Tram
Mosquito ringtone Image:ModernFinnishTram.jpg/thumbnail/right/A modern tram in the Majo Mills Töölö district of Nextel ringtones Helsinki, Sabrina Martins Finland
A '''tram''' (or '''tramway''', '''Free ringtones trolley''', '''Abbey Diaz streetcar''', '''tramcar''', '''Straßenbahn''') is a Mosquito ringtone rail tracks/railborne vehicle (lighter than a train) for transport of passengers (or, occasionally, freight). Trams are distinguished from other forms of railway systems in that they travel along tracks laid down in the Majo Mills right-of-way of city streets, usually on track reserved for the tram system. A special type is the Nextel ringtones cable car (railway)/cable car.
Tram systems are common throughout Sabrina Martins Europe and were common throughout the Western world in the early 20th century. And although they disappeared from many cities for many years in the mid 20th century, have in recent years made a comeback.
Cingular Ringtones Image:ULF.JPG/thumbnail/right/Modern tram of type Ulf (ultra low floor) in experiences silence Vienna
History
The name "tram" is from downpours from Low German ''traam'', meaning the "beam (of a data transport wheelbarrow)", although some sources claim that it is derived from the name of engineer amonte agent Benjamin Outram.
Appearing in the first half of the indicate our 19th century, trams were at first pulled by horse.
worth prudie Image:Halle ad Saale Strassenbahn.jpg/thumb/A historic German Tram
The first trams, known as streetcars, or horsecars, were built in the US; they circulated in liaison between 1832 on the ease before New York-illegal toys Harlem line and in our skating 1834 in was unwrapped New Orleans. At first the tuesday thomas rails, protruding above street level, caused major trouble for pedestrians and caused accidents. They were supplanted in definitive statement 1852 by grooved rails, invented by jobs was Alphonse Loubat. The first tram in France was inaugurated in travel professional 1853 for the of carved World's Fair, where a test line was presented along the agreeable comedy Cours de la Reine, in the familial dynamics 8th Arrondissement.
The tram developed after that in numerous cities of Europe (review a London, century removal Berlin, Paris, etc.). More rapid and comfortable than the bus/omnibus, trams had a higher cost of operation because they were pulled by horses. That's why mechanical drives were rapidly developed: with steam power in 1873, and electrical after 1881, when Siemens presented the electric drive at the International Electricity Exhibition in Paris.
The technical modernity of electricity and more importantly its convenience resulted in its rapid adoption, once the technical problems of production and transmission of electricity were solved. The first electric tram opened in Berlin in 1881.
=Golden Age=
Image:OldTram 700.jpg/thumb/A vintage car/vintage British tram dating from 1925
Trams experienced a rapid expansion at the start of the 20th century until the period between the two world wars. There was a rapid increase in the number of lines and increase in the number of riders: indeed, it became the primary mode of urban transportation. Horse-drawn transport virtually disappeared in all of the European and American cities by 1910. Buses were still in a development phase at this time, gaining in mechanical reliability, but remaining behind compared to the benefits offered by trams; the automobile was still - for a time - reserved for the well-to-do.
=A temporary disappearance from many cities=
In several countries the advent of personal motor vehicles caused the rapid disappearance of the tram from the urban landscape in the 1950s. The technical progress of the bus rendered it more reliable, and it became a serious competitor to the tram because it didn't require the construction of costly infrastructure.
Governments thus invested mostly into bus networks. Indeed, infrastructure for roads and highways meant for the automobile were perceived as a mark of progress. The priority given to roads is illustrated in the proposal of French president Georges Pompidou who declared in 1971 that "the city must adapt to the car".
Tram networks were no longer maintained or modernized, a state of affairs that served to discredit them in the eyes of the public. Old lines, considered archaic, were then bit by bit replaced by buses.
Tram networks disappeared almost completely from North America, France, the UK, and Spain and Mumbai. On the other hand, they were maintained or modernized in Switzerland, Germany, Poland, Austria, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, Scandinavia, Japan, and Eastern Europe. In France and the UK, only the networks in Lille, Saint-Etienne Marseille, and Blackpool survive from this period, but they are each reduced to a single line.
