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Trams in Lisbon
These trams gives You an experience of art. Both the tram and the gate are old, and the gate is not much wider than the tram.
History
Two brothers, Francisco and Luciano Maria Cordeiro de Sousa, founded a company named The Carris de Ferro de Lisboa, in Rio de Janeiro in 1871. The purpose of this company was to construct a tram system in Lisbon, the capital of Portugal. In 1873 the town council of Lisbon gave its permission to these plans, and at midnight on September the 16th the first tram ride was med. The wagons were drawn by mules during the first years, but in 1901 electric wagons were introduced. At its moust about 500 wagons have been in traffic.
A tram in the Praca de Comercio square
About 200 wagons
The tramroads of Lisbon are now used by about 200 wagons of the old type, many of them built before the first world war in Sheffield, UK, in the Maly & Tanton & J.G.Brill. Two wagons have been restaurated into the original shape and are used for guided tours by tourists in the capital. A typical tour takes about one and a half hour and the price is 1500 escudo - which is not as much as it sounds.
Trams going to Belem, a suburb with many historical buildings.
In many museums
Many of these trams have been sold to museum around the world in the last years. The price has not been important - more important is the ability of the buyer to take care of these beautiful wagons, that have served the inhabitants of Lisbon for so many decades. You can see portuguese trams in England, USA, Spain, Argentina, the Netherlands, Italy and Japan. Int the United Stateds over 30 trams can bee admired, e.gl in San Fransisco.Perhaps sometimes in the future, a tram like this can be seen in Finland?
You pay the driver
You enter the tram through the door in the front, pay the driver 150 escudo (about one dollar) and when the journey is over, You can leave the tram either in the front or in the back. The driver by the way has other things to do than to drive and take the payments. Often he has to leave the tram to make rail arrangements.
A video?
If You want to see living pictures it is possible to order a video fromWolverton Rail
PO Box 362
Olney
Bucks
MK 46 5EY England
This company sell videos about many of the tram systems in the world.
Metro
Buses and trams are not the only way of exploring Lisbon. Since 1959 the capital has a metro, 16 kilometers long, with 25 stations and 140 wagons and used by nearly half a million passengers every day. What a chaos the traffic in Lisbon would be without trams and metro!
The workplace of the driver
London Electric Tramways Co Ltd (L.E.T.)
Well, really, this is the name of the company that administered the trams in Lisbon for tens of years. So the London Electric Tramways trams did not serve London!
There are 20 seats in a typical tram, and as many passengers can stand in the middel and back part of the wagon.
6000 men and not one woman
Still in the 50´ies the trams were altogether in the hands of men. 6000 men got their salaries serving the Lisbon transportation - and not one woman. But then the computers came, and it was found, that women were more efficient using them, so now this problem between the sexes is not there any more.
A modern tram in Lisbon - where has the beauty and elegance gone?
New trams
Lately, modern trams have been introduced, serving the line between Praga de Figueira in the centre of Lisbon and Algés, a suburb.
Free passenger
Free transport!
Outside the back door is a foot step, where one (or two!) persons can stand, without paying any fee. It is not as dangerous as it looks, the speed is about that of walgking.
If You want to know more...
about trams and other transportation means in Lisbon, just click on the picture above. You will find an excellent site made by John Laidlar in UK - with about all worth knowing about the trams in Lisbon.
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