car

Peter Witt streetcar

Peter Witt was a Cleveland Railway commissioner, who designed a model of streetcar known by his name, and used in many North American cities, most notably in Toronto and Cleveland.-Features:...

s, and horse-drawn carriages. The system is currently proposing to replace its current fleet with Bombardier's Flexity Outlook

Flexity Outlook (Toronto LRV)

The Toronto Flexity Outlook is the planned light rail vehicle replacement for the Toronto Transit Commission's fleet of CLRVs and ALRVs on its streetcar system...

models, which is also used in some European tram systems. Streetcars once existed in Edmonton

Edmonton

Edmonton is the capital of the Canadian province of Alberta and is the province's second-largest city. Edmonton is located on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Capital Region, which is surrounded by the central region of the province.The city and its census...

and Calgary

Calgary

Calgary is a city in the Province of Alberta, Canada. It is located in the south of the province, in an area of foothills and prairie, approximately east of the front ranges of the Canadian Rockies...

, but both cities have since converted their systems to support light rail vehicles instead. Streetcars also once existed in Ottawa

Ottawa

Ottawa is the capital of Canada, the second largest city in the Province of Ontario, and the fourth largest city in the country. The city is located on the south bank of the Ottawa River in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario...

, Montreal

Montreal

Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...

, Kitchener

Kitchener, Ontario

The City of Kitchener is a city in Southern Ontario, Canada. It was the Town of Berlin from 1854 until 1912 and the City of Berlin from 1912 until 1916. The city had a population of 204,668 in the Canada 2006 Census...

and Hamilton

Hamilton, Ontario

Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian province of Ontario. Conceived by George Hamilton when he purchased the Durand farm shortly after the War of 1812, Hamilton has become the centre of a densely populated and industrialized region at the west end of Lake Ontario known as the Golden Horseshoe...

. Some cities have restored their old streetcars and run them as a heritage feature for tourists, like the Vancouver Downtown Historic Railway

Vancouver Downtown Historic Railway

The Vancouver Downtown Historic Railway is a heritage streetcar line that operates between Granville Island and the Cambie Station in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It operates only on weekends and holidays, usually from May to mid-October, and is aimed primarily at tourists...

Australia and New Zealand

In Australia

Australia

, trams are used extensively only in Melbourne, and to a lesser extent, Adelaide

Adelaide

Adelaide is the capital city of South Australia and the fifth-largest city in Australia. Adelaide has an estimated population of more than 1.2 million...

, all other major cities having largely dismantled their networks by the 1970s. Sydney reintroduced its tram

Trams in Sydney

The Sydney tramway network once served Sydney, the capital city of New South Wales, Australia. In its heyday, it was the largest in Australia, the second largest in the Commonwealth , and one of the largest in the world. It was extremely intensively worked, with about 1,600 cars in service at any...

in 1997 as a modern system (Metro Light Rail

Metro Light Rail

The Metro Light Rail is the only currently operating light rail line in Sydney. The line opened on 31 August 1997, mostly along the route of an unused goods railway line, to serve the redeveloped inner-city areas of Darling Harbour, Ultimo and Pyrmont, and was extended in 2000 to serve some of...

), while Ballarat and Christchurch

Christchurch

reintroduced their trams as heritage systems. Bendigo

Trams in Bendigo

Trams have operated in the city of Bendigo, Victoria, Australia since 1890, and continue to operate today as a tourist attraction. Limited trials have also been made in 2009 with operating commuter service, but with minimal usage by the public....

had a heritage system for a while which has recently been upgraded to a simple public transport system through an increase in frequency.

A distinctive feature of many Australian trams was the early use of a lowered central section between bogies (wheel-sets). This was intended to make passenger access easier, by reducing the number of steps required to reach the inside of the vehicle. It is believed that the design first originated in Christchurch in the first decade of the 20th century. Cars with this design feature were frequently referred to as "drop-centres". Trams built since the 1970s have had conventional high or low floors.

The trams made by Boon & Co. of Christchurch, New Zealand in 1906–07 for use in Christchurch may have been the first with this feature; they were referred to as drop-centres or Boon cars. Trams for Christchurch and Wellington built in the 1920s with an enclosed section at each end and an open-sided middle section were also known as Boon cars, but did not have the drop-centre.

South America

Buenos Aires

Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...

in Argentina had once one of the most extensive tramway networks in the world with over 857 km (535 mi) of track, most of it dismantled during the 1960s in favor of bus transportation.
Now slowly coming back, the 2 km Puerto Madero Tramway

Tranvía del Este

Tranvía del Este or “Puerto Madero Tramway ” is a 12-block "demonstration" tramway line in the Puerto Madero neighborhood of Buenos Aires operated by the rail company Ferrovías....

running in the Puerto Madero

Puerto Madero

Puerto Madero, also known within the urban planning community as the Puerto Madero Waterfront, is a barrio of the Argentine capital at Buenos Aires CBD, occupying a significant portion of the Río de la Plata riverbank and representing the latest architectural trends in the city of Buenos...

district is spearheading the move with extensions to Retiro station and La Boca

La Boca

La Boca is a neighborhood, or barrio of the Argentine capital, Buenos Aires. It retains a strong European flavour, with many of its early settlers being from the Italian city of Genoa. In fact the name has a strong assonance with the Genoese neighborhood of Boccadasse , and some people believe that...

in the planning stages.
Another line, the PreMetro line E2

PreMetro E2 (Buenos Aires)

PreMetroThe PreMetro or Line E2 is a tram line that connects with the Buenos Aires Metro line E, at Plaza de los Virreyes station and runs to General Savio and Centro Cívico. It is operated by Metrovías....

system feeding the Line E

Line E (Buenos Aires)

Line E of the Buenos Aires Metro, which runs from Plaza de los Virreyes to Bolivar , opened on 20 June 1944, currently extends a total distance of 9.2 km.- External links :* * * *...

of the Buenos Aires Subway has been operating for the past few years on the outskirts of Buenos Aires, and a unique leisure "Tren de la Costa

Tren de la Costa

Tren de la Costa is a suburban , 11-station light rail line in Greater Buenos Aires, between Maipú Avenue station in the northern suburb of Olivos and Delta station in Tigre, on the Río de la Plata...