=Return to grace=
The priority given to personal vehicles and notably to the automobile led to a loss in quality of life, particularly in large cities where smog, sound pollution and parking became problematic. Acknowledging this, some authorities saw fit to redefine their transport policies. The bus had shown its limits on account of its low capacity and its difficult coexistence with automobile traffic, which made it slow both on the road and commercially. Subways required a heavy investment and presented problems in terms of subterranean spaces that required constant security. For subways, the investment was mainly in underground construction, which made it impossible in some cities (with underground water reserves, archaeological remains, etc.). Subway construction thus was not a universal panacea.
The advantages of the tram thus became more visible. At the end of the 1970s, some governments studied, and then built new tram lines. In France, Nantes and Grenoble lead the way in terms of the modern tram, and new lines were inaugurated in 1985 and 1988. Strasbourg moved forward as well when it opened in 1994 a line with distinctly novel train designs, specified by the city, with the goal of breaking with the archaic conceptual image that was held by the public.
The public, who realized with each installation of tram lines their benefits in urban flexibility and redistribution, or else the reduction in automobile traffic in the downtown, encouraged numerous city governments to so equip their streets. The cities already equipped with trams do not hesitate to extend their lines, indeed even making new ones.
A great example of this shift in ideology is the city of Munich, which began replacing its tram network with metros/metro a few years before the 1972 Summer Olympics. When the complete metro network had been finished in the 1990s, the city began to tear out the tram networks (which had become rather old and decrepit), but now faced opposition from many citizens who enjoyed the enhanced mobility of the mixed network (the tram lines deviate from the metro lines to a significant degree). New rolling stock was purchased and the system was modernized, and a new line was proposed in 2003.
Technical developments
Later trams, known as cable car (railway)/cable cars, attached to a moving cable underneath the road. The cable would be pulled by a steam engine at a powerhouse. The Monongahela and Duquesne Inclines in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA, have some of the appearance of trams, but are more accurately funiculars. Modern trams generally use overhead electric cables, from which they draw current through a pantograph (rail)/pantograph, a bow collector (less commonly) or a trolley pole (the first is most common and used on most new tram designs). The first operational electric street railway was started in Scranton, Pennsylvania, but the first large-scale electric street railway system was built in Richmond, Virginia in January, 1888. By 1890 over a hundred such sytems had been begun or were planned.
There are other methods of powering electric trams, sometimes preferred for aesthetic reasons since poles are not required. The old tram systems in London, Manhattan (New York City) and Washington D.C. - the latter two called conduit cars - used live rails, like those on third rail electrified railways, but underneath the road from which they drew power through a plough. Washington was the last to close, in 1962. Today, no commercial tramway uses this system. There also have been street compatible third rail current collection systems, known as surface current collection, more recently as ground level power supply.
Double track tram lines are sometimes at narrow passages single track, or, to avoid railroad switch/switches, have the tracks intertwined, e.g. in the Leidsestraat in Amsterdam on three short stretches (see http://adres.asp4all.nl/asp/get.asp?map_width=474&map_height=396&view=&laag=AmsterdamLite_Alleen_Kaart.mwf&xdl=Stadsplattegrond&xsl=Layout&straat=DAM&huisnummer=1&postcode_n=1012&postcode_a=JS&x_coord=121399&y_coord=487379&panning=true&point=&minx=120658.02971199994&maxx=120741.37028799993&miny=486378.4868480003&maxy=486448.11315200035&zoom=333); this is known as a Railroad_switch#Gantlet_track/gauntlet track setup.
Since the 1990s, low floor trams, allowing passangers in wheelchairs or with perambulators to access vehicles more easily, have begun to replace traditional trams where you needed to climb some steps to reach the passenger cabin.
Image:Tram_interior.JPG/thumbnail/right/Interior of a tram
Complementary to the traditional tram, these evolutions make it possible to cover more space or to cross slopes inaccessible to the traditional tram.
=Tram-train=
The tram-train uses a system which makes it possible to circulate on tramcar lanes in the downtown area, while circulating on the regional rail network. It requires components compatible with the traditional railroad (indication, power, resistance).
It has been primarily developed in Germanic countries, in particular Germany and Switzerland. Karlsruhe is a notable pioneer of the Tram-train.
This system should be brought into service in the Paris area in 2005.
Pros and cons of tram systems
=Advantages=
* The initial investment is high, but it remains affordable for a medium-sized city. A kilometre of tram generally costs only a third of the investment for a kilometre of underground subway line, since no boring is needed, but the public roads must be rebuilt to incorporate the rails and also cable lines must be installed.
