Trams in Prague
The Prague tramway network is the largest tram network in the Czech Republic, consisting of of standard gauge track, 882 tram vehicles and 26 daytime routes, 2 historical and 9 night routes with a total route length of. It is operated by Dopravní podnik hlavního města Prahy a.s., a company owned by the city of Prague. The network is a part of Prague Integrated Transport, the city's integrated public transport system.
Prague's first horsecar tram line was opened in 1875, and the first electric tram ran in 1891. Expansion plans were scaled down since the 1970s with the introduction of Prague Metro, however trams still serve a crucial transit and tourist element serving Prague's city centre as well as Prague's suburbs.
The Prague tram system served 373.4 million passengers in 2018, the highest number in the world after Budapest. Rolling stock for the network consists solely of trams built locally; mainly classic Tatra trams and low-floor Škoda stock.
History
Beginnings
Horse trams
In 1873, Bernhard Kollmann and Zdeněk Kinský founded the Anglo-Czech Tramway Company. On 5 March 1873, the company received a concession to build and operate a horse-drawn street railway using a horse-drawn tram. Financial reasons meant the plan was eventually not implemented.The first tracks were laid in the streets of Prague from 3 or 4 May 1875, and the first railway section was laid along the former riding barracks to the former U Bažanta Inn, which stood on the site of today's YMCA Palace. The first route of the horse-drawn tram was put into operation by the Belgian entrepreneur Eduard Otlet on 23 September 1875 at 3:15 PM, on the Karlín - National Theater route.
This way lead to the theater, along the Národní Třída street. Tracks went approximately in direction of today's Metro Line B. In 1876, the track was extended west of the National Theater, through the Újezd hub to the Smíchov Railway Station. In 1882, the network was extended to Vinohrady and Žižkov. At that time, they were independent suburbs of Prague, but now they are incorporated into city. In 1883, the size of the entire network consisted of of rail.
Finding the right successor
By 1886, various ideas had been floated for steam trams. On September 30, 1890, the mayor of Královské Vinohrady, Jan Friedländer, proposed to the Prague City Council the construction of three lines to serve the city of Královské Vinohrady with the idea to connect them with Prague. A special committee appointed by the Prague City Council rejected the project and recommended electric trams.Electric trams
In 1891, Prague got its first electric tram line located in Letná, a popular place for recreation in Prague. This line :cs:Elektrická dráha na Letné v Praze had mainly a promotional purpose and led from the upper terminal of the Letná funicular :cs:Lanová dráha na Letnou to the pavilion of the Jubilee Exhibition through Ovenecká street. Two years later, the line was extended to the Governor's Summer Palace :cs:Místodržitelský letohrádek extending the line to a total length of. František Křižík, who owned Electric Railway company at the time, is credited as the creator of Prague's first electric tram line.On 19 March 1896, Křižík opened a second, more important, tram line, which went from Florenc to Libeň and Vysočany, joining the industrial suburbs of Prague with its residential area in the center. On 27 June 1897, Otlet's horse railway was bought and taken over by Elektrické podniky král. hl. m. Prahy. The new company had started construction of new tracks along with electrification and by 1905, the entire network was electrified.
In a continuation of the rapid growth of Prague's trams, another new lined was opened in 1897. This time it was a suburban route from Smíchov to Košíře. It was named "Hlaváčkova electric railway". Later, a new passenger railroad in Královské Vinohrady was opened. The Prague to Vinohrady stretch spanned, had 17 stations, and passed through Nové město. At another side of the city, thanks to above-listed railway between Anděl and Smíchov, it allowed Prague tram to provide one-seat-ride between Košíře and Vinohrady. Eventually, the municipal enterprise, Prague Transportation Company was formed.
Early 20th century
In the early 20th century, a monopoly was formed to provide transportation in the city. It began to electrify the horse tram and soon the Otlet Prague trams came under the control of competitors of the electric enterprises. As the monopoly grew, it took over the tracks of the rest of its private competitors. The last private track, the work of František Křižík, was transferred to the city by the year of 1907. In 1905, the electrification works were finished. Even the last horse tram route through the Charles Bridge was electrified. The tram route through the Charles Bridge operated until 1908.World War One
The war added new strain to the tram network. A lack of sufficient horse-drawn transport meant that trams were used to carry war materials, fuel, raw materials, and food. Additionally, the need for ammunition led to trams being melted down for their metal and used to produce grenades and bombs leading to further fall in capacities. This pressure came to an end when the newly formed First Czechoslovak Republic signed a peace treaty. By 1921, the network returned to its full operational capacity.First Republic
The tram network began to expand rapidly again – mainly to the newly built quarters of the expanded metropolitan Prague, such as Dejvice, Nusle and Žižkov. In 1927, the length of the network exceeded 100 km. At that time the new unidirectional tram types were introduced and the dead-end terminals were rebuilt into loops.The growing size of the city and the tram network and the increasing distances began to slow down traffic from one end of the metropolis to the other, as the number of lines and passing cars continued to grow. The main thoroughfares in the centre, such as Na Příkopě street and Wenceslas Square could not cope with traffic increases. Efforts to solve this situation appeared with various considerations arising.
