Trams in St. Petersburg

Using the Tram

St. Petersburg can be called a "City of Trams" as it has more trams than any other city in the world. You can easily find a tram stop by looking for the sign marked with a letter "T" above the track. Take care when trying to board the tram as some stops have no platforms in the middle of the streets, requiring you to cross a busy road to board the tram.

Since January 1998 all trams have had conductors on board and can be identified by the special uniform they wear or a red arm band. A conductor will check that everyone has paid for a ticket or check for a pass. Tickets can only be purchased using cash. Sometimes you might see an inspector (called kontrolyor) who may ask to see your ticket.

History of the Tram

In 1880, engineer Fiodor A. Pirotskiy built and tested the first electric tram in St. Petersburg. If you talk to people in St. Petersburg they will tell you that Pirotskiy invented the tram and Siemens just marketed his idea. Previously, horse driven cars called konka had been used in St. Petersburg since 1862. By 1906 the konka carried 106 million passengers a year on 150 km of track. The owners of the konka bitterly opposed the introduction of the electric trams within St. Petersburg. However, on the 16th September 1907 regular tram services started and quickly became popular, driving the konka from the streets. The city's tram system managed to operate throughout the Revolution and the Civil War and by 1917, 710 tram cars operated on the network.

Leningrad during the Soviet Union days became the city with the largest tram system in the world. During the 900-day siege of Leningrad, the tram service was only halted between December 1941 and April 1942.

In 1990 the trams system carried around 950 million passengers on 2,200 tram cars across 700 km of track.