", an artery that stretches for 15 kilometres by the River Plate

Río de la Plata

The Río de la Plata —sometimes rendered River Plate in British English and the Commonwealth, and occasionally rendered [La] Plata River in other English-speaking countries—is the river and estuary formed by the confluence of the Uruguay River and the Paraná River on the border between Argentina and...

, from Olivos to the village of Tigre

Tigre, Buenos Aires

Tigre is a town in the Buenos Aires Province, Argentina, situated in the north of Greater Buenos Aires, north of Buenos Aires city. Tigre lies on the Paraná Delta and is an important tourist and weekend attraction, easily reached by bus and train services, including the scenic Tren de la Costa...

has also been running in Buenos Aires.

Also in the city Mendoza

Mendoza, Argentina

Mendoza is the capital city of Mendoza Province, in Argentina. It is located in the northern-central part of the province, in a region of foothills and high plains, on the eastern side of the Andes. As of the , Mendoza's population was 110,993...

, in Argentina

Argentina

Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...

, a new tramway system is in construction, the Metrotranvía of Mendoza

Metrotranvía of Mendoza

The Metrotranvía of Mendoza will be a public light rail transport system for the city of Mendoza, Argentina, served by articulated light rail cars operating on newly relaid tracks in former-Ferrocarril General San Martín mainline right-of-way...

, which will have a route of 12.5 km and will link five districts of the Greater Mendoza

Greater Mendoza

Gran Mendoza is the name given to the large urban conurbation around the city of Mendoza in Argentina. The 2001 Census estimated the population of Gran Mendoza as 848,660 making it the 4th largest urban conurbation in Argentina....

conurbation. The opening of the system is scheduled for August 2011.

In Medellín

Medellín

Medellín , officially the Municipio de Medellín or Municipality of Medellín, is the second largest city in Colombia. It is in the Aburrá Valley, one of the more northerly of the Andes in South America. It has a population of 2.3 million...

, Colombia

Colombia

Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...

, there is a tram line under construction and the opening schedule is for December 2011.

Pros and cons of tram systems

All transit services, except personal rapid transit, involve a trade-off between speed and frequency of stops. Services that stop frequently have a lower overall speed, and are therefore less attractive for longer trips. Metros, light rail

Light rail

, monorail

Monorail

A monorail is a rail-based transportation system based on a single rail, which acts as its sole support and its guideway. The term is also used variously to describe the beam of the system, or the vehicles traveling on such a beam or track...

, and bus rapid transit

Bus rapid transit

Bus rapid transit is a term applied to a variety of public transportation systems using buses to provide faster, more efficient service than an ordinary bus line. Often this is achieved by making improvements to existing infrastructure, vehicles and scheduling...

are all forms of rapid transit

Rapid transit

, which generally signifies high speed and widely spaced stops. Trams are often used as a form of local transit, making frequent stops. Thus, the most meaningful comparison of advantages and disadvantages is with other forms of local transit, primarily the local bus.

Advantages

Steel wheels on steel track create about one-seventh as much friction as rubber tyres on bitumen
Asphalt
Asphalt or , also known as bitumen, is a sticky, black and highly viscous liquid or semi-solid that is present in most crude petroleums and in some natural deposits, it is a substance classed as a pitch...

, thus creating dramatically less pollution when carrying the same load.
Unlike omnibuses, but like trolleybus
Trolleybus
A trolleybus is an electric bus that draws its electricity from overhead wires using spring-loaded trolley poles. Two wires and poles are required to complete the electrical circuit...

es, (electric) trams give off no exhaust emissions at point of use.
Compared to motorbuses the noise
Noise
In common use, the word noise means any unwanted sound. In both analog and digital electronics, noise is random unwanted perturbation to a wanted signal; it is called noise as a generalisation of the acoustic noise heard when listening to a weak radio transmission with significant electrical noise...

of trams is generally perceived to be less disturbing. However, the use of solid axles with wheels fixed to them causes slippage between wheels and tracks when negotiating curves. This produces a characteristic squeal.
They can use overhead wire set to be shared with trolleybuses (a three wire system).
Trams can adapt to the number of passengers by adding more cars during rush hour (and removing them during off-peak hours). No additional driver is then required for the trip in comparison to buses.
In general, trams provide a higher capacity service than buses.
Multiple entrances allow trams to load faster than suburban coaches, which tend to have a single entrance. This, combined with swifter acceleration and braking, lets trams maintain higher overall speeds than buses, if congestion allows.
The trams' stops in the street are easily accessible, unlike stations of subways and commuter railways placed underground (with several escalators, stairways etc.) or in the outskirts of the city center.
Rights-of-way for trams are narrower than for buses. This saves valuable space in cities with high population densities and/or narrow streets.
Trams can trackshare
Tram-train
A tram-train is a light-rail public transport system where trams run both on an urban tramway network and on main-line railways to combine the tram's flexibility and availability and the train's greater speed...

with mainline railways, servicing smaller towns without requiring special track as in Stadtbahn Karlsruhe and at greater speed than buses.
Passenger comfort is normally superior to buses because of controlled acceleration and braking and curve easement. Rail transport such as used by trams provides a smoother ride than road use by buses.
Because the tracks are visible, it is easy for potential riders to know where the routes are.
Because trams run on rails, the ride is far more comfortable than that of a rubber-tyred bus. Blemishes in the road surface are far less noticeable.
Vehicles run more efficiently
Fuel efficiency in transportation
The fuel efficiency in transportation ranges from some hundred kilojoule per kilometre for a bicycle to several megajoule for a helicopter.Efficiency can be expressed in terms of consumption per unit distance per vehicle, consumption per unit distance per passenger or consumption per unit distance...

and overall operating costs are lower.
Trams can run on renewable electricity without the need for very expensive and short life batteries.
Consistent market research and experience over the last 50 years in Europe and North America shows that car commuters are willing to transfer some trips to rail-based public transport but not to buses. Typically light rail systems attract between 30 and 40% of their patronage from former car trips. Rapid transit bus systems attract less than 5% of trips from cars, less than the variability of traffic.

