Historical day
In the summer of 1884, the digging of the streets of Sarajevo and the laying of tram rails began. On that occasion, Sarajevo was left without one of the most beautiful bridges – the stone bridge that bridged Kosevski Potok near Ali Pasha’s mosque, but it also received the title of the first city in the Balkans and Central Europe to have a tram. The first tram line in Sarajevo was 3.1 kilometers long, starting from today’s Faculty of Economics, extending through Ferhadija and further along the main city street (today’s Titova) over Marijin Dvor and ending at a narrow railway station. At that time, only one lane was made, so the tram returned to the same rails with which it came. It was envisaged that one horse should not ride more than two laps, so as not to be exhausted. Johan Hanke was the first “tram driver”.
The first tram officially started operating on January 1st, 1885. at 10 a.m. All four cars for personal traffic stood in front of the station in Ferhadija, and the head of state Appel, civilian adlatus Nikolic, sub-marshal Buvard, generals Haas and Arlow, heads of the provincial government, and the city government gathered there. This whole retinue then sat in the car and in 13 minutes drove to the city station “smooth, clean, inaudible.”
On May 3rd, 1895, the first electric tram was launched on the streets of Sarajevo.
Tram – a symbol of the city
In 1958, the city of Sarajevo procured about 50 PCC tram vehicles from Washington and another 21 tram vehicles were procured in 1962. These vehicles were built between 1941 and 1944 by the St. Louis company.
In 1960, 1.435 mm wider rails were installed (standard rail).
During the siege of Sarajevo (1992-1996), tram vehicles were severely damaged. The system ceased operation on April 15th, 1992, 9 days after the start of the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH). It was relaunched on April 15th, 1994, although the danger of a state of war was still possible. Before the war, the construction of the route Nedzarici – Dobrinja was planned, which would expand the network.
E.Dz.
Source: Avaz
