Vinnytsia tram

The movement of the electric tram was opened in Vinnitsa on October 28, 1913 along the route "Station - Gymnasium" with a length of 8.6 km. Already in the spring of 1914, a second line was built along Nikolaevsky Prospekt to the Military Town. Two double-track lines operated 11 cars. MAN biaxial double-sided wagons operated on the line. One of these cars is now restored, and is in the depot; sometimes, on holidays or as a tour, operated on the line. Another model, made in 2003 in honor of the 90th anniversary of the tram, as a monument is installed near the tram depot. The tram also worked during the events of 1917-19, but 1920 the movement was suspended and resumed only at the end of November 1921.

In 1932, the network expanded for the first time since 1914 - a new line was laid to the hospital along Pirogov Street. Before the war, the construction of a new line along Frunze Street (now Academician Yangel) to the chemical plant and tram depot began, but the war prevented these plans. The movement at the beginning of the war ceased, but under German occupation, in May 1942, it resumed. The city was liberated on March 20, 1944, and the movement resumed in just a year. Due to the prohibition of the movement of trams on bridges across the Southern Bug, there were 2 isolated systems, so until 1949 there was no through traffic through bridges. At that time, they restored the line to the Military Town and built (1950) a line designed before the war, to a chemical plant.

In 1955, a new line was opened along the Khmelnitsky Highway to a new tram depot, which was being built instead of the old one, while the old depot was demolished due to the construction of a new bridge. A new bridge over the Southern Bug was opened in the same 1955.

During 1957-1959, the line along ul. Pirogov to the hospital. Yushchenko.

In 1963, a line was opened along Krasnoarmeyskaya Street (towards the chemical plant), in the same year the line along the Khmelnitsky Highway was continued to the Lesnaya stop, and in 1966 - further, to the city line (Barskoye Highway), in 1968 the line along Pirogov Street was extended to the south, to the current ultimate "Electrical Network". The length of the network was 30 km.

In 1977, the line was removed along Kotsyubinsky Avenue, the tram to the station began to bypass along 50th Anniversary Avenue, and along Frunze and Kirov Streets. The chemical plant line was also closed. The last expansion of the network occurred from 1986 to 1992: in two stages, a line was built to the Vyshenka housing estate on Keletskaya Street.

In 2002-2006, the tram tracks along the Central Bridge and Sobornaya Street were reconstructed using Czech sleepless technology for laying the track, which can significantly reduce noise and vibration during movement.

In 2003, in honor of the 90th anniversary of the Vinnitsa tram, a memorial sign was installed, consisting of a stone memorial plaque mounted on a large stone. The sign is installed at the beginning of Sobornaya Street, on its even side, where the first depot was once located.

On December 6, 2006, after the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding between the governments of the two states, the Swiss Confederation and Ukraine, cooperation between Vinnitsa and the municipality of Zurich began as part of the financial and technical assistance project Zurich Trams for Vinnitsa. In March 2007, Vinnitsa received the first 14 trains of the Karpfen series (Be 4/4 motor car and trailed B4 car), and a year later, in March 2008, another 15 Mirage trains (Be 4/6 motor car and trailed wagon B4 FFA / SWP).

In the summer of 2008, construction of the tram line was started, which was supposed to connect Barskoye Shosse and ul. Kieletskaya, but in connection with the economic crisis it was suspended ^[1] .

In November 2009, March and July 2010, lots of 14, 16 and 18 Be 4/6 Mirage wagons, spare trolleys and other spare parts arrived.

In July 2010, the city council decided to sell 5 Tatra KT4SU wagons (No. 153, 164, 169, 205, 211) to Zhytomyr . All cars underwent pre-sale training: repair, replacement of worn parts was carried out, external painting and interior finishing coatings were updated. In December 2010, they were dispatched ^[2] .

On December 15, 2010, the last batch of 12 Be 4/6 Mirage wagons and spare parts arrived from Zurich to Vinnitsa.

Since 2011, exclusively Swiss trams have been used to transport passengers on lines, although Czech KT4SU are sometimes operated ^[3] . For the period from 2007 to 2011, Vinnitsa received 116 tram cars from Swiss Zurich , and 85 units go to routes daily ^{[4] [5]} .

