Trams in Moscow

Moscow tramway network

Tramcar Pesa Fokstrot #3552.
Operation
Locale	Moscow, Russia
Horsecar era: 1872 (1872)–1912 (1912) Status Closed Operator(s) Compagnie générale des tramways de Moscou et de Russie (1872–1911) City of Moscow (1901–1912) Track gauge 1,524 mm (5 ft) Propulsion system(s) Horses
Steam tram era: 1886 (1886)–1922 (1922) Status Closed Track gauge 1,524 mm (5 ft) Propulsion system(s) Steam
Electric tram era: since 1899 (1899) Status Open Routes 50 Operator(s) Mosgortrans (since 1958) Track gauge 1,524 mm (5 ft) Propulsion system(s) Electricity Electrification 550 V DC Depot(s) 5 Stock 967 Track length (single) 416 km (258 mi) Route length 180 km Passengers (2011) 214.5 million Moscow tramway network. Website Mosgortrans (Russian)

The Moscow tramway network, which is divided into two sub-networks, is a key element of the public transport system in Moscow, the capital city of Russia. Opened in 1872, it has been operated since 1958 by Mosgortrans, a state-owned company.

The two sub-networks had a combined total route length of 181 km (112 mi), making the whole network the fourth largest in the world, after the networks in Melbourne, St. Petersburg and Berlin.

The tram is historically the second type of urban passenger transport in Moscow, the successor of the Konka (horse-driven tram). However, the presence in Moscow by the beginning of the 20th century horse-railways hindered the development of tram lines. For the laying of tram lines, it was necessary first to free the roads from horse tracks. In 1901, the council purchased the first competition of the Belgian joint-stock company. When, in 1903, came a period of redemption horse-drawn railway the second Belgian joint stock company, the Duma is not solved, as, according to N. I. Astrov: "In Russia we have not experienced builders and engineers". In November 1905, immediately after the events of October elected a new mayor Nikolai Guchkov. Its launching coincided with the revolutionary actions of workers of Moscow in November–December 1905. As soon as the life in the town had returned to normal, Nikolai Ivanovich ordered to proceed with the laying of tram tracks. In February 1907, a movement began in the Myasnitska street, the Sretenka street and the Lubyanka street, from the Passion of the monastery Dmitrovka and further the Sretenka and Myasnitskaya. The first electric tram routes linked the outskirts of the Garden ring with the center and mainly repeated konechnye.

May 18, 1910 the city council on the proposal of N. I. Guchkov made a decision about carrying out in 1912 in Moscow, the congress of tram companies.

To the 1910 years the dense network of lines was observed in the western part of the centre with the formation of arcs on the Garden and Boulevard rings. In 1918 the total length of tram lines in the city amounted to 323 km (201 mi) In 1926 the length of track grew to 395 km (245 mi) in 1918, there were 475 cars, and in 1926 — 764 . Average speed of trams increased from 7 km/h (4 mph) in 1918 to 12 km/h (7 mph) in 1926.