* The elevated systems, such as the monorail and the light metro require a special urbanism with large avenues and buildings in which to integrate the stations. It is also very difficult to compare their prices.
* The infrastructure needed by the trams usually requires an extension of the pedestrian sectors.
* Unlike buses, but like trolleybuses, (electric) trams give off no exhaust emissions.
=Disadvantages=
* The initial cost is larger when compared with the bus, which is usually preferred by smaller cities
* The speed is lower when compared to the subway unless long lengths of reserved track are involved (if most of the route is off-street than it is called light rail) (maximum around 7,000 passengers/hour, compared to 12,000 passengers/hour for the subway)
* dangerous for the cyclists, because they share the same roadway with the trams
* occupies urban space above ground and it needs modifications to traffic flow
Regional variations
=Western Europe=
Image:EuskoTran.jpg/thumb/A tram in Bilbao, Spain, on a section of grassed track
In the Netherlands many local railways were referred to as Trams, even where the steam locomotives did not have enclosed motion. In Belgium an extensive system of tram-like local railways called ''Vicinal'' or ''Buurtspoor'' lines had a greater route kilometre length than the actual railway system. The only survivors of the Vicinal system are the Kusttram (which almost reaches France at one end and the Netherlands at the other) and two lines near Charleroi.
Recently the tram has seen a huge revival with many experiments like on tires as in Nancy, France/Nancy or hidden wires as in Bordeaux, France/Bordeaux as the municipalities find it a quick fix to the traffic problems.
Image:Metrolink tram.jpg/thumb/A 1990s built Manchester Metrolink in Manchester, England
In the United Kingdom, tram systems were widely dismantled in the 1950s, and after the closure of Glasgow's extensive network in 1962, only Blackpool's survived (see Blackpool Tram Upgrade), although a funicular line continued to operate up the Great Orme in Llandudno. However in recent years new light rail lines have been opened in Manchester (Manchester Metrolink/Metrolink), Sheffield (Sheffield Supertram/Supertram), the West Midlands (county)/West Midlands (Midland Metro), Croydon (Tramlink) and Nottingham (Nottingham Express Transit/NET), with several others under consideration, and extensions planned for many existing systems.
In Finland, there have been three cities with trams: Helsinki, Turku and Viipuri. Of these, only Helsinki still has trams.
=Eastern Europe=
All countries of the former Soviet Bloc have extensive tram infrastructure. Industrial freight use of city tram lines was a widespread practice during the communist era but has since mostly disappeared, as factories left the urban areas. Czech Tatra and the Hungarian Ganz factory were notable manufacturers of tram carts in Eastern Europe. The busiest traditional city tram line in the world is still Route 4/6 in Budapest, Hungary, where 50 meter long trains run at 60 to 90 second intervals at peak time and are usually fully packed with people. A part of this route is the same where electric trams made their world-first run in 1887. Most vehicles still belong to the high floor level type, infact many of them ancient ones. Low floor, hi-tech trams are only starting to infiltrate Eastern European lines due to their extreme pricetag and high maintenance costs.
=North America=
Image:PCC car in San Francisco.jpg/thumb/right/PCC car in San Francisco
''Note that in North America, trams are generally known as streetcars, whilst the term tram is more likely to be understood as a rubber tyred mock streetcar, an aerial tramway, or a people mover.''
Whilst many North American cities abandoned their streetcar systems in the mid-twentieth century, traditional systems survived in Boston, Cleveland, Newark, New Jersey/Newark, New Orleans, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, San Francisco, and Toronto. This survival was aided by the introduction of the modern PCC car in the 1940s and 1950s in all these cities except New Orleans.
New light rail systems have since opened in many other cities, starting with the ground breaking system in San Diego, California/San Diego, and now including Baltimore, Maryland/Baltimore, Hoboken, New Jersey/Hoboken, Buffalo, New York/Buffalo, Denver, Colorado/Denver, Los Angeles, California/Los Angeles, Portland, Oregon/Portland, Sacramento, California/Sacramento, St Louis, Missouri/St Louis, Salt Lake City, Utah/Salt Lake City, and San Jose, California/San Jose. Additionally, all the surviving PCC operators have replaced their PCC cars with light rail vehicles, although PCC cars are still in regular operation on San Francisco's F Market/F Market line.
Image:MemphisTrolley.jpg/thumb/Former Porto trolley in Memphis, Tennessee.
