Trams

Trams are a familiar sight on many city roads throughout the world. Not to be confused with trolley-buses (which run on rubber tyres and have steering wheels) trams run along pre-laid tracks, set into the road surface, and collect their electric current from an overhead wire. Most are either one or two car units, occasionally three. In some parts of the world, particularly USA, they are called "streetcars". In Germany they call them S-bahn (street-trains). Pictured (left) is a superb new Alstom tram.

They first became popular in the late 19th century, though the very first one is recorded as being the Mumbles to Swansea (Wales) tramway, the first steam drawn regular passenger transport system in the world. Earlier systems had been horse-drawn. By the late 19th century electric power had replaced horses (which left huge amounts of manure !) and by the early 20th century there were few left – though the Isle of Man still has one horse-drawn tram line. Other means of propulsion were used, including cables (still used in San Francisco), steam, compressed air and even high-pressure gas.

The first recorded electric tramway, running on rails, was in 1880 in St Petersburg but after that tram systems were developed in many different cities, and still operate in hundreds of cities worldwide. The tram pictured left is from Toronto. In Europe there are scores of cities which have extensive tram networks, throughout Holland, Germany, Belgium, Austria, Switzerland, France, Portugal and most of the countries in what is generally known as Eastern Europe. In the UK Manchester, Sheffield and Croydon have tram systems.

The longest tram line in the world is in Belgium. Called the Kusttram (Coast Tram) the line runs for 66 kms, pretty much the entire length of Belgium's North Sea coastline, starting at De Panne almost on the French border in the west and running through (and connecting with the urban system of) Oostende before finishing close to the Dutch frontier at Knokke. It was started as long ago as 1885. The journey end-to-end takes just over two hours, there are 70 stops and the price is fairly low.

The majority of Europe's major cities have tram systems – Oslo, Amsterdam, Vienna, Sarajevo, Portugal, Bordeaux, most cities in Germany, and many more – all realising how efficient, environmentally friendly and cost-effective they can be. There used to be more systems in Britain too but they were mainly withdrawn from service in the 1950s as cheap diesel flowed into the country. Now of course some cities are going to the vast expense of putting tram systems back into use.

Several cities in the UK also now have tram systems including Nottingham, Manchester, Sheffield and Croydon. Of course, during construction as the rails are laid and overhead catenary erected there is inevitably much local traffic disruption but the trams are seen as a cleaner, easier way to travel within cities and cost far less than either elevated railways (such as DLR in east London) or underground lines.