Disadvantages

Tram infrastructure (such as island platforms) occupies urban space at ground-level, sometimes to the exclusion of other users, including cars.
The capital cost is higher than for buses, even though a tramcar usually has a much longer lifetime than a bus.
Trams can cause speed reduction for other transport modes (buses, cars) when stops in the middle of the road do not have pedestrian refuges, as in such configurations other traffic cannot pass whilst passengers alight or board the tram.
When operated in mixed traffic, trams are more likely to be delayed by disruptions in their lane. Buses, by contrast, can sometimes manoeuver around obstacles. Opinions differ on whether the deference that drivers show to trams—a cultural issue that varies by country—is sufficient to counteract this disadvantage.

Tram tracks can be hazardous for cyclists, as bikes, particularly those with narrow tyres, may get their wheels caught in the track grooves. It is possible to close the grooves of the tracks on critical sections by rubber profiles that are pressed down by the wheelflanges of the passing tram but that cannot be lowered by the weight of a cyclist. If not well-maintained, however, these lose their effectiveness over time.
When wet, tram tracks tend to become slippery and thus dangerous for bicycles and motorcycles, especially in traffic. In some cases, even cars can be affected.
Steel wheel trams are noisier than rubber-wheeled buses or trolleybuses when cornering if there are no additional measures taken (e.g. greasing wheel flanges, which is standard in new-built systems). In older trams, the wheels are fixed onto axles so they have to rotate together, but going around curves, one wheel or the other has to slip, and that causes loud unpleasant squeals. A related improvement is rubber isolation between the wheel disc and the rim, as used on Boston (Massachusetts, U.S.) Green Line 3400 and 3600 series cars. These cars are much quieter than those with solid metal wheels. (This construction requires a flexible cable to electrically connect the tire to the wheel body.)
Trams usually have less effective suspension systems than buses, which tends to negate the ride quality benefits of steel rails.
The opening of new tram and light rail systems has sometimes been accompanied by a marked increase in car accident
Car accident
A traffic collision, also known as a traffic accident, motor vehicle collision, motor vehicle accident, car accident, automobile accident, Road Traffic Collision or car crash, occurs when a vehicle collides with another vehicle, pedestrian, animal, road debris, or other stationary obstruction,...

s, as a result of drivers' unfamiliarity with the physics and geometry of trams. Though such increases may be temporary, long-term conflicts between motorists and light rail operations can be alleviated by segregating their respective rights-of-way and installing appropriate signage and warning systems.
Rail transport can expose neighbouring populations to moderate levels of low-frequency noise. However, transportation planners use noise mitigation
Noise mitigation
Noise mitigation is a set of strategies to reduce noise pollution. The main areas of noise mitigation or abatement are: transportation noise control, architectural design, and occupational noise control...

strategies to minimize these effects. Most of all, the potential for decreased private motor vehicle operations along the trolley's service line because of the service provision could result in lower ambient noise levels than without.
In the event of a breakdown or accident, or even roadworks and maintenance, a whole section of the tram network can be blocked. Buses and trolleybuses can often get past minor blockages, although trolleybuses are restricted by how far they can go from the wires. Conventional buses can divert around major blockages as well, as can most modern trolleybuses that are fitted with auxiliary engines or traction batteries. The tram blockage problem can be mitigated by providing regular crossovers so a tram can run on the opposite line to pass a blockage, although this can be more difficult when running on road sections shared with other road users or when both tracks happen to be blocked. On extensive networks diversionary routes may be available depending on the location of the blockage. Breakdown related problems can be reduced by minimising the situations where a tram would be stuck on route, as well as making it as simple as possible for another tram to rescue a failed one.

In literature

One of the earliest literary references to trams occurs on the second page of Henry James

Henry James

Henry James, OM was an American-born writer, regarded as one of the key figures of 19th-century literary realism. He was the son of Henry James, Sr., a clergyman, and the brother of philosopher and psychologist William James and diarist Alice James....

's novel The Europeans
The Europeans
The Europeans: A sketch is a short novel by Henry James, published in 1878. It is essentially a comedy contrasting the behaviour and attitudes of two visitors from Europe with those of their relatives living in the 'new' world of New England. The novel first appeared as a serial in The Atlantic...

:

From time to time a strange vehicle drew near to the place where they stood—such a vehicle as the lady at the window, in spite of a considerable acquaintance with human inventions, had never seen before: a huge, low, omnibus, painted in brilliant colours, and decorated apparently with jingling bells, attached to a species of groove

Groove (machining)

In manufacturing or mechanical engineering a groove is a long and narrow indentation built into a material, generally for the purpose of allowing another material or part to move within the groove and be guided by it. Examples include:...

in the pavement

Pavement (material)

Road surface or pavement is the durable surface material laid down on an area intended to sustain vehicular or foot traffic, such as a road or walkway. In the past cobblestones and granite setts were extensively used, but these surfaces have mostly been replaced by asphalt or concrete. Such...

, through which it was dragged, with a great deal of rumbling, bouncing, and scratching, by a couple of remarkably small horse

Horse

Published in 1878, the novel is set in the 1840s, though horse trams were not introduced in Boston

Boston

till the 1850s. Note how the tram's efficiency surprises the European visitor; how two "remarkably small" horses sufficed to draw the "huge" tramcar.