Another trend originating in North America is the introduction of newly built heritage streetcar system/heritage streetcar lines using original or replica historic equipment, a trend which is now spreading elsewhere in the world. Examples in North America include Memphis, Tennessee/Memphis, Tampa, Florida/Tampa and the new Canal Street line in New Orleans, Louisiana/New Orleans.
''See also: Streetcar/Streetcars in North America''
= Asia=
Image:Hong_kong_tram.jpg/thumb/Hong Kong Double Decker Tram
Asia has had relatively few tram systems, with the notable exception of Japan.
Outside Japan, Hong Kong still posesses the Hong Kong Tramways/Hong Kong Tramway, a traditional English style double-decker tramway, with street running along the north shore of Hong Kong Island. More recently the Light Rail (KCRC)/KCRC Light Rail system has opened in the north west New Territories. Despite its name, the Peak Tram is actually a funicular railway with no tramway connections.
Image:Kolkatatram.jpg/thumb/Tram in Kolkata
In India, Kolkata has a tram network.
= Australasia=
Image:Ac.newtram3.jpg.JPG/thumb/A W6 class tram in Melbourne
In Australasia, trams are only extensively used in Melbourne, all other major cities having largely dismantled their networks by the mid 20th century.
In Melbourne, in addition to newer types of trams in use such as the Citadis and the Combino, as well as middle age B, A and Z class trams, older W-class trams remain in service and are a popular tourist attraction. Older W-class trams are used exclusively on the free City Circle (tram route)/City Circle tram route, but are also in use on some regular routes. A total of 53 W-class trams remain in regular service, with the oldest in service tram dating from 1939. ''See also: Trams in Melbourne''.
Amongst other Australian cities, Sydney closed a once extensive tram system in the 1950s but has since opened a new light rail line. Adelaide also closed its urban tram network, but has retained an express tram line linking the city centre with the seaside suburb of Glenelg, South Australia/Glenelg. The smaller cities of Bendigo and Ballarat retain heritage tramway operations.
All New Zealand cities closed their tramway systems, but Christchurch has since constructed a new city centre heritage line, using historic cars.
= Africa=
Image:Egypt.Alexandria.Tram.01.jpg/right/thumb/Former Copenhagen articulated car in service on Alexandria's urban tramway
Tram systems were and are less prevalent in Africa. However, in Egypt both the cities of Cairo and Alexandria have historic and still extant tram systems.
In Cairo, the urban tramway network is now defunct, but the express tramways linking Cairo with Heliopolis are still in operation, as is the relatively new tram system in the satellite town of Helwan 25km to the south.
In Alexandria, both the urban tramway network and the express tramway system serving the eastern suburbs are still in operation. The urban system operates yellow cars, included some acquired second hand from Copenhagen, on largely street track. The express tramway operates 3-car trains of blue cars, including some double-deck cars, on largely reserved track.
See also
* List of light-rail transit systems
* Light rail
* List of transport museums
* Citadis
* Eurotram
* EuskoTran
* Combino
* Perley A. Thomas Car Works
* Poznanski Szybki Tramwaj
* Sirio
* streetcar
* Streetcar suburb
* Thomas Built Buses, Inc.
* Tram stop
* Ultra low floor
* Underground
*Overhead lines
External links
* http://www.geocities.com/alextracks/ (EG)
* http://www.lrta.org/ (GB)
* http://lightrail.com/ (US/CA)
* http://www.lightrailnow.org/ (US)
* http://www.lightrail.nl/ (NL)
* http://www.xs4all.nl/%7erajvdb/lra/ (NL) varying content in multiple languages
* http://www.lostnewyorkcity.com/buildingphotos/Plate-51-b.html Broadway Cable car line (US/NY)
* http://villamos.budapest.hu/ (HU)
* http://www.streetcar.org (US/CA)
* http://public-transport.net (EU, Europe)
* http://www.tramwajewcieszynie.prv.pl (PL)
* http://www.dctrolley.org/ (US/MD)
* http://www.heritagetrolley.org/existNewOrleans.htm
* http://www.tramway.co.uk/(GB)
Tag: Electric railways
Tag: Passenger equipment
Tag: Tram transport
Tag: Green vehicles
Tag: Rail transport
da:Sporvogn
de:Straßenbahn
fr:Tramway
ga:Tram
ja:路面電車
nl:Tram
pl:Tramwaj
ru:Трамвай
sl:Tramvaj
fi:Raitiovaunu
sv:Spårvagn
tt:Tramway
zh:電車
A '''tram''' (or '''tramway''', '''Free ringtones trolley''', '''Abbey Diaz streetcar''', '''tramcar''', '''Straßenbahn''') is a Mosquito ringtone rail tracks/railborne vehicle (lighter than a train) for transport of passengers (or, occasionally, freight). Trams are distinguished from other forms of railway systems in that they travel along tracks laid down in the Majo Mills right-of-way of city streets, usually on track reserved for the tram system. A special type is the Nextel ringtones cable car (railway)/cable car.
