Trams in Saint Petersburg

Saint Petersburg tramway network
Tram on Moscow Gate Square in Saint Petersburg
Operation
LocaleSaint Petersburg, Russia
Horsecar era:
  • 1854 (1854) (freight)
  • 1854 (1854) (passengers)–1907 (1907)
Status Replaced by electric trams
Propulsion system(s) Horses
Electric trams era: 1907 (1907)–present
Status Still operational
Routes 40
Operator(s) Gorelektrotrans
Track gauge 1,524 mm (5 ft)
(Russian gauge)
Propulsion system(s) Electricity
Electrification 550 V DC parallel overhead lines
Track length (total) 231 km (144 mi)
(System map, October, 2024)
Website electrotrans.spb.ru/

Trams in Saint Petersburg are a major mode of public transit in the city of Saint Petersburg, Russia. Saint Petersburg once had the second-largest tram network in the world,[1] consisting of about 340 kilometres (210 mi) of unduplicated track in the late 1980s. However, since 1995 the tramway network has declined sharply in size as major portions of track were removed, particularly in the city centre. Saint Petersburg lost its record to Melbourne, Australia.[2] While it still had 285 kilometres (177 mi) of length in 2002, by early 2007 the tram network's had declined to just over 220 kilometres (140 mi), and by the 2010s operated on just 205.5 kilometres (127.7 mi) of network.[3]

The system is operated by Gorelektrotrans (Russian: Горэлектротранс), a municipal organization that operates St. Petersburg's 40 tram routes, as well as the city's trolleybus network, and also by the private company TKK that runs the network in the eastern part of the city (green on the map).

  1. ^ The Pacific Electric network in Los Angeles had more than 1600 km of track. Thom Eberhardt, "This Was Pacific Electric", Sky City Productions, 2003. (DVD)
  2. ^ "Investing in Transport" (PDF). Victorian Department of Transport. p. 69. Retrieved 2008-12-22.[permanent dead link]
  3. ^ "Saint Petersburg doubles investments for underground development". Railway Pro Magazine. VIII (4.12. (102)): 39. December 2013. Retrieved 2015-03-05.