Second World War
As a result of the German occupation, right-hand traffic was hastily introduced on 26 March 1939, to which Czechoslovakia had already committed itself in 1926. The entrances to the trams and individual stops had to be quickly remodeled. There was a decree also issued in which Jews were excluded from tram transport from Saturday afternoon until late Sunday night.In 1942, all-night tram operation was introduced. Threat of bombing by Allied planes meant that cars had to be darkened. Despite all these difficulties, the entire network functioned reliably and the transport performance even exceeded those of the pre-war. In the end, Allied bombing disrupted tram operations until the end of the war. On 18 January 1945, due to wartime necessity, night operation was cancelled and from 5 to 16 May 1945 the tram operation was completely interrupted. A gradual reintroduction of operation was carried out until 17 December 1945.
Post Second World War
In 1951 began the replacement of two-axle tram railcars, by new modern series of ČKD production, at first by Tatra T1 and since 1962 by Tatra T3.The increase of cars on Prague's road network meant that future sections could not be built using traditional methods, and certain sections would have to use reserved tracks.
Prague's tram network suffered from unreliability and, above all, unsatisfactory cruising speed in the entire tram system. A decision was made to build a subsurface tram. Digging began in 1966 and later, this section was used for metro line C. On 1 January 1960, the first of the lines in the historical centre of the city was cancelled: the single-track section leading through Pařížská Street, Old Town Square and narrow Celetná Street, where it was no longer possible to operate fast and modern transport.
Development of the metro and cancellation of tram plans
After the construction of the underground tramway started, various studies concluded that it would be more advantageous to convert the system to a conventional underground tramway in stages after completion. This was confirmed by Government Resolution No 437 of 30 November 1966, based on the results of studies by experts from the Czechoslovakia, the USSR, Sweden and Germany.In May 1967, on the basis of a cabinet meeting, Prime Minister Lenárt asked the Soviet government to send a group of experts to review the whole concept once again. The team headed by I. T. Yefimov recommended to launch the intermediate stage of the subsurface tram. The management of the Transport Company and the Prague National Committee agreed with these results and the government decision of 9 August 1967 finally confirmed the metro project. Opponents such as Zbyněk Jirsák and Jindřich Horešovský have previously pointed out the disadvantages of this solution, such as the need to build ramps, etc.
The first metro line C opened to the public in May 1974. The gradual expansion of the metro limited the development of the tram network and also opened the question of its possible replacement by buses. Due to the rapid development of bus transport, new metro lines to peripheral housing estates were not created and bus lines were preferred instead. In 1978, Prague launched its second metro line A, and in 1985, metro line B was launched.
Tram lines parallel to the metro were cancelled: in Pankrác in the 70s, in the 80s in the city centre – the line on Wenceslas Square was removed, Na Florenci – 1983, Na Příkopě – 1984. Tracks existing for more than a hundred years have been replaced by pedestrian zones. The focus of tram transport in central Prague thus rapidly shifted from Wenceslas Square to Charles Square.
Recent times
During the 1980s, the Communist government understood the advantages of modern tram networks and began replicating tram transport from Western Europe. Prague network began to be appreciated again as a mode of transport. At that time, tram transport held about 30% of the representation on all trips in Prague public transport. The network therefore was still of key importance to the city of Prague.The Communist government began ordering new tramcars, such as the Tatra KT8D5 as well as more Tatra T3 and started constructing new track sections, most of which were completed soon after the Velvet Revolution. There weren't many new tracks opened during the first 20 years after the revolution, since much more attention was paid to modernizations of existing tracks and vehicles, causing major service disruptions every summer. Concrete panels of the BKV type were used en masse for the reconstruction of most of the network, first being used in Prague in 1977 on Dělnická Street.
New lines began to emerge again, first with the section to the Řepy housing estate, followed by construction of Ohrada – Palmovka estacade that was coupled with the relocation of the line to Palmovka. A new track was built to Modřany in 1995. Since 1986, some new sections have also been built on a separate trackbed – for example, track relocation in Braník in 1986, at the Hloubětín depot in 1987 and the Ohrada – Krejcárek section in 1990. On 29 November 2003, a new line between Hlubočepy and Sídliště Barrandov was reopened.
On 4 October 2008, regular operation started on the new section between Laurová and Radlická. Another new section was put into operation on 1 September 2011 when the line from Vítězné Náměstí was extended from the Hotel International to a new loop at the Podbaba stop. The new stops were equipped with a brand new electronic sign system with real time display of arrivals.
In June 2021, tram operation was launched on a quarter-kilometer restored section from the intersection of Na Veselí and Na Pankráci streets to the temporary Pankrác terminus. Most recently, a new section was opened to a new housing development between Barrandov and Holyně. Construction of the first stage began in 2021, its completion and opening took place for passengers on 8 April 2022.