Tram systems are common throughout Sabrina Martins Europe and were common throughout the Western world in the early 20th century. And although they disappeared from many cities for many years in the mid 20th century, have in recent years made a comeback.
Cingular Ringtones Image:ULF.JPG/thumbnail/right/Modern tram of type Ulf (ultra low floor) in experiences silence Vienna
History
The name "tram" is from downpours from Low German ''traam'', meaning the "beam (of a data transport wheelbarrow)", although some sources claim that it is derived from the name of engineer amonte agent Benjamin Outram.
Appearing in the first half of the indicate our 19th century, trams were at first pulled by horse.
worth prudie Image:Halle ad Saale Strassenbahn.jpg/thumb/A historic German Tram
The first trams, known as streetcars, or horsecars, were built in the US; they circulated in liaison between 1832 on the ease before New York-illegal toys Harlem line and in our skating 1834 in was unwrapped New Orleans. At first the tuesday thomas rails, protruding above street level, caused major trouble for pedestrians and caused accidents. They were supplanted in definitive statement 1852 by grooved rails, invented by jobs was Alphonse Loubat. The first tram in France was inaugurated in travel professional 1853 for the of carved World's Fair, where a test line was presented along the agreeable comedy Cours de la Reine, in the familial dynamics 8th Arrondissement.
The tram developed after that in numerous cities of Europe (review a London, century removal Berlin, Paris, etc.). More rapid and comfortable than the bus/omnibus, trams had a higher cost of operation because they were pulled by horses. That's why mechanical drives were rapidly developed: with steam power in 1873, and electrical after 1881, when Siemens presented the electric drive at the International Electricity Exhibition in Paris.
The technical modernity of electricity and more importantly its convenience resulted in its rapid adoption, once the technical problems of production and transmission of electricity were solved. The first electric tram opened in Berlin in 1881.
=Golden Age=
Image:OldTram 700.jpg/thumb/A vintage car/vintage British tram dating from 1925
Trams experienced a rapid expansion at the start of the 20th century until the period between the two world wars. There was a rapid increase in the number of lines and increase in the number of riders: indeed, it became the primary mode of urban transportation. Horse-drawn transport virtually disappeared in all of the European and American cities by 1910. Buses were still in a development phase at this time, gaining in mechanical reliability, but remaining behind compared to the benefits offered by trams; the automobile was still - for a time - reserved for the well-to-do.
=A temporary disappearance from many cities=
In several countries the advent of personal motor vehicles caused the rapid disappearance of the tram from the urban landscape in the 1950s. The technical progress of the bus rendered it more reliable, and it became a serious competitor to the tram because it didn't require the construction of costly infrastructure.
Governments thus invested mostly into bus networks. Indeed, infrastructure for roads and highways meant for the automobile were perceived as a mark of progress. The priority given to roads is illustrated in the proposal of French president Georges Pompidou who declared in 1971 that "the city must adapt to the car".
Tram networks were no longer maintained or modernized, a state of affairs that served to discredit them in the eyes of the public. Old lines, considered archaic, were then bit by bit replaced by buses.
Tram networks disappeared almost completely from North America, France, the UK, and Spain and Mumbai. On the other hand, they were maintained or modernized in Switzerland, Germany, Poland, Austria, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, Scandinavia, Japan, and Eastern Europe. In France and the UK, only the networks in Lille, Saint-Etienne Marseille, and Blackpool survive from this period, but they are each reduced to a single line.
=Return to grace=
The priority given to personal vehicles and notably to the automobile led to a loss in quality of life, particularly in large cities where smog, sound pollution and parking became problematic. Acknowledging this, some authorities saw fit to redefine their transport policies. The bus had shown its limits on account of its low capacity and its difficult coexistence with automobile traffic, which made it slow both on the road and commercially. Subways required a heavy investment and presented problems in terms of subterranean spaces that required constant security. For subways, the investment was mainly in underground construction, which made it impossible in some cities (with underground water reserves, archaeological remains, etc.). Subway construction thus was not a universal panacea.
