Lwow tram, Poland

At the time of this postcard the Austro-Hungarian Empire was still in existence - after WW1 the state of Poland was re-established.  In 1939 the eastern half of Poland was grabbed by Stalin and Lwow was made part of the Ukraine, renamed Lviv, which it still is.  In German, Lwow is called Lemberg and in French, Leopolis (Latin for City of the Lion). For more, see the book Seeds in the Storm.

The tramway system is metre-gauge and was created as a horse-drawn operation in 1880, electrified in 1908.

After WW2 most of the tramway infrastructure was preserved, although many tram stops were removed and today the average distance between stops is more than 2 km. Lines were closed in the 1950s - 1970s, however, in 1988 the first fast tram (now operated on lines 3 and 5) was established. Since then no extensions to the tram network have been built, however, various extensions have been planned.

Today the Lviv tramway operates 9 lines on 75 km of tracks with approximately 220 cars. Previously in bad condition, many tracks were reconstructed in 2006, and even more are to be reconstructed. Most of the trams are the KT4 type, produced by Czech ČKD Tatra Works. Older T4+T4 trams operate only on the second line. Pre-war Gothaer Waggonfabrik cars, which were built after 1910, are only used for maintenance and utility purposes. Recently Lviv acquired 20 overhauled and modernised KT4 trams previously used in German cities Erfurt and Gera, with them being the first new tramcar purchase since the independence of Ukraine in 1991.