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Trams in Damascus

Damascus tramway
ترامواي دمشق
Rear view of a Damascus tram, circa 1910
Rear view of a Damascus tram, ca. 1910
Operation
LocaleDamascus, Syria
Open1907; 118 years ago (1907)
Close1967; 58 years ago (1967)
Infrastructure
Track gauge1,050 mm (3 ft 5+1132 in)
Propulsion system(s)Electric
Electrification5,500 V AC overhead

The Damascus tramway network served the city of Damascus, Syria from 1907 to 1962. It was the third city in the Arab world to be fitted with a tram network, behind Alexandria and Algiers.[1] It was a radial network, with all routes originating from Marjeh Square.

History

On October 21, 1887 Yusuf Matran submitted a request to obtain a concession for the construction of a tram network in Damascus that the Ottoman Ministry of Trade and Public Works received on November 10. Since Yusuf Matran had held the concession for the construction of the Port of Beirut, he was trusted to handle the project and was awarded a concession for the construction and operation of a horse-drawn tramway in 1889.[2] The concession was designed on a build–operate–transfer model, where the contract itself was 99 years and there were stipulations allowing for a government buyout of the network after at least 30 years. The tramway was to have various radial routes branching from the centrally located Marjeh Square towards the municipalities of Al-Midan and Al-Salihiyah, as well as a line to Douma.[3]

Matran's company (Beirut and Damascus Tramways Company) would inform the government that they wish to abandon the construction of a tramway in Damascus proper and the local administration agreed citing the large population of the city as well as its narrow and winding streets. However, the Imperial Ottoman administration denied the request to abandon the project and specified that the company would bear the responsibility of widening the streets to at least nine meters.[3][2]

On July 30, 1903 the Ottoman government revoked Matran's concession and awarded Muhammed al-Arslan, an Ottoman-Lebanese subject, with a contract for establishing and operation a tramway, electricity, and lighting company in Damascus.[2] Arslan needed to raise about six million francs to secure enough capital to begin construction. He sold each of his company's 12,000 shares at 500 francs each but failed to sell enough shares to begin construction as local wealthy investors were hesitant in investing in electricity.[4] On December 5, 1904 the Belgium Imperial Ottoman Company for Tramways and Electric Lighting of Damascus (French: Société Impériale Ottoman de Tramway et d’éclairage Electrique de Damas, Arabic: الشركة العثمانية السلطانية للتنوير والجر والكهرباء بدمشق) brought a majority share in Arslan's company and became its primary owner.[5][6]

By February 1907 the construction of two lines to Al-Midan and Al-Jisr Al-Abyad (a neighborhood in Al-Salihiyah) both starting at Marjeh Square, was been complete and trams began running along the two lines.

The Ottoman administration indefinitely suspended the operation of all of Damascus' tram services in 1917 during the Arab Revolt. Tram services were reinstated following the 1918 capture of Damascus by Arab and British troops.[7]

Closure

The government began to phase out the network in 1962, removing tram lines and replacing them with diesel buses. The final trams ran in 1967.

Operation

The tram network ran on narrow gauge tracks of 1050 mm[5], the same gauge as the Hejaz railway. Each tram carriage contained three sections, in the front was a first class cabin with leather seats which cost 7.5 Syrian piasters to ride in. The other two were sex-segregated sections, one for men and the other for women, which both featured wooden seats and cost 5 piasters to ride in. Students were eligible for a concessional fare of 2.5 piasters.[8]

The trams on the network featured green and cream livery with the model number of the vehicle written in Eastern Arabic numerals. Unmotorized trailers cars ran exclusively on the route to Douma where they were pulled by a motorized carriage.[9] The trams required up to 5,500 volts, and there were two types of breakage systems used on the network: air brakes and chain brakes.[8] The air brakes were supplied by the Westinghouse Air Brake Company whereas some of the electrical equipment was supplied by Ganz Works.[9]

Routes

By 1961, there were six routes in operation across the network. Route 5 (to Jobar) previously branched southward off from Al-Qassaa to reach Bab Tuma, however following the construction of a new depot in Jobar, the line was diverted to run northward from Al-Qassa to terminate near the depot. By March of 1961, the track had been entirely rerouted but overhead lines remained across the redirected route.