The advantages of the tram thus became more visible. At the end of the 1970s, some governments studied, and then built new tram lines. In France, Nantes and Grenoble lead the way in terms of the modern tram, and new lines were inaugurated in 1985 and 1988. Strasbourg moved forward as well when it opened in 1994 a line with distinctly novel train designs, specified by the city, with the goal of breaking with the archaic conceptual image that was held by the public.
The public, who realized with each installation of tram lines their benefits in urban flexibility and redistribution, or else the reduction in automobile traffic in the downtown, encouraged numerous city governments to so equip their streets. The cities already equipped with trams do not hesitate to extend their lines, indeed even making new ones.
A great example of this shift in ideology is the city of Munich, which began replacing its tram network with metros/metro a few years before the 1972 Summer Olympics. When the complete metro network had been finished in the 1990s, the city began to tear out the tram networks (which had become rather old and decrepit), but now faced opposition from many citizens who enjoyed the enhanced mobility of the mixed network (the tram lines deviate from the metro lines to a significant degree). New rolling stock was purchased and the system was modernized, and a new line was proposed in 2003.
Technical developments
Later trams, known as cable car (railway)/cable cars, attached to a moving cable underneath the road. The cable would be pulled by a steam engine at a powerhouse. The Monongahela and Duquesne Inclines in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA, have some of the appearance of trams, but are more accurately funiculars. Modern trams generally use overhead electric cables, from which they draw current through a pantograph (rail)/pantograph, a bow collector (less commonly) or a trolley pole (the first is most common and used on most new tram designs). The first operational electric street railway was started in Scranton, Pennsylvania, but the first large-scale electric street railway system was built in Richmond, Virginia in January, 1888. By 1890 over a hundred such sytems had been begun or were planned.
There are other methods of powering electric trams, sometimes preferred for aesthetic reasons since poles are not required. The old tram systems in London, Manhattan (New York City) and Washington D.C. - the latter two called conduit cars - used live rails, like those on third rail electrified railways, but underneath the road from which they drew power through a plough. Washington was the last to close, in 1962. Today, no commercial tramway uses this system. There also have been street compatible third rail current collection systems, known as surface current collection, more recently as ground level power supply.
Double track tram lines are sometimes at narrow passages single track, or, to avoid railroad switch/switches, have the tracks intertwined, e.g. in the Leidsestraat in Amsterdam on three short stretches (see http://adres.asp4all.nl/asp/get.asp?map_width=474&map_height=396&view=&laag=AmsterdamLite_Alleen_Kaart.mwf&xdl=Stadsplattegrond&xsl=Layout&straat=DAM&huisnummer=1&postcode_n=1012&postcode_a=JS&x_coord=121399&y_coord=487379&panning=true&point=&minx=120658.02971199994&maxx=120741.37028799993&miny=486378.4868480003&maxy=486448.11315200035&zoom=333); this is known as a Railroad_switch#Gantlet_track/gauntlet track setup.
Since the 1990s, low floor trams, allowing passangers in wheelchairs or with perambulators to access vehicles more easily, have begun to replace traditional trams where you needed to climb some steps to reach the passenger cabin.
Image:Tram_interior.JPG/thumbnail/right/Interior of a tram
Complementary to the traditional tram, these evolutions make it possible to cover more space or to cross slopes inaccessible to the traditional tram.
=Tram-train=
The tram-train uses a system which makes it possible to circulate on tramcar lanes in the downtown area, while circulating on the regional rail network. It requires components compatible with the traditional railroad (indication, power, resistance).
It has been primarily developed in Germanic countries, in particular Germany and Switzerland. Karlsruhe is a notable pioneer of the Tram-train.
This system should be brought into service in the Paris area in 2005.
Pros and cons of tram systems
=Advantages=
* The initial investment is high, but it remains affordable for a medium-sized city. A kilometre of tram generally costs only a third of the investment for a kilometre of underground subway line, since no boring is needed, but the public roads must be rebuilt to incorporate the rails and also cable lines must be installed.
* The elevated systems, such as the monorail and the light metro require a special urbanism with large avenues and buildings in which to integrate the stations. It is also very difficult to compare their prices.