James also makes comical reference to the novelty and excitement of trams in Portrait of a Lady (1881):

Henrietta Stackpole was struck with the fact that ancient Rome had been paved a good deal like New York, and even found an analogy between the deep chariot-ruts traceable in the antique street and the overjangled iron grooves which express the intensity of American life. (page 313 of Penguin edition.)

A quarter of a century later, Joseph Conrad described Amsterdam's trams in chapter 14 of The Mirror of the Sea (1906): From afar at the end of Tsar Peter Straat, issued in the frosty air the tinkle of bells of the horse tramcars, appearing and disappearing in the opening between the buildings, like little toy carriages harnessed with toy horses and played with by people that appeared no bigger than children.

Danzig trams figure extensively in the early stages of Günter Grass

Günter Grass

Günter Wilhelm Grass is a Nobel Prize-winning German author, poet, playwright, sculptor and artist.He was born in the Free City of Danzig...

's Die Blechtrommel (The Tin Drum

The Tin Drum

The Tin Drum is a 1959 novel by Günter Grass. The novel is the first book of Grass's .- Plot summary :The story revolves around the life of Oskar Matzerath, as narrated by himself when confined in a mental hospital during the years 1952-1954...

). In the last chapter the novel's hero Oskar Matzerath and his friend Gottfried von Vittlar steal a tram late at night from outside Unterrath depot on the northern edge of Düsseldorf

Düsseldorf

Düsseldorf is the capital city of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and centre of the Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan region.Düsseldorf is an important international business and financial centre and renowned for its fashion and trade fairs. Located centrally within the European Megalopolis, the...

.

It is a surreal

Surrealism

Surrealism is a cultural movement that began in the early 1920s, and is best known for the visual artworks and writings of the group members....

journey. Von Vittlar drives the tram through the night, south to Flingern and Haniel and then east to the suburb of Gerresheim

Düsseldorf-Gerresheim

Gerresheim is one of the City of Düsseldorf, Germany's forty-nine boroughs. It is located in the eastern part of the municipality. Gerresheim is much older than Düsseldorf itself, having been an independent city with a rich history for over 1,000 years...

. Meanwhile, inside, Matzerath tries to rescue the half-blind Victor Weluhn (who had escaped from the siege

Siege

A siege is a military blockade of a city or fortress with the intent of conquering by attrition or assault. The term derives from sedere, Latin for "to sit". Generally speaking, siege warfare is a form of constant, low intensity conflict characterized by one party holding a strong, static...

of the Polish post office in Danzig at the beginning of the book and of the war) from his two green-hatted would-be executioner

Executioner

A judicial executioner is a person who carries out a death sentence ordered by the state or other legal authority, which was known in feudal terminology as high justice.-Scope and job:...

s. Mazerath deposits his briefcase

Briefcase

A briefcase is a narrow box-shaped bag or case used mainly for carrying papers and other documents and equipped with a handle. Lawyers commonly use briefcases to carry briefs to present to a court, hence the name...

, which contains Sister Dorotea's severed ring finger

Ring finger

The ring finger is the fourth digit of the human hand, and the second most ulnar finger, located between the middle finger and the little finger. It is also called digitus medicinalis, the fourth finger, digitus annularis, digitus quartus, or digitus IV in anatomy.- Etymology :According to László A...

in a preserving jar

Kilner jar

Kilner jar is a rubber-sealed, screw-topped jar used for the storage of food, which was invented by the Kilner family and produced by John Kilner & Co., Yorkshire, England....

, on the dashboard "where professional motorman put their lunchboxes". They leave the tram at the terminus and the executioners tie Weluhn to a tree in von Vittlar's mother's garden and prepare to machine-gun him. But Matzerath drums, Weluhn sings, and together they conjure up the Polish cavalry

Cavalry

Cavalry or horsemen were soldiers or warriors who fought mounted on horseback. Cavalry were historically the third oldest and the most mobile of the combat arms...

, who spirit both victim and executioners away. Matzerath asks von Vittlar to take his briefcase in the tram to the police HQ in the Fürstenwall, which he does.

The latter part of this route is today served by tram route 703 terminating at Gerresheim Stadtbahn

Stadtbahn

A ' is a tramway or light railway that includes segments built to rapid transit standards, usually as part of a process of conversion to a metro railway, mainly by the building of tunnels in the central city area....

station ("by the glassworks" as Grass notes, referring to the famous glass factory).

In his 1967 spy

SPY

SPY is a three-letter acronym that may refer to:* SPY , ticker symbol for Standard & Poor's Depositary Receipts* SPY , a satirical monthly, trademarked all-caps* SPY , airport code for San Pédro, Côte d'Ivoire...

thriller An Expensive Place to Die
An Expensive Place to Die
An Expensive Place to Die is a 1967 novel by Len Deighton. It is set initially in Paris and takes its title from an Oscar Wilde quotation about the said city...

, Len Deighton

Len Deighton

Leonard Cyril Deighton is a British military historian, cookery writer, and novelist. He is perhaps most famous for his spy novel The IPCRESS File, which was made into a film starring Michael Caine....

misidentifies the Flemish coast tram: "The red glow of Ostend

Ostend

Ostend is a Belgian city and municipality located in the Flemish province of West Flanders. It comprises the boroughs of Mariakerke , Stene and Zandvoorde, and the city of Ostend proper – the largest on the Belgian coast....

is nearer now and yellow trains rattle alongside the motor road and over the bridge by the Royal Yacht Club..." [Chapter 38, page 198 of the Companion Book Club edition.]

