Cities with a certain number of inhabitants sought to have public transport. There was a horse-drawn tram in Vilnius - a horse-drawn carriage on rails. The concession contract for the horse-drawn tram specified that the tram was to operate from 7 a.m. in the morning until 10 o'clock in the evening. It is intended that the wagons will travel at a speed of 12 vartas (about 13 km) per hour. The construction of the Vilnius horse-drawn tram - "konke" - was led by engineer Moisiejus Lazarevičius Liachovskis.
In 1891, the Vilnius City Duma concluded a contract with engineer A. Gorčiakovs, who undertook to build tram lines with his own efforts and received a monopoly right for 35 years. in 1892 he transferred the line construction and monopoly rights to the Russian Urban and Suburban Horse Railway Company. in 1893 June 3 the first tram line "Green bridge - Railway the station" has been completed and solemnly opened. Due to the narrow width of the street, it was decided to divert the route from the Green Bridge to the Railway Station along Jogaila and Pylimo streets. The route ran through the following streets: Zalasias tiltas–Vilniaus St.–Gediminos Ave.–Lukiškių St.–Vasario 16-osios St.–Pamėnkalnis St.–Pylimo St.–Sodų St.–Geležinkelios St. One more route: Maironio st.–Barboros Radvilaitė st.–Katedros st.–Gedimino pr.–Lukiški Square. The route of the third line stretched from Cathedral Square along Antakalnis Street to the city limits, where there was a ferry across the Neris River. This long route operated only in the warm season, from April 1. until October 15 At other times, the route was shorter and ended at the current Antakalnis high school.
in 1893 At the end of Antakalnis, a tram park was built, consisting of 3 stables, two wagon garages, a vegetable garden, warehouses, a forge and an administration office. It operated until the First World War.
Another park in Antakalni was between Smėlios and V. Grybos streets, where there was a lodging place for konke wagons and horses. The nameless cross street that passed through the park received Tramvajų st. a name that has survived to this day.
An average of 28 wagons ran on three routes every day. The company had 122 horses to pull wagons. More than 150 workers serviced the horse tram. 1909 2,6 million people used konke in Vilnius. passengers, one citizen of Vilnius used it an average of 14 times a year. The First World War put an end to the horse-drawn tram. Horses were taken for army use, "konke" wagons stopped running.
A self-propelled tram actually operated in Vilnius, but only on one line.Kathedros aikštė - Antakalnis (Smělynė)" and operated only in 1924-1926. It was launched by Pigutkovskis, an engineer from Vilnius and a member of the Vilnius City Magistrate, who installed old diesel internal combustion engines in several former skate wagons. The improved tram, named "pigutka" in honor of the engineer, began to run through the city streets again. The little wagons that ran from the Cathedral Square to Smělynė (Pośpieszka in Polish) were more of a tourist attraction than a solution to the issue of public transport. According to experts, after repairing sleepers and rails, the journey from Cathedral Square to Smėlynė should have lasted no longer than 10 minutes.
Regular self-propelled tram service began in 1924. on May 25, but the old engines kept breaking down, the wagons quickly wore out, and no one took care of buying new ones. In 1926, the tram directorate dismantled the tracks of all Vilnius trams (both horse-drawn and electric), leveled the pavement, and sold the tram cars to the residents. They installed storerooms in them and kept animals. The city magistrate made the barriers of the Vilnius river out of the rails, which are still standing between the Academy of Fine Arts and the Užupis bridges.
You can read the rules for riding horse-drawn trams and other interesting facts in the book "100 Historical Relics of Vilnius" by Darius Pocevičiaus.
Photo: VilniusGo.lt
Information prepared by: Valdas Selenis, VilniusGo.lt
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