In 2012, after the Ministry of Economy allocated funds in the amount of 28 million hryvnias, the construction of the section of tram tracks connecting the tram lines on the street, started in 2008, was resumed. Keletskaya and Barskoye Shosse ^[6] .

In 2012, all trams were equipped with free Wi-Fi internet access ^{[7] [8]} .

In June 2012, by Euro 2012 , two Tatra KT4SU wagons (No. 209 and 213) were donated to Lviv. Before being sent to KP “VTTU”, they underwent a full overhaul. This repair included a set of works to restore the geometry of the body, overhaul of the trolleys, checking and replacing (if necessary) electrical equipment, exterior painting, new interior and driver cabs ^[9] .

In January 2013, a GPS tracker was installed on tram No. 318 as an experiment. Equipping the rolling stock with GPS systems in the future will make it possible to monitor the observance of the traffic schedule ^[10] .

September 10, 2013 the car Tatra KT4SU No. 227 was sent to Yevpatoria ^[11] . Instead of September 13, the German tram Gotha T57 No. 003 1957 of the year of issue ^[12] arrived. The car will be presented as a museum-excursion to the 100th anniversary of the Vinnitsa tram ^[13] .

On October 21, 2013, a new washing and cleaning complex was inaugurated on the territory of the tram depot. The tram car wash section is equipped with two Kärcher self-propelled washing machines purchased from the Swiss Confederation as part of the Zurich Trams for Vinnitsa project. The reverse water supply and water treatment system installed in the washing complex with heating and water purification systems allows to reduce the consumption of tap water by 90%, as well as use rain and melt water. And the heating and ventilation system allows you to ensure the operation of the housing throughout the year, and not just in the warm period, as it was before. The complex can take up to 60 trams per day ^[14] .

Also on this day, to the 100th anniversary of the launch of the first tram, the Tram Museum was opened in the city. It is located on the territory of the tram park and consists of a museum pavilion with exhibits and photographs and a parking area for historic cars. All cars are operational and can go to the line ^[15] .

On October 22, the Gotha T57 No. 100 museum retro car, restored to the 100th anniversary of the Vinnitsa tram, made its first voyage. The last time a car of this brand with passengers appeared on the city line in 1984 ^[16] .

On December 19, 2014, the opening of a new tram line that connected Keletskaya Street and Barskoye Shosse took place. In this regard, two tram routes changed - route number 2 became a ring, trams on it now move in a circle in both directions, and route number 6 extended to Barskoye Shosse ^[17] .

Exactly one year later, on December 19, 2015, the construction of the insert near the Urozhay market, which connected the roads along Keletskaya and Pirogova streets, was completed. In this regard, a new tram route No. 3, "Cherry - Power Grid", was launched. The construction cost 9.9 million hryvnias, which the city received from the State Regional Development Fund (FIU) ^[18] .

Also in 2015, on the basis of the tram depot, overhaul of tram car No. 224 was carried out, which, after Deep modernization, received a “new face”. The wagon was presented to Vinnitsa residents on the city day and received the Name "VinWay" - Vinnytsia Route.

In 2016, two more tram cars left for the routes - 32-meter and 16-meter. Among the advantages are a low-floor insert in the middle for the convenience of low-mobility passengers and access to Wi-Fi.

In terms of components, VinWay is partly Ukrainian, and partly Czech. Only the trolley remained from the factory kit, but, for example, the Vinnitsa enterprise is developing the external body parts, the seats for the salon were ordered in Lviv, and the control system in the Czech Republic. It takes about four months to make the first car.

As of 2018, 10 trams of VinWay's own production have been assembled in Vinnitsa

• 1 Train Station - Electricity
• 2 Barskoye Shosse - Barskoye Shosse
• 3 Electricity network - Barskoye Shosse .
• 4 Railway station - Barskoye Shosse
• 5 Electricity network - Barskoye Shosse
• 6 Railway station - Barskoye Shosse

There were also routes No. 3 “Barskoye Shosse - Zarya Culture Center” ”, No. 7“ Electricity - Zarya Culture House ””, No. 8 “Zarya Culture House - Cherry” and No. 9 “Railway Station - Zarya Culture House” “” Routes 3,7,8 and now time can be seen on the city streets. Ply as directed by the dispatcher.