In popular culture

The Rev W. Awdry
W.V. Awdry
Wilbert Vere Awdry, OBE , was an English clergyman, railway enthusiast and children's author, better known as the Reverend W. Awdry and creator of Thomas the Tank Engine, who starred in Awdry's acclaimed Railway Series.-Life:Awdry was born at Ampfield vicarage near Romsey, Hampshire in 1911...

wrote about GER Class C53
GER Class C53
The GER Class C53 was a class of twelve 0-6-0T steam tram locomotives designed by James Holden for the Great Eastern Railway. They passed to the London and North Eastern Railway at the grouping, and received the LNER classification J70.-History:...

called Toby the Tram Engine
Toby the Tram Engine
Toby the Tram Engine is a fictional anthropomorphic tram engine in The Railway Series by the Rev. W. Awdry and his son, Christopher; he also appears in the spin-off television series Thomas and Friends...

, which starred his The Railway Series
The Railway Series
The Railway Series is a set of story books about a railway system located on the fictional Island of Sodor. There are 42 books in the series, the first being published in 1945. Twenty-six were written by the Rev. W. Awdry, up to 1972. A further 16 were written by his son, Christopher Awdry; 14...

with his faithful coach, Henrietta.
A Streetcar Named Desire (play)
A Streetcar Named Desire (play)
A Streetcar Named Desire is a 1947 play written by American playwright Tennessee Williams for which he received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1948. The play opened on Broadway on December 3, 1947, and closed on December 17, 1949, in the Ethel Barrymore Theatre. The Broadway production was...
A Streetcar Named Desire (1951 film)
Black Orpheus
Black Orpheus
Black Orpheus is a 1959 film made in Brazil by French director Marcel Camus. It is based on the play Orfeu da Conceição by Vinicius de Moraes, which is an adaptation of the Greek legend of Orpheus and Eurydice, setting it in the modern context of a favela in Rio de Janeiro during the Carnaval...

(1959), of which the main male character Orfeu is a tram driver in Rio De Janeiro's tram system.
Toonerville Folks
Toonerville Folks
Toonerville Folks was a popular newspaper cartoon feature by Fontaine Fox, which ran from 1908 to 1955. It began in 1908 in the Chicago Post, and by 1913, it was syndicated nationally by the Wheeler Syndicate...

comic strip (1908–55) by Fontaine Fox
Fontaine Fox
Fontaine Talbot Fox Jr. was an American cartoonist and illustrator born near Louisville, Kentucky.Fox is best known for writing and illustrating his Toonerville Folks comic panel. It ran from 1913 to 1955 in 250 to 300 newspapers across North America.The cartoons are set in the small town of...

featuring the "Toonerville Trolley that met all the trains."
The children's TV show Mister Rogers' Neighborhood
Mister Rogers' Neighborhood
Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, also known as Mister Rogers, is an American children's television series that was created and hosted by Fred Rogers. The series is aimed primarily at preschool ages, 2-5, but has been stated by Public Broadcasting Service as "appropriate for all ages"...

featured a trolley.
The central plot of the film Who Framed Roger Rabbit
Who Framed Roger Rabbit
Who Framed Roger Rabbit is a 1988 American fantasy-comedy-noir film directed by Robert Zemeckis and released by Touchstone Pictures. The film combines live action and animation, and is based on Gary K. Wolf's novel Who Censored Roger Rabbit?, which depicts a world in which cartoon characters...

involves the Judge Doom, the villain, dismantling the streetcars of Los Angeles.
"The Trolley Song
The Trolley Song
"The Trolley Song" is a song written by Hugh Martin and Ralph Blane and made famous by Judy Garland in the 1944 film Meet Me in St. Louis...

" in the film Meet Me in St. Louis
Meet Me in St. Louis
Meet Me in St. Louis is a 1944 musical film from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer which tells the story of an American family living in St. Louis at the time of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition World's Fair in 1904...

received an Academy Award nomination.
The 1944 World Series
1944 World Series
-Game 1:Wednesday, October 4, 1944 at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis, MissouriGeorge McQuinn hit the Brown's only home run of the series to put his team ahead in the fourth inning, while Denny Galehouse outpitched World Series veteran Mort Cooper to hold on for the win.-Game 2:Thursday, October 5,...

was also known as the "Streetcar Series".
Malcolm (film)
Malcolm (film)
Malcolm is a 1986 Australian cult film, written by David Parker and directed by Nadia Tass. The film stars Colin Friels as the titular tram enthusiast who becomes involved with petty crime. The film won the 1986 Australian Film Institute Award for Best Film.At the start of the film Malcolm is...

, an Australian film about a tram enthusiast who uses his inventions to pull off a bank heist.
Luis Buñuel
Luis Buñuel
Luis Buñuel Portolés was a Spanish-born filmmaker — later a naturalized citizen of Mexico — who worked in Spain, Mexico, France and the US..-Early years:...

filmed La Ilusión viaja en tranvía
La ilusión viaja en tranvía
La ilusión viaja en tranvía is a 1954 Mexican film. It was written by Luis Alcoriza and directed by Luis Buñuel.-External links:...

(English: Illusion Travels by Streetcar) in Mexico in 1953.
In Akira Kurosawa
Akira Kurosawa
was a Japanese film director, producer, screenwriter and editor. Regarded as one of the most important and influential filmmakers in the history of cinema, Kurosawa directed 30 filmsIn 1946, Kurosawa co-directed, with Hideo Sekigawa and Kajiro Yamamoto, the feature Those Who Make Tomorrow ;...

's film Dodesukaden
Dodesukaden
is a 1970 Japanese film directed by Akira Kurosawa based on Shūgorō Yamamoto's [pen name of Satomu Shimizu] book Kisetsu no nai machi .-Plot:...

a mentally ill boy pretends to be a tram conductor.
The Stompin' Tom Connors
Stompin' Tom Connors
Charles Thomas "Stompin' Tom" Connors, OC is one of Canada's most prolific and well-known country and folk singers.He lives in Wellington County, Ontario.- Early life :...

song "To It And At It" mentions a man who "can't afford the train, he's sittin' on a streetcar, but he's eastbound just the same."
The predominance of trams (trolleys) gave rise to the disparaging term trolley dodger
Trolley dodger
Trolley dodger was a pejorative term of Manhattanites for residents of Brooklyn, New York from the late 19th century to the middle of the 20th century. The term, relating to Brooklyn's preponderance of trolley lines, was the basis for the name of the Major League Baseball team the Brooklyn Dodgers...

for residents of the borough of Brooklyn
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...

in New York City. That term, shortened to "Dodger" became the nickname for the Brooklyn Dodgers (now the Los Angeles Dodgers).
Jens Lekman
Jens Lekman
Jens Martin Lekman is a Swedish musician. His music is guitar-based pop with heavy use of samples and strings, with lyrics that are often witty, romantic, and melancholic. The English lyrics reflect an advanced knowledge of the language and its idioms...

has a song titled "Tram #7 to Heaven", a reference to line 7 of the Gothenburg tram
Gothenburg tram
The Gothenburg tram network is part of the public transport system organised by Göteborgs Spårvägar AB, controlled by Västtrafik in the Swedish city of Gothenburg...

which passes through his native borough of Kortedala
Kortedala
Kortedala is a district, mainly residential , in the north-eastern part of Gothenburg in western Sweden. The area houses a population of around 10,000 inhabitants and is one of the typical 1950s suburbs of Gothenburg. The area is very lush and green with many trees and parks...

.
The band Beirut
Beirut (band)
Beirut is an American band which was originally the solo musical project of Santa Fe native Zachary Francis Condon, and later expanded into a band. The band's first performances were in Wollaston, United Kingdom, in May 2006, to support the release of their debut album, Gulag Orkestar...

has a song titled "Fountains and Tramways" on the EP Pompeii
Pompeii EP
Pompeii is an EP by Beirut, released in 2007. It features only the work of Zach Condon and pre-dates the Gulag Orkestar debut album. While initially only available exclusively through eMusic and Rough Trade Digital, it later could be found on iTunes and Amazon. At the moment it only can be found on...

.
The Elephant Will Never Forget, an 11-minute film made in 1953 by British Transport Films
British Transport Films
British Transport Films was an organisation set up in 1949 to make documentary films on the general subject of British transport. Its work included internal training films, travelogues , and "industrial films" promoting the progress of Britain's railway...

to celebrate the London tram network at the time of the last few days of its operation.
A W-class tram was used at the opening ceremony of the 2006 Commonwealth Games
2006 Commonwealth Games
The 2006 Commonwealth Games were held in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia between 15 March and 26 March 2006. It was the largest sporting event to be staged in Melbourne, eclipsing the 1956 Summer Olympics in terms of the number of teams competing, athletes competing, and events being held.The site...

in Melbourne.
The Full Monty
The Full Monty
The Full Monty is a 1997 British comedy film directed by Peter Cattaneo, starring Robert Carlyle, Mark Addy, William Snape, Steve Huison, Tom Wilkinson, Paul Barber, and Hugo Speer. The screenplay was written by Simon Beaufoy...

, set in Sheffield
Sheffield
Sheffield is a city and metropolitan borough of South Yorkshire, England. Its name derives from the River Sheaf, which runs through the city. Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, and with some of its southern suburbs annexed from Derbyshire, the city has grown from its largely...

, managed to squeeze a tram passing in the background into three scenes.
2009 Thomas Haggerty composed and produced 'Tram' generations 1, 2 and 3 for the popular group TRAM.
A collaboration between John Ward and Elizabeth Harrod: "a great tram."
In Chrome Shelled Regios, trams are being used in the Academy City Zuelni.

In the news

In the Tottenham Outrage
Tottenham Outrage
The Tottenham Outrage is the name given to an armed robbery and double murder which took place in Tottenham, North London and Walthamstow, Essex, on 23 January 1909, which was carried out by two anarchists, Paul Helfeld and Jacob Lepidus .The "Outrage" became a cause célèbre in Edwardian London,...

in 1909, two armed robbers hijacked a tram and were chased by the police in another tram.
On 7 June 1926 Catalan architect Antoni Gaudí
Antoni Gaudí
Antoni Gaudí i Cornet was a Spanish Catalan architect and figurehead of Catalan Modernism. Gaudí's works reflect his highly individual and distinctive style and are largely concentrated in the Catalan capital of Barcelona, notably his magnum opus, the Sagrada Família.Much of Gaudí's work was...

was knocked down by a Barcelona
Barcelona
Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...

tram and subsequently died.

In scale modelling

Model trams are popular in HO scale

HO scale

HO or H0 is the most popular scale of model railway in the world.According to the NMRA standard S-1.2 predominantly used in North America, in HO scale, represents 1 real foot ; this ratio works out to about 1:87.1. According to the MOROP standard NEM 010 predominantly used in Europe, the scale is...

(1:87) and O scale

O scale

O scale is a scale commonly used for toy trains and model railroading. Originally introduced by German toy manufacturer Märklin around 1900, by the 1930s three-rail alternating current O gauge was the most common model railroad scale in the United States and remained so until the early 1960s...

(1:48 in the US and generally 1:43,5 and 1:45 in Europe and Asia). They are typically powered and will accept plastic figures inside. Common manufacturers are Roco

Roco

Roco, based in Salzburg, Austria, is a manufacturer of model railway equipment.-History:The company was founded in 1960 by Ing. Heinz Rössler and started with a plastic Minitanks series. After export to the USA became successful, the model line was expanded with model trains in H0 scale and the...

and Lima

Lima (models)

Lima S.p.A was a brand of railway models made in Vicenza, Italy, for almost 50 years, from the early 1950s until the company ceased trading in 2004...

, with many custom models being made as well. The German firm Hödl and the Austrian Halling specialize in 1:87 scale.