* The infrastructure needed by the trams usually requires an extension of the pedestrian sectors.
* Unlike buses, but like trolleybuses, (electric) trams give off no exhaust emissions.
=Disadvantages=
* The initial cost is larger when compared with the bus, which is usually preferred by smaller cities
* The speed is lower when compared to the subway unless long lengths of reserved track are involved (if most of the route is off-street than it is called light rail) (maximum around 7,000 passengers/hour, compared to 12,000 passengers/hour for the subway)
* dangerous for the cyclists, because they share the same roadway with the trams
* occupies urban space above ground and it needs modifications to traffic flow
Regional variations
=Western Europe=
Image:EuskoTran.jpg/thumb/A tram in Bilbao, Spain, on a section of grassed track
In the Netherlands many local railways were referred to as Trams, even where the steam locomotives did not have enclosed motion. In Belgium an extensive system of tram-like local railways called ''Vicinal'' or ''Buurtspoor'' lines had a greater route kilometre length than the actual railway system. The only survivors of the Vicinal system are the Kusttram (which almost reaches France at one end and the Netherlands at the other) and two lines near Charleroi.
Recently the tram has seen a huge revival with many experiments like on tires as in Nancy, France/Nancy or hidden wires as in Bordeaux, France/Bordeaux as the municipalities find it a quick fix to the traffic problems.
Image:Metrolink tram.jpg/thumb/A 1990s built Manchester Metrolink in Manchester, England
In the United Kingdom, tram systems were widely dismantled in the 1950s, and after the closure of Glasgow's extensive network in 1962, only Blackpool's survived (see Blackpool Tram Upgrade), although a funicular line continued to operate up the Great Orme in Llandudno. However in recent years new light rail lines have been opened in Manchester (Manchester Metrolink/Metrolink), Sheffield (Sheffield Supertram/Supertram), the West Midlands (county)/West Midlands (Midland Metro), Croydon (Tramlink) and Nottingham (Nottingham Express Transit/NET), with several others under consideration, and extensions planned for many existing systems.
In Finland, there have been three cities with trams: Helsinki, Turku and Viipuri. Of these, only Helsinki still has trams.
=Eastern Europe=
All countries of the former Soviet Bloc have extensive tram infrastructure. Industrial freight use of city tram lines was a widespread practice during the communist era but has since mostly disappeared, as factories left the urban areas. Czech Tatra and the Hungarian Ganz factory were notable manufacturers of tram carts in Eastern Europe. The busiest traditional city tram line in the world is still Route 4/6 in Budapest, Hungary, where 50 meter long trains run at 60 to 90 second intervals at peak time and are usually fully packed with people. A part of this route is the same where electric trams made their world-first run in 1887. Most vehicles still belong to the high floor level type, infact many of them ancient ones. Low floor, hi-tech trams are only starting to infiltrate Eastern European lines due to their extreme pricetag and high maintenance costs.
=North America=
Image:PCC car in San Francisco.jpg/thumb/right/PCC car in San Francisco
''Note that in North America, trams are generally known as streetcars, whilst the term tram is more likely to be understood as a rubber tyred mock streetcar, an aerial tramway, or a people mover.''
Whilst many North American cities abandoned their streetcar systems in the mid-twentieth century, traditional systems survived in Boston, Cleveland, Newark, New Jersey/Newark, New Orleans, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, San Francisco, and Toronto. This survival was aided by the introduction of the modern PCC car in the 1940s and 1950s in all these cities except New Orleans.
New light rail systems have since opened in many other cities, starting with the ground breaking system in San Diego, California/San Diego, and now including Baltimore, Maryland/Baltimore, Hoboken, New Jersey/Hoboken, Buffalo, New York/Buffalo, Denver, Colorado/Denver, Los Angeles, California/Los Angeles, Portland, Oregon/Portland, Sacramento, California/Sacramento, St Louis, Missouri/St Louis, Salt Lake City, Utah/Salt Lake City, and San Jose, California/San Jose. Additionally, all the surviving PCC operators have replaced their PCC cars with light rail vehicles, although PCC cars are still in regular operation on San Francisco's F Market/F Market line.
Image:MemphisTrolley.jpg/thumb/Former Porto trolley in Memphis, Tennessee.
