Tram

Prague, Bohemia (then in the Austro-Hungarian Empire), in 1891;

in 1892;

Kyiv, Ukraine

Dresden, Germany; Lyon, France; and Milan and Genoa, Italy, in 1893;

Rome, Italy: Plauen, Germany; Bucharest, Romania; Lviv, now Ukraine; Belgrade, Serbia in 1894;

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Bristol, United Kingdom; and Munich, Germany in 1895;

Bilbao, Spain, in 1896;

Copenhagen, Denmark; and Vienna, Austria, in 1897;

Florence and Turin, Italy, in 1898;

Helsinki, Finland; and Madrid and Barcelona, Spain, in 1899.

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Most systems start by building up a strongly nucleated radial pattern of routes linking the city centre with residential suburbs and traffic hubs such as railway stations and hospitals, usually following main roads. Some of these, such as those in , Blackpool and Bergen, still essentially comprise a single route. Some suburbs may be served by loop lines connecting two adjacent radial roads. Some modern systems have started by reusing existing radial railway tracks, as in Nottingham and Birmingham, sometimes joining them together by a section of street track through the city centre, as in Manchester. Later developments often include tangential routes linking adjacent suburbs directly, or multiple routes through the town centre to avoid congestion (as in Manchester's Second City Crossing).

Hong Kong

Other new systems, particularly those in large cities which already have well-developed metro and suburban railway systems, such as and Paris, have started by building isolated suburban lines feeding into railway or metro stations. In Paris these have then been linked by ring lines.

London

A third, weakly nucleated, route pattern may grow up where a number of nearby small settlements are linked, such as in the coal-mining areas served by or the Silesian Interurbans.

BOGESTRA

A fourth starting point may be a loop in the city centre, sometimes called a , as in Portland or El Paso.

downtown circulator

Occasionally a modern tramway system may grow from a preserved heritage line, as in .

Stockholm

Trams (and road public transport in general) can be much more efficient in terms of road usage than cars – one vehicle replaces about 40 cars (which take up a far larger area of road space).^[85]

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Tram and light rail systems operate in 388 cities across the world, 206 of which are in Europe;

The longest single tram line and route in the world is the 68 km (42 mi) interurban , which runs almost the entire length of the Belgian coast. Another fairly long interurban line is the Valley Metro Rail in agglomeration of Phoenix, Arizona, with its 42 km (26 mi).^[125][126] The world's longest urban (intracity) tram line is 33 km (21 mi) counter-ring routes 5/5a in Kazan (Tatarstan, Russia).

Belgian Coast Tram (Kusttram)

In January 1864, well-known musician and composer Isaac Nathan was hit and killed by a Sydney horse tram when his clothing was caught in the door, whilst he was attempting to alight. Nathan is reputed to be one of the first tram fatalities in the Southern Hemisphere (many sources claim that it was the first such accident).^[157][158]

Anglo-Australian

On the morning of 18 August 1901, four masked men, described as "urban ", held up an eastbound horse tram in Riversdale Road, Melbourne, just past Power Street. For their trouble the men received £2 10/- in fares from driver Thomas Taylor, and £21 19/- from eight passengers. One passenger was injured. The bandits were never caught. Contemporary newspapers hypothesised that the bandits were after a specific commuter who travelled regularly on this particular tram and who was in the habit of carrying large amounts of cash.^[159][160]

bushrangers

In the in 1909, two armed robbers hijacked a tram and were chased by the police in another tram.^[161]

Tottenham Outrage

On 7 June 1926 Catalan architect was knocked down by a Barcelona tram and subsequently died.^[162]

Antoni Gaudí

On 27 February 1930, (pen name Vélocio), godfather of the dérailleur was killed by a tram in St Étienne^[163]

Paul de Vivie

It is reputed that in the 1930s a murdered body was dragged out of the River Thames in London. The body had been stripped of anything that might have identified him. The only clue to the person's identity was a portion of a tram ticket hidden in the lining of his coat. The local police did not recognise the ticket but images in newspapers led to it being identified as a Melbourne tram ticket. Serendipitously, the serial number on the ticket was intact. Victoria Police in Melbourne, acting as agents for the Metropolitan Police in London, contacted the Melbourne & Metropolitan Tramways Board. From the serial number, the M&MTB were able to tell which tram depot had issued the ticket, on what day and on which specific tram, and in which section of a particular route (North Balwyn). Police then interviewed regular commuters and discovered the identity of a man whom, they believed, had recently travelled to London. This led to the arrest and conviction of the murderer. Decades after the event, the M&MTB were still citing the incident in training courses as a reason for tram conductors, etc., to keep proper and efficient records.

[164]

Garcke, Emile (1911). . In Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 27 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 159–167.

"Tramway" 

. New International Encyclopedia. 1905.

"Street Railway" 

(British Transport Films, 1953) showing changeover from conduit to overhead power

The Elephant Will Never Forget

Battery tram in Yucatan