Irkutsk celebrates the 65th anniversary of the launch of the first tram in the city

Irkutsk tram marks its history, which began in the postwar years and became an important part of the citys development. The material tells how the first route was built, who took part in launching service, and how the tram network gradually expanded to six routes with a total length of 84.83 kilometers. At a ceremonial event at Irkutskgorlectrotrans, regional government and city administration representatives congratulated employees, and the best were awarded certificates and letters of appreciation.

In connection with this, a ceremonial event dedicated to this occasion was held at the municipal unitary enterprise “Irkutskgorlectrotrans.” On behalf of the Government of the Irkutsk Region, the employees of the tram depot and tram drivers were congratulated by Alexander Trifonov, Deputy Minister of Housing Policy, Energy and Transport of the Irkutsk Region, and on behalf of the Irkutsk administration, by Deputy Mayor Alexander Nikolaev, Chairman of the Committee for Housing and Communal Services. The most deserving were awarded honorary diplomas and letters of appreciation.
The opening of tram service in Irkutsk was preceded by painstaking and extensive work — in 1936, the bridge across the Angara River was put into operation, connecting the left and right parts of the city. However, the plans to launch tram service in those years were thwarted by the war that had begun. The victory of the Soviet people and the start of the restoration of the national economy made it possible to return to the project of building tram lines in the Siberian capital. This was demanded by the city’s public and the development of industry. The Irkutsk tram appeared in the first postwar years.
Two weeks before the victory in the Great Patriotic War, on April 24, 1945, the Council of People’s Commissars of the USSR approved the order to organize tram service in the city of Irkutsk; the cost of the order amounted to 9 million rubles.
Despite the difficulties of the postwar years, the city’s public received this news with great enthusiasm. In 1946, a committee to assist in the construction of the tram was formed, which included representatives of the city authorities, heads of major industrial enterprises, educational and scientific institutions, the construction organization “Irkutskstroy,” and the East Siberian Railway.
The project for the first tram route, “Central Market - Railway Station,” was chosen successfully; the tram tracks were to cross the city center in places convenient for residents. It was planned to build a single-track section 4.5 km long.
That same year, 18 residents of Irkutsk were sent to Kuibyshev to train as tram drivers. The entire city built the first tram route; there was not a single enterprise that did not take part in this truly significant construction project for the city’s residents. Labor collectives and educational institutions held Saturday and Sunday volunteer workdays, and the city’s motor transport enterprises and even Japanese prisoners of war were involved in the construction.
The final work on laying the track bed, installing traffic lights, passing loops, and dead ends was entrusted to the team of the East Siberian Railway. In addition to the tracks, construction began in the city on the depot, repair workshops, administrative building, boiler house, and park tracks on the territory of 5th Sovetskaya Street, with a total area of 35 thousand square meters. The entire work was coordinated by the specialized enterprise “Irkutskstroy.”
On June 20, 1947, by Resolution No. 252 of the City Executive Committee, the municipal enterprise “Irkutsk Tram” was established. On August 3, 1947, the first tram was launched on the single-track section “Central Market - Railway Station” with a length of 4.5 km. Tram service in the city was carried out by four MTB tram cars, donated by workers from Leningrad and prepared for operation in the workshops of the railway at Irkutsk-Passazhirsky station.
The right to open the service and carry passengers was granted to participants of the Great Patriotic War — Ivan Leontyevich Zvonkin, Elena Pavlovna Karbovskaya, and Maria Antonovna Popova.
In December 1947, construction of the tram line on the section “Tram Depot - Railway Station” with a length of 8 km was completed. In 1950, construction of the second track on Route No. 2 “Tram Depot - Railway Station” was completed.
In 1961, in connection with the relocation of the city’s educational institutions from unsuitable premises to new buildings in the Studgorodok neighborhood, Tram Route No. 1 “Tram Depot - Studgorodok” was opened. In 1964, tram tracks were laid along Partizanskaya - Volzhskaya - Deputatskaya streets, and tram service was organized along circular Route No. 3 “Volzhskaya - Central Market.”
In 1968, due to the need to transport workers of the V.V. Kuibyshev plant to and from work from the Predmestye Rabocheye residential area, tracks were built and tram service was organized on Route No. 4 “Central Market - Rabocheye Predmestye.”
In 1983, in connection with the completion of construction of the Solnechny neighborhood, Tram Route No. 5 “Central Market - Solnechny” was opened.
2008. 6 KTM-71-619 cars were purchased.
2010. On the basis of the municipal unitary enterprise “Irkutskgorlectrotrans,” major repairs of tram cars were organized, and the first two cars were repaired.
Today, Irkutsk has 6 tram routes with a total length of 84.83 kilometers.