Today we return to the Ukrainian city of Lviv for another look at the city and its trams as they were back in February 1994.
Lviv was an attractive old town with its narrow streets threaded by tramlines and it could have been anywhere in the Habsburg lands whilst the suburbs are equally typical of post-war Soviet urban planning, with dense apartment blocks served by excellent public transport. The main railway station at Lviv-Holovnyi is extremely impressive and back in 1994 was served by three tram routes but since has seen a fourth added.
The location of today’s shots is the Knyahyni Olhy terminus which has two tracks available in both directions, although clearly boarding for the return journey was permitted at the arrival stop.
In our first photo we take a look at 840 which dates from a 1976 batch of ten cars as its paired with a second car. Of note is that only the pantograph of the first tram is raised.
Then after some recent snowfall we are back at the stop with 822 – built in 1974 and already 20 years old – the lead tram. A large queue of passengers wait to board and the photographer has attracted the attention of a girl in the queue.
A head-on view of 822. From the looks on the faces of those by the tram there seems to be a little bit of confusion as to what is going on.
All Photographs by Donald Brooks
Let’s hope these trams escape the ongoing hostilities in the region. I just noticed on the news that a depot in Kharkiv, together with rolling stock, has been badly damaged by shelling. Very sad – but the cost in human suffering is greater still.