All routes were entirely double-track, except for Route 5 and Route 6 (to Douma) which were double track until the site where the line to Bab Tuma branched from Al-Qassa. After Al-Qassa both routes ran on reserved single-track, however despite this trams took up to an hour to get to Douma due to delays caused by waiting at passing loops.[9]

Route No. Originating Terminating Notes
1 Marjeh Square Al-Midan
2 Marjeh Square Al-Jisr Al-Abyad
3 Marjeh Square Sheikh Muhi ad-Din Branches from Route 2 terminus
4 Marjeh Square Muhajreen Branches from Route 2 terminus
5 Marjeh Square Jobar Splits off from Route 6
6 Marjeh Square Douma Splits off from Route 5.

References

  1. ^ Makki, Danny (6 September 2023). "The Damascus Tramway: A golden age in Syria's modern history". The New Arab. Retrieved 30 September 2025.
  2. ^ a b c Ayar, Mesut (2013). "Osmanlı'da İlk Elektrikli Tramvay ve Şehir Elektriği İşletme: ŞAM' DA ELEKTRİKLİ TRAMVAY VE ŞEHİR AYDINLATMASI" [The First Electric Tramway and Urban Electrification in the Ottoman Empire: THE ELECTRIC TRAMWAY AND URBAN ELECTRIFICATION OF DAMASCUS]. Türk Kültürü İncelemeleri Dergisi (in Turkish) (29): 107–144.
  3. ^ a b Mohammed Awad, Abd Al-Azeez (1969). الادارة العثمانية في ولاية سورية (1864 – 1914) م [The Ottoman Administration in the Vilayet of Syria (1864 – 1914] (in Arabic). Dar Al Maaref. pp. 277–278.
  4. ^ Eilat, Omri (2024-05-03). "Power and light, profit and loss: the establishment and operation of the Damascus Electricity and Tramway Company, 1903-1914". Middle Eastern Studies. 60 (3): 428–443. doi:10.1080/00263206.2023.2211942. ISSN 0026-3206.
  5. ^ a b Kiki, Khaled Omar. "ترام دمشق ... البداية والنهاية" [Damascus' Trams... The Beginning and End]. Al-Arabi (in Arabic). Archived from the original on 29 September 2025. Retrieved 30 September 2025.
  6. ^ Macleod, Donald (2006). Tourism in the Middle East: Continuity, Change, and Transformation. Channel View Publications. pp. 95–110. ISBN 9781845412968. As early as 1904, in Damascus, the "Société Impériale Ottoman de Tramway et d'éclairage Electrique de Damas" was contracted by the Ottoman Government to build tramway lines and to produce and distribute electrical power. In 1907, two lines of 3 km and 2 km were operating and were later extended. In Beirut in 1906, an Ottoman Company had the same type of concession as in Damascus and, as early as 1914, three lines were already operating.
  7. ^ Fletcher, Howard Bowden (10 June 1922). "The Modern Crusade". The Toowoomba Chronicle. p. 3. Retrieved 1 October 2025. The tramway service, which had been stopped by the incapable Turkish Administration in 1917, had resumed by October 5.
  8. ^ a b "الحافلة الكهربائية في دمشق ... الترامواي" [Trolleybuses in Damascus ... The Tramway]. Transport Journal (in Arabic). Ministry of Transport (Syria). 2015. Archived from the original on 3 October 2025. Retrieved 3 October 2025.
  9. ^ a b c Lambley, L. (September 1961). "United Arab Republic: Damascus". The Modern Tramway. 24 (285): 275.
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