page_title: Trams in Irkutsk
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Trams in Irkutsk / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Trams in Irkutsk in 1982
context_page_description: Trams in Irkutsk form the main surface transport network in Irkutsk, the capital of Irkutsk Oblast, Russia. The tramway was founded in 1947 and currently operates 7 lines.
context_section_description: The first plans to create a tram system in Irkutsk appeared at the end of the 19th century, but initial plans to build a horsecar network were rejected by city authorities as too expensive and unreliable.  The next iteration proposed an electric network, and the city government approved two lines, one crossing the Angara River and another bisecting the city north-south.  However, implementation was stalled by the Russian Revolution in 1917.
  Construction of the first line was started on July 5, 1945. According to the initial calculations of the designers, the tram system of the city was supposed to transport 44 million passengers annually (the average Irkutsk citizen makes 133 trips). Three routes were planned: 1) from the station to the tram depot on Krasnoyarskaya ul., 9.5 km long, the planned completion time of construction is 1947; 2) to the Leninsky district through the Irkutny bridge, 9 km long, the planned time for the end of construction is 1948; 3) through r.  Ushakovka to the street. Barricade and st. Workers Headquarters, the planned completion time is 1950. There were plans to lay a tram track on Circum-Baikal Street. In 1950-1951, work was carried out on the construction of tram tracks. In 1952, the decision was revised and the dismantling of the tracks .
  The construction was carried out using the “people's construction” method - daily, 24 urban enterprises allocated 300–800 people for construction . The construction involved Japanese prisoners of war.
  1946 - On November 7, the first line of the tramway was commissioned. Due to the failure of the deadline, the opening was postponed to December 31, and then to 1947.
  On August 3, 1947, route No. 1 “Station - Central Market” was launched (4 km one-track).
  1948 - On September 12, six new trams from Leningrad entered the city highway. During the year of operation, the tram carried 2.5 million passengers .
  1949 - at the end of May, the laying of second tracks began: from the railway station to ul. Stepan Razin, from Soviet Street. to the central market. By the end of the year, 5 km of tracks were laid. The total length of the route was 10 km. There are 14 trams in the park (most of them are from Leningrad). Received 8 cars: four from Leningrad and Chelyabinsk. The Leningrad trams were decorated with the inscriptions: "To workers from Irkutsk from Leningrad." For all the time of operation of the tram line (1947-1949), 11 million people were transported. The own overhaul of the cars started on August 1 - a tram came out on the route, which was repaired in the Irkutsk depot .
  1950 - route number 2 "Station - Trampark." Started laying the way from the station to the Sverdlovsk market.
  1952 - the passenger turnover of the Irkutsk tram was 17 million passengers a year .
  1961 - Route number 1 is extended from the station to the campus.
  1964 - route number 3 "Volzhskaya Street - Central Market".
  1968 - route number 4 "Central Market - Pre
  1968 - route number 4 "Central Market - Working Suburb".
  1983 - route number 5 "Central Market - Sunny".
  1990 - the Irkutsk tram transported the maximum number of passengers - 51.6. million people
  1999 - 36.9 million people transported
  2001 - transported 42.2 million people.
  2002 - from December the fare rose to 5 rubles.
  2003 - March 29, a strong fire occurred in the tram depot. 46.4 million people transported
  2004 - from January 1, the fare was 7 rubles.
  2005 - transported 27.4 million people.
  2006 - after a long break (since 1992) the renovation of the tram fleet began - 2 cars were purchased KTM-19.
  2007 - the Irkutsk tram transported 25.1. million people Route number 2 was extended for several months from the train station to the campus - this option did not catch on. The direction of movement of the 4th route along the stop has changed. The central market - before the tram was moving counterclockwise, while on the street. Baikal moved in the opposite direction of the traffic.
  2008 - transported 24.8 million people. 6 KTM-19 tramcars purchased. Since January 1, the fare has grown to 10 rubles. During the year, 8 trams were written of
caption: Tram RVZ-6 in 1982
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