In the US, Bachmann Industries

Bachmann Industries

Bachmann Industries is a Bermuda registered Chinese owned company, globally head quartered in Hong Kong; specializing in model railroading....

is a mass supplier of HO trams and kits. Bowser Manufacturing

Bowser Manufacturing

Bowser Manufacturing is a United States manufacturer of model railroad equipment, located in Montoursville, Pennsylvania, USA.The company was founded in 1948 by Bill Bowser in California. Since 1961 it has been owned by the Lewis English family and located in Pennsylvania...

has produced white metal models for over 50 years. There are many boutique vendors offering limited run epoxy and wood models. At the high end are highly detailed brass models which are usually imported from Japan or Korea and can cost in excess of $500. Many of these run on gauge track, which is correct for the representation of (standard gauge) in HO scale as in US and Japan, but incorrect in 4 mm (1:76.2) scale, as it represents . This scale/gauge hybrid is called OO scale.
O scale trams are also very popular among tram modellers because the increased size allows for more detail and easier crafting of overhead wiring. In the US these models are usually purchased in epoxy or wood kits and some as brass models. The Saint Petersburg Tram Company produces highly detailed polyurethane non-powered O Scale models from around the world which can easily be powered by trucks from vendors like Q-Car.

In the US, one of the best resources for model tram enthusiasts is the East Penn Traction Club of Philadelphia.

It is thought that the first example of a working model tramcar in the UK built by an amateur for fun was in 1929, when Frank E. Wilson created a replica of London County Council Tramways E class car 444 in 1:16 scale, which he demonstrated at an early Model Engineer Exhibition. Another of his models was London E/1 1800, which was the only tramway exhibit in the Faraday Memorial Exhibition of 1931. Together with likeminded friends, Frank Wilson went on to found the Tramway & Light Railway Society in 1938, establishing tramway modelling as a hobby.

Types

AKSM
Belkommunmash
Belkommunmash is Belarusian manufacturer of public electrotransport. The enterprise was founded on basis of the repair tram-trolleybus factory which was opened in 1974. Today it is the leading industrial enterprise in Belarus in the field of manufacture and major overhaul of a rolling stock of...
Articulated Light Rail Vehicle
Avanto
Avanto
Avanto can refer to:*Avanto S70, a model of tram/light rail vehicle*Avantouinti, a form of ice swimming...
Birney
Birney
A Birney or Birney Safety Car is a type of streetcar that was manufactured in the United States in the 1910s and 1920s. The design was small and light and was intended to be an economical means of providing frequent service at a lower infrastructure and labor cost than conventional streetcars...
Citadis
Citadis
The Citadis is a low-floor tram built by Alstom in La Rochelle, France, and Barcelona, Spain. 1,140 Citadis are currently in use in 28 cities, among others: Bordeaux, Grenoble, Lyon, Montpellier, Orléans, the Paris area, and Barcelona, Dublin, Gdańsk, Katowice, Adelaide, Melbourne, Jerusalem and...
Citytram
Citytram
The Tram Power City Class Light Rail Vehicle is a prototype two car articulated electric tram previously tested on the Blackpool Tramway It operates off a power supply between 550V and 800V DC...
Canadian Light Rail Vehicle
Canadian Light Rail Vehicle
The Canadian Light Rail Vehicle ' is a type of streetcar that is used by the Toronto Transit Commission in Toronto, Canada.-Background:...
Combino
Combino
The Combino is a low floor tram produced by Siemens Transportation Systems . The first prototype was produced in 1996 at the Duewag works in Düsseldorf; the trams are currently made in Krefeld-Uerdingen. Because of its modular design using standardised components, and the resulting reduced costs,...
Crotram
CROTRAM
Crotram is a Croatian consortium of two companies, which produces the first Croatian low-floor tram . It consists of Končar Elektroindustrija d.d. and TŽV Gredelj d.o.o., both from Zagreb...
Dick Kerr Type Tram
Dick Kerr Type Tram
The Dick, Kerr Type tram was the classic British tram design. It was the most common tram seen on Britain's tramways until the 1950s. The Trams were built by Dick, Kerr & Co. of Preston and Kilmarnock. They were the flagship design of the company. Many different types of the tram were designed...
Funicular (Incline)
Funicular
A funicular, also known as an inclined plane or cliff railway, is a cable railway in which a cable attached to a pair of tram-like vehicles on rails moves them up and down a steep slope; the ascending and descending vehicles counterbalance each other.-Operation:The basic principle of funicular...
DL
Trams in Dalian
Dalian, along with Changchun and Hong Kong, represent the three Chinese cities that have had a continuously running tram system. All other Chinese cities with tram lines have since shut theirs down, and of those only Tianjin and Shanghai have reintroduced trams, but using modern rubber tire...
Double-decker tram
DUEWAG
DUEWAG
The DUEWAG AG was one of Germany's major manufacturers for rail vehicles. The business was sold in 1999 to Siemens transportation.- History :The company was founded in 1898 as Waggonfabrik Uerdingen AG in Uerdingen...

