Istanbul nostalgic tramways
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Top: Two heritage trams on the European side, on the Taksim-Tünel (T2) Nostalgia Tramway.
Bottom: Heritage tram on the Asian side, on the T3 circular nostalgia tramway. |
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| Overview | |
|---|---|
| Locale | Istanbul, Turkey |
| Transit type | Heritage Tram |
| Number of lines | 2 (1 European side, 1 Asian side) |
| Number of stations | 5 (T2) 10 (T3) |
| Website |
http://nostaljiktramvay.iett.istanbul/ T3 Nostalgia Tramway |
| Operation | |
| Began operation | 29 December 1990 (T2) 1 November 2003 (T3) |
| Operator(s) |
IETT (T2) İstanbul Ulaşım (T3) |
| Technical | |
| System length | 1.6 km (0.99 mi) (T2) 2.6 km (1.6 mi) (T3) |
The Istanbul nostalgic tramways are two heritage tramlines in the city of Istanbul, Turkey. The city has two completely separate heritage tram systems, one on the European side (the Taksim-Tünel Nostalgia Tramway, aka. T2 line), the other on the Asian side (T3 line, aka. the Kadıköy-Moda Nostalgia Tramway).
Istanbul, the former capital of Turkey, once had a large tramway network on both the Asian and European sides. These started as horse trams but gradually changed to electric. Many routes were built step by step, and the network reached its greatest extent in 1956 with 108 million passengers in 270 cars on 56 lines. But as happened in most cities around the world, tram service in Istanbul began to close in 1956, and ended completely in 1966.
Trams returned to Istanbul in 1990, with the opening of the Taksim-Tünel Nostalgia Tramway (T2 line). The city is divided between Asia and Europe, and while the Asian side has a heritage tram system (T3 line, which opened in 2003), the European side has both a heritage tram (T2 line) and a modern tram system (T1 and T4 lines, which opened in 1992 and 2007, respectively).
After closing the tram network in the mid-1960s, the people of Istanbul thought this old fashioned method of smooth city traveling had been removed, and transport within the city would move faster than before, but this proved false some years later. The uncontrolled increase of petrol vehicles such as buses, taxis, and private cars started choking the streets of Istanbul. Turkey suffered many of the problems of developing countries, including pollution, traffic jams, illegal migration, low literacy and rapid increase of population etc. A growing population increased the urbanization of Istanbul, and with it more motor vehicles which increased air and sound pollution, traffic jams and smog. The city became slower than in the tram era. From the early 1970s, these problems increased and by the mid-1980s Istanbulians realized that lack of control of motor vehicles and the closure of the tram network were a great mistake. Due to constantly increasing traffic jams and air pollution, Istanbul became one of the most polluted Eurasian cities during the mid-1980s, which caused not only increasing diseases of citizens, but also lost tourists. Many cities around the world like Tunis, Sydney, Buenos Aires etc. also understood that error, and like them, Istanbul also planned for the return of trams.
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Wikipedia