Turku tram
The Turku tram operated as an electric tram in the Finnish city of Turku from 1908 to 1972 . Before that there was a horse-drawn tram in Turku from 1890 to 1892 .
Horse tram
Plans for a tram in Turku were first made public in 1889. That year, Count August Magnus Armfelt applied to the City of Turku for a concession for a horse-drawn tram. The company founded by Armfelt built a single-track line 3.1 km in length from the summer of 1889 and led from Turku Castle to the city center. It was the only Finnish tram to be built in the standard gauge of 1435 mm. The railway was opened on May 3, 1890 and served with a total of five wagons delivered from Sweden. However, it soon turned out to be unprofitable and operations were stopped again on October 31, 1892.
Electric tram
At the turn of the century, tram plans were discussed again after the city of Turku had grown significantly. In 1906, the city gave AEG a concession and began building the electric tram in the summer of 1908. The tram was opened on December 22, 1908, and it was run in meter gauge . Two lines were built, a ring line in the city center and a line to the port. In 1909 both lines were combined into one.
In 1919 the city of Turku took over the tram as a municipal company. From 1929, the previously single-track lines were gradually expanded to double-track. From 1932, several network expansions were put into operation in the years up to 1940. The largest network scope was reached in 1946 with three lines. In the 1950s, as in most European countries, the gradual retreat of the tram began. In 1956, a short extension of line 2 was built. In the same year the last eight new railcars and in 1958 the last new sidecar came into operation. In 1965 the city decided to cease operations in stages. The first line was discontinued in 1967 and the last train ran on October 1, 1972.
vehicles
The horse-drawn tram procured five horse-drawn tram cars from the Swedish manufacturer Atlas , one of which was an open summer car . After the railway was closed, the cars could be sold to Stockholm in 1894.
The electric tram started operation with 11 railcars supplied by ASEA / AEG. Together with these cars, a total of 55 railcars were procured by 1956. The last eight railcars purchased from Valmet in 1956 were four-axle, one-way, open seating cars of the type RM 2; all previously purchased railcars were two-axle.
Sidecars were used by the Turku tram for the first time in 1919, with the exception of the five horse-drawn tram cars from 1890 to 1892. A total of 47 sidecars were procured, most of which were built by the company's own workshop. Some of them were created as conversions from older railcars. The last sidecar was procured in 1958.
literature
- Mikko Alameri: Railways in Finland . Verlag Josef Otto Slezak, Vienna 1979, ISBN 3-900134-22-7