Eurotram
Flexity Swift
Flexity Swift
The Flexity Swift tram is a family of urban and inter-urban light-rail vehicles manufactured by Bombardier Transportation for a wide number of customers across Europe...
Gothawagen
Gothaer Waggonfabrik
Gothaer Waggonfabrik was a German manufacturer of rolling stock established in the late nineteenth century at Gotha. During the two world wars, the company expanded into aircraft building.-World War I:...
GTL
Horsecar
Horsecar
A horsecar or horse-drawn tram is an animal-powered streetcar or tram.These early forms of public transport developed out of industrial haulage routes that had long been in existence, and from the omnibus routes that first ran on public streets in the 1820s, using the newly improved iron or steel...
К
Konstal
Konstal 105Na
The Konstal 105Na are a class of Polish trams manufactured from 1979 to 1992 in workshops Konstal Chorzow, Poland. The narrow-gauge version is designed as 805Na...
PESA
PESA 120N
PESA 120N is a tram produced by a Polish company PESA in Bydgoszcz. The tram has a modern, fully low-floor design.They are currently used by Warsaw Tramway in Warsaw and operate on the line 9. Currently 15 trams 120N are in service in Warsaw. In 2009, a newer model of the tram, called 120Na was...
PCC
PCC streetcar
The PCC streetcar design was first built in the United States in the 1930s. The design proved successful in its native country, and after World War II was licensed for use elsewhere in the world...
Peter Witt streetcar
Peter Witt streetcar
Peter Witt was a Cleveland Railway commissioner, who designed a model of streetcar known by his name, and used in many North American cities, most notably in Toronto and Cleveland.-Features:...
Sirio
Sirio
thumb|220px|A Sirio in Athens.220px|thumb|A Sirio of [[Azienda Trasporti Milanesi|ATM]] in Milan.Sirio is a low-floor tram built by AnsaldoBreda, an Italian manufacturer of trains, trams and light rail vehicles...
Soviet/Latvian RVR
Soviet/Russian tramcars LM/LVS, MTV
MTV-82
MTV-82 is a Soviet four-axle tramcar. MTVstands for Moscow Tram Vehicle. The first prototype of MTV-82 tramcar was built onthe military Factory No. 82 MTV-82 (МТВ-82 in Russian) is a Soviet four-axle tramcar. MTVstands for Moscow Tram Vehicle. The first prototype of MTV-82 tramcar was built onthe...

, KTM, Spektr

Škoda ForCity
Škoda 15 T
Škoda 15T is a 100% low floor tram developed by Škoda for the Transport Company of Prague in the years 2005-2008. The order and subsequent construction was influenced by experiences with operation of the Škoda 14 T in the Prague tram network...

and oth.
Tatra T3
Tatra T3
The T3 is a type of tramcar produced by Tatra. During its period of production, between 1960 and 1989, 13,991 multiple units and 122 sidecars were sold worldwide, mostly in Central and Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union...

and oth.
TMK 2200
Tramino
Solaris Bus & Coach
Solaris Bus & Coach S.A. is a bus, coach and trolleybus manufacturer based in Bolechowo-Osiedle and Środa Wielkopolska, near Poznań, Poland.It is a family-owned business, with Krzysztof Olszewski as president and his wife Solange as chairman...
Tramway Français Standard
Tramway Français Standard
The Tramway Français Standard, or TFS, is a type of tramcar used on tramway systems in France. It was manufactured by Alstom, the France-based multinational company whose businesses are power generation and transport...
TW 6000
TW 6000
The TW 6000 is a type of articulated light rail vehicle used on the Hanover Stadtbahn system, originally manufactured by Düwag, AEG, Kiepe and Siemens, the later batches being built by LHB ....
Ultra Low Floor
Ultra Low Floor
The Ultra Low Floor tram is a low-floor tram operating in Vienna, Austria and Oradea, Romania, with the lowest floor-height of any such vehicle...
US Standard Light Rail Vehicle
US Standard Light Rail Vehicle
The US Standard Light Rail Vehicle was an attempt at a standardized light rail vehicle promoted by the United States Urban Mass Transportation Administration and built by Boeing Vertol in the 1970s...
Vario
Vario
Vario may refer to:* Mercedes-Benz Vario, a heavy van* Paul Vario , a high-ranking member of the Lucchese crime family* João Vário , Cape Verdean writer, neurosurgeon, scientist and professor...
W class Melbourne tram
W class Melbourne tram
The W class is a class of electric trams that operates in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The tram model series is a cultural icon to Melbourne...
ZGT

Regional

Trams in Africa
Trams in Asia
Trams in Asia
Tramway Systems in the Asian region were well established at the start of the 20th century, but started to decline in use in the 1930s. By the 1960s, the majority of systems had been closed down. Extensive tramways still exist in Japan and Hong Kong...
Trams in Australia
Trams in Australia
Trams in Australia are now used extensively as public transport only in Melbourne, and to a lesser extent, Adelaide and Bendigo while Sydney operates a modern light rail system. Several other major cities had tram networks however these networks were largely dismantled during the 1950s and some as...
Trams in Europe
Trams in Europe
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, and fast trams in some other countries.- Overview :...

Trams in New Zealand
Trams in New Zealand
Trams in New Zealand were a major form of transport from the 19th century into the mid 20th century. New Zealand's first tramway was established in 1862 , followed by a steam tramway in 1871 , and the first electric tramway in 1900 . The tram systems in the main centres, and in some smaller towns,...
Streetcars in North America
Streetcars in North America
Electric streetcars—trams outside North America—once were the chief mode of public transit in scores of North American cities. Most municipal systems were dismantled in the mid-20th century....
Trams in South America

External links

"Tramway" (article in the 1911 Encyclopaedia Britannica), 1911encyclopedia.org
What is a streetcar? at American Public Transportation Association
American Public Transportation Association
The American Public Transportation Association is a non-profit organization which serves as an advocate for the advancement of public transportation programs and initiatives in the United States. Since its founding in 1882, APTA has educated the public about the benefits of public transportation...

, apta.com

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.

Etymology and terminology

Horse-drawn

Steam

Cable-hauled

Hybrid funicular

Electric (trolley cars)

Gas trams

Other power sources

Low floor

Articulated

Double decker

Tram-train

Cargo trams

Hearse-tram

Dog car

Contractors' mobile offices

Restaurant trams

Other

Tramway operation

Tram and light-rail transit systems around the world

Popularity

Largest tram systems

Asia

Europe

North America

Australia and New Zealand

South America

Pros and cons of tram systems

Advantages

Disadvantages

In literature

In popular culture

In the news

In scale modelling

Types

Regional

See also

Further reading

External links