Another trend originating in North America is the introduction of newly built heritage streetcar system/heritage streetcar lines using original or replica historic equipment, a trend which is now spreading elsewhere in the world. Examples in North America include Memphis, Tennessee/Memphis, Tampa, Florida/Tampa and the new Canal Street line in New Orleans, Louisiana/New Orleans.
''See also: Streetcar/Streetcars in North America''
= Asia=
Image:Hong_kong_tram.jpg/thumb/Hong Kong Double Decker Tram
Asia has had relatively few tram systems, with the notable exception of Japan.
Outside Japan, Hong Kong still posesses the Hong Kong Tramways/Hong Kong Tramway, a traditional English style double-decker tramway, with street running along the north shore of Hong Kong Island. More recently the Light Rail (KCRC)/KCRC Light Rail system has opened in the north west New Territories. Despite its name, the Peak Tram is actually a funicular railway with no tramway connections.
Image:Kolkatatram.jpg/thumb/Tram in Kolkata
In India, Kolkata has a tram network.
= Australasia=
Image:Ac.newtram3.jpg.JPG/thumb/A W6 class tram in Melbourne
In Australasia, trams are only extensively used in Melbourne, all other major cities having largely dismantled their networks by the mid 20th century.
In Melbourne, in addition to newer types of trams in use such as the Citadis and the Combino, as well as middle age B, A and Z class trams, older W-class trams remain in service and are a popular tourist attraction. Older W-class trams are used exclusively on the free City Circle (tram route)/City Circle tram route, but are also in use on some regular routes. A total of 53 W-class trams remain in regular service, with the oldest in service tram dating from 1939. ''See also: Trams in Melbourne''.
Amongst other Australian cities, Sydney closed a once extensive tram system in the 1950s but has since opened a new light rail line. Adelaide also closed its urban tram network, but has retained an express tram line linking the city centre with the seaside suburb of Glenelg, South Australia/Glenelg. The smaller cities of Bendigo and Ballarat retain heritage tramway operations.
All New Zealand cities closed their tramway systems, but Christchurch has since constructed a new city centre heritage line, using historic cars.
= Africa=
Image:Egypt.Alexandria.Tram.01.jpg/right/thumb/Former Copenhagen articulated car in service on Alexandria's urban tramway
Tram systems were and are less prevalent in Africa. However, in Egypt both the cities of Cairo and Alexandria have historic and still extant tram systems.
In Cairo, the urban tramway network is now defunct, but the express tramways linking Cairo with Heliopolis are still in operation, as is the relatively new tram system in the satellite town of Helwan 25km to the south.
In Alexandria, both the urban tramway network and the express tramway system serving the eastern suburbs are still in operation. The urban system operates yellow cars, included some acquired second hand from Copenhagen, on largely street track. The express tramway operates 3-car trains of blue cars, including some double-deck cars, on largely reserved track.
See also
* List of light-rail transit systems
* Light rail
* List of transport museums
* Citadis
* Eurotram
* EuskoTran
* Combino
* Perley A. Thomas Car Works
* Poznanski Szybki Tramwaj
* Sirio
* streetcar
* Streetcar suburb
* Thomas Built Buses, Inc.
* Tram stop
* Ultra low floor
* Underground
*Overhead lines
External links
* http://www.geocities.com/alextracks/ (EG)
* http://www.lrta.org/ (GB)
* http://lightrail.com/ (US/CA)
* http://www.lightrailnow.org/ (US)
* http://www.lightrail.nl/ (NL)
* http://www.xs4all.nl/%7erajvdb/lra/ (NL) varying content in multiple languages
* http://www.lostnewyorkcity.com/buildingphotos/Plate-51-b.html Broadway Cable car line (US/NY)
* http://villamos.budapest.hu/ (HU)
* http://www.streetcar.org (US/CA)
* http://public-transport.net (EU, Europe)
* http://www.tramwajewcieszynie.prv.pl (PL)
* http://www.dctrolley.org/ (US/MD)
* http://www.heritagetrolley.org/existNewOrleans.htm
* http://www.tramway.co.uk/(GB)
Tag: Electric railways
Tag: Passenger equipment
Tag: Tram transport
Tag: Green vehicles
Tag: Rail transport
da:Sporvogn
de:Straßenbahn
fr:Tramway
ga:Tram
ja:路面電車
nl:Tram
pl:Tramwaj
ru:Трамвай
sl:Tramvaj
fi:Raitiovaunu
sv:Spårvagn
tt:Tramway
zh:電車
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