The main unit of linear rolling stock at present is single-sided articulated six-axle motor cars of the Mirage Be 4/6 type , single-sided four-axle Karpfen Be 4/4 types, and two-section articulated four-axle Tatra KT4SU types, which almost no longer take to the streets of the city as unnecessary, but quite efficient. In the past, Tatra T4 were also used in large numbers; Now most of them are redone for official purposes or written off. In 2017, the modernization of Tatra T4SU in T4UA under the Vinway brand began, the trams have a variable floor level and are operated in the amount of 10 pieces.

There are also historical cars:

• Retro tram. In general, this tram design has nothing to do with Vinnitsa trams. Made by VTTU in 1988 to the 75th anniversary of the opening of the tram in Vinnitsa. Only the wagons of this car were taken from the German Gotha T57 tram. But this tram for several decades of its existence has become a kind of new symbol of the city.
• Mock-up monument of the first Vinnitsa tram. It was restored by the employees of Vinnytsia TTU to the 90th anniversary of the opening of the tram traffic in our city. It is located in front of the administrative building of the tram depot on the Khmelnitsky highway. Such were the first Vinnitsa trams produced by the Nuremberg MAN factory (Germany). Inside this car is a mini-museum of the history of the development of the tram.
• Wagon Gotha T57. This is the last surviving car of a series of German trams in our city. This tram in 1971 was brought to Vinnitsa from Simferopol (due to the closure of the tram traffic in this city). He worked on routes until 1985. This car is a representative of the whole, more than 30-year, tram era of Vinnitsa. It has not even been decommissioned, and still has inventory number 104. At one time, the car tried to restore the local club of electric transport lovers, but this initiative did not receive active support from the depot. Currently in poor condition.

•  

  Monument Wagon

As of 2012, on the balance sheet of KP “Vinnitsa Tram and Trolleybus Administration” there were 10 service and 158 passenger cars, of which: Be 4/6 Mirage - 75 units, Tatra KT4SU - 42 units, B4 Karpfen - 14 units ., Be 4/4 Karpfen - 12 units, B4 FFA / SWP - 11, Be 4/6 Mirage Kühe - 3, Tatra T4SU - 1, Gotha T57 - 1 ^[19] .

The municipality of Swiss Zurich donated several previously operated double-car trams to Vinnitsa. The Swiss side also pledged to provide spare parts for trams. In Zurich, trams of the old models Karpfen and Mirage are actively replaced by modern Cobras , and unnecessary to the Swiss, but quite high-quality cars were sent to Vinnitsa.

Before putting their trams in good hands, the Zurich authorities examined 62 cities of the CIS and Baltic countries, as well as got acquainted with the work of each tram and trolleybus depot in Ukraine. As a result, the choice fell on Vinnitsa, where the Swiss were most satisfied with the operating conditions of such equipment. The width of the Zurich track coincides with Vinnitsa - 1 m.

Although Swiss trams have an outdated design according to Western European concepts, they look much more modern on the city streets, in addition, their level of technical equipment is much higher than that of the Czech Tatra trams, which transported guests and residents of Vinnitsa for many years. The interior of the Swiss trams is much more spacious, decorated with quality materials. Doors to the car are opened not by the driver, but by passengers, by clicking on a special button located near the doors outside and inside the passenger compartment. When the doors are open and there is a person on the bandwagon, the tram will not move.

• V.F. Veklich , L.V. Zbarsky. Problems and prospects of the development of tram transport in the Ukrainian SSR - K.: Knowledge Society of the Ukrainian SSR, 1980
• Electric Transport of Ukraine: Encyclopedic Guide / Sergey Tarkhov, Kost Kozlov, Aare Olander. - Kiev: Sidorenko V. B., 2010 .-- 912 p.: Ill., Schemes. - ISBN 978-966-2321-11-1 . (Ukrainian)

• Vinnitsa public transport
• Vinnytsia trolley bus

• Vinnytsia tram - history, photos, news
• Site of the Vinnitsa Tram Museum
• Vinnytsia Tram on STTS website
• Scheme of public transport routes
• Kiev Tram Forum: About Vinnitsa Tram
• Encyclopedia of narrow gauge former USSR "Younger Brother" - Vinnitsa tram (neopr.) . Archived January 31, 2013.