City Centre Extension - Sapporo

Sapporo in northern Japan has a tram service that was extended by approximately 450 metres on 19 December 2015, thus completing a loop of 8.41 kilometres for the overall network.  This tram service has good links with underground subway services within the city, but this subway also eliminated the need for larger parts of the tram network, which were closed from 1958.  

The trams need to contend with very cold and snowy weather conditions, as Sapporo was a former host city of the 1972 Winter Olympics.

Flickr photos of Sapporo Streetcars:

Midland Metro Birmingham UK

The tramway in Birmingham was extended into the city centre recently, signalling a return of trams into the city for the first time in over 50 years.   The tramway extension will hopefully improve connectivity to other parts of Birmingham and the economics of this tramway which has required subsidies since its inception.  For example, ridership on Midlands Metro fell by 6.1% in the 2014-15 year.

Flickr photo links for the new extension:

The tramway opened in 1999 and the small extension into the city centre is the beginning of further extensions that are scheduled to be completed up to 2023.  The majority of 20km long tramway operates on a former railway line that ran between the cities of Wolverhampton and Birmingham.  The railway was closed in 1972 and 11 out of the 23 tram stops are in the same location as the previous railway.

Flickr Photo links of the old railway from 1972 and 1960:

And today:

Links:
Midland Metro Website

Lisbon Tram Network

Lisbon has a very old and modest tram network that is currently 45 kilometres long, although it was around 59 kilometres in 1959.  

Five routes go through many parts of the city that are hilly and not accessible by metro and bus services, so the tram system is also popular with the large number of tourists that visit the city.  The vintage trams are quite small, so they can travel through the narrow alley ways and streets of the old city in a reasonably efficient manner.

The operation of this network has been subject to a lot of changes in 2015, as the operations were privatised to Spanish company Avanza earlier in the year, and this has been subsequently reversed later in the year.  Pressure to sell off public assets was due to the high debt burden that Portugal carries post-GFC.

Links to Network information:

Tram 28 Information

Carris - Lisbon Transport Website

Flickr Photo Gallery Links:

Historical photos of Trams in Lisbon

Modern Trams in Lisbon

Vintage Trams in Lisbon

Interior of Lisbon Trams

Sacramento Light Rail extension to Cosumnes River College

The Blue Line on Sacramento's light rail system was extended 4.3 miles south to Cosumnes River College in August 2015 with a total cost of US$270 million.  Four new stations were added with the entire system now running for 69 kilometres.

Services run every 15 minutes on weekdays and every half hour on weekends, with a total journey time of 33 minutes from the end of the line to the downtown area.  

Flickr photo links to the Light Rail System:

The system commenced operations in 1987 and has been progressively extended with higher ridership as a result.  From 1870 to 1947, Sacramento also had a streetcar system that included multiple routes in the inner city areas and a terminus in Oak Park - this was the location of an amusement park that was very popular at the time until it's destruction by fire in 1920.

Flickr Link to the old streetcar system in Oak Park, Sacramento:

Sacramento Public Library also has online access to old streetcar photos and files.

Los Angeles Light Rail

The Expo Line light rail service began in 2012 from Downtown Los Angeles to Culver City. A further extension to the beach at Santa Monica is scheduled to open by 2016.  It's the latest of four light rail lines to have opened in Los Angeles since the 1990s, all of which are run by the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Bureau.


This line follows the route of a Pacific Electric trolley service that ran from 1909 to 1953, before Los Angeles became a labyrinth of freeways.

Flickr photo links of the trolley service from 1953 and earlier:

The new line does not use any of the rolling stock or infrastructure from the previous service, apart from an occasional bridge that was found to be in good structural condition. 

Flickr photo links of the new Expo Line service, which opened in 2012:

Once complete, it is expected that the journey from Los Angeles to Santa Monica will take around 46 minutes, which is an improvement on traffic filled roads.

Dubai opened the first tram line in the Gulf States in November 2014.  This modern system has 11 stations and it runs through the downtown area of the city.  The system has been constructed without the use of overhead power lines.

Flickr photos of Construction of Dubai's trams

Flickr photo gallery of the new tram operations in Dubai

Eurovision Tram in Vienna

The Eurovision Tram

A Vienna tram has been decorated for Eurovision.  The exterior of low-floor tram #655 now has a very colourful exterior - the artwork is called "Building Bridges" and it is supposed to symbolise the bridging of cultures, languages and borders in Europe.

History of Trams and Eurovision in Vienna

Vienna has a long history with both trams and Eurovision.

Horse drawn trams started in Vienna in 1865, with electric power being rolled across the network after 1897.  Wienerlinien now operates a tram network that is 177 kilometres long, with 525 vehicles, 29 lines and passenger volumes of 293 million per year.  This makes it one of the larger networks in Europe.  In conjunction with an extensive network of underground railways and buses, the transport system encourages sustainability and liveability in Vienna.  

The EuroVision Song Contest is being hosted in Vienna this year, after Conchita Wurst won the EuroVision Song Contest in grand style last year.    Previously, Austria last won the contest in 1966, when Udo Jurgens sang 'Marie Cherie' - he sadly passed away in December 2014.  

Tram transport to Eurovision in 2015

Trams will play a crucial role in getting people to and from the 2015 EuroVision Song Contest at Wiener Stadthalle.  Three tram routes (8, 16 and 49) will take passengers to Urban Loritz Platz when the event takes place in mid-May 2015.

Flickr pics of Vienna's Low Floor Trams: