Tram: Difference between revisions

A '''tram''' (calledalso known as a '''streetcar''' or '''trolley''' in the [[United States of America|United States]] and [[Canada]]) is a type of [[urban rail transit]] consisting of a [[rail vehiclevehicles]], either individual [[railcar]]s or self-propelled [[trainTrain|trains]]s coupled by ainto [[multipleMultiple unit|multiple units]], that runsrun on [[tramway track]]s on urban public streets; some include segments on segregated [[Right-of-way (property access)|right-of-way]].<ref>{{cite web|title=tram – definition|url=https://www.thefreedictionary.com/tram|work=The Free Dictionary|access-date=19 February 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tram|title=Tram – Definition and More from the Free Merriam-Webster Dictionary|work=merriam-webster.com|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150409061036/http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tram|archive-date=9 April 2015}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=January 1, 2018 |title=Streetcars vs LRT |url=http://www.edmonton-radial-railway.ab.ca/learn/streetcarsversuslrt/ |access-date=June 17, 2022 |website=Edmonton Radial Railway Society}}</ref><!-- TramsThe aretramlines notor trains;tram thenetworks twooperated termsas mean[[public verytransport]] differentare things.called Atramways tram/streetcaror issimply atrams/streetcars. typeTrams ofare rollingnow stock,commonly whereasincluded trainsin arethe composedwider ofterm multiple''[[light rail]]'',<ref>Collins vehiclesEnglish connectedDictionary together.– -->Complete Theand tramlinesUnabridged, or12th networksEdition operated2014 as© [[publicHarperCollins transport]]Publishers are1991, called1994, tramways1998, or2000, simply2003, trams/streetcars.2006, Many2007, recently2009, built2011, tramways2014</ref> usewhich thealso contemporary termincludes [[light railgrade-separated]] systems.

Tram vehicles are usually lighter and shorter than [[Main line (railway)|main line]] and [[rapid transit]] trains. Today, most trams use electrical power, usually fed by a [[Pantograph (transport)|pantograph]] sliding on an [[overhead line]]; older systems may use a [[trolley pole]] or a [[bow collector]]. In some cases, a [[contact shoe]] on a [[third rail]] is used. If necessary, they may have dual power systems—electricity in city streets and diesel in more rural environments. Occasionally, trams also carry [[freight (rail)|freight]]. Trams are now commonly included in the wider term "[[light rail]]",<ref>Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014</ref> which also includes [[grade-separated]] systems. Some trams, known as [[tram-train]]s, may have segments that run on mainline railway tracks, similar to [[interurban]] systems. The differences between these modes of rail transport are often indistinct and a given system may combine multiple features.[[File:Melbourne Tram E-Class 6007.jpg|thumb|[[E-class Melbourne tram|Melbourne E-Class Tram]]. The [[Trams in Melbourne|Melbourne tram network]] is the largest in the world, with {{convert|250|km|mi|abbr=on}} of track.]]One of the advantages over earlier forms of transit was the low [[rolling resistance]] of metal wheels on [[steel]] rails, allowing the trams to haul a greater load for a given effort. Another factor which contributed to the rise of trams was the high [[total cost of ownership]] of horses. Electric trams largely replaced animal power in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Improvements in other vehicles such as [[bus]]es led to decline of trams in the mid 20th century. However, trams have seen resurgence insince recentthe years1990s.

The history of passenger trams, streetcars and trolley systems, began in the early nineteenth century. It can be divided into several distinct periods defined by the principal means of power used. Precursors to the tramway included the wooden or stone [[wagonway]]s that were used in central Europe to transport [[mine cart]]s with unflanged wheels since the 1500s, and the paved limestone trackways designed by the Romans for heavy horse and ox-drawn transportation. By the 1700s, paved [[plateway]]s with [[cast iron]] rails were introduced in England for transporting coal, stone or iron ore from the mines to the urban factories and docks. The [[Swansea and Mumbles Railway]] (see below) originally operated as an [[industrial tramway]] from 1804-07.

Street railways developed in America before Europe, largely due to the poor [[Road surface|paving]] of the streets in American cities which made them unsuitable for [[horsebus]]es, which were then common on the well-paved streets of European cities. Running the horsecars on rails allowed for a much smoother ride. There are records of a street railway running in [[Baltimore]] as early as 1828, however the first authenticated streetcar in America, was the [[New York and Harlem Railroad]] developed by the Irish coach builder [[John Stephenson (coachbuilder)|John Stephenson]], in New York City which began service in the year 1832.{{sfn|Dunbar|1967|pp=16–17}}<ref>[{{cite web |url=http://www.midcontinent.org/rollingstock/builders/stephenson1.htm |title=The John Stephenson Car Co]. Retrieved |access-date=25 February 2009. |publisher=[[Mid-Continent Railway Museum]] }}</ref> The New York and Harlem Railroad's [[Fourth Avenue Line (Manhattan surface)|Fourth Avenue Line]] ran along the [[Bowery]] and [[Fourth Avenue (Manhattan)|Fourth Avenue]] in New York City. It was followed in 1835 by the [[New Orleans and Carrollton Railroad]] in [[New Orleans, Louisiana]],{{sfn|Dunbar|1967|p=18}} which still operates as the [[St. Charles Streetcar Line]]. Other American cities did not follow until the 1850s, after which the "animal railway" became an increasingly common feature in the larger towns.{{sfn|Dunbar|1967|p=18}}

Horsecars were largely replaced by electric-powered trams following the improvement of an overhead trolley system on trams for collecting electricity from [[overhead wire]]s by [[Frank J. Sprague]]. His spring-loaded [[trolley pole]] used a wheel to travel along the wire. In late 1887 and early 1888, using his trolley system, Sprague installed the first successful large electric street railway system in [[Richmond, Virginia]]. Within a year, the economy of electric power had replaced more costly horsecars in many cities. By 1889, 110 electric railways incorporating Sprague's equipment had been begun or planned on several continents.<ref name="siemens.com">{{cite web |url=http://www.siemens.com/history/en/innovations/transportation.htm |title=Transportation Technology |website=www.siemens.com |access-date=21 January 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160729124510/https://www.siemens.com/history/en/innovations/transportation.htm |archive-date=29 July 2016 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

Horses continued to be used for light shunting well into the 20th century, and many large metropolitan lines lasted into the early 20th century. New York City had a regular horsecar service on the [[Bleecker Street Line]] until its closure in 1917.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cable-car-guy.com/html/ccmiscnpart.html#nylasthc|title=The Cable Car Home Page – Miscellaneous Newspaper Articles|website=www.cable-car-guy.com}}</ref> [[Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania]], had its Sarah Street line drawn by horses until 1923. The last regular mule-drawn cars in the US ran in [[Sulphur Rock, Arkansas]], until 1926 and were commemorated by a [[U.S. postage stamp]] issued in 1983.<ref name="encyclopediaofarkansas">{{cite web |url=http://www.encyclopediaofarkansas.net/encyclopedia/entry-detail.aspx?entryID=3727 |title=Sulphur Rock Street Car; |website=Encyclopedia of Arkansas History & Culture |access-date=2008-12-23}}</ref> The last mule tram service in [[Mexico City]] ended in 1932, and a mule tram in [[Celaya, Mexico]], survived until 1954.<ref name="morrison_celaya">{{cite web |url=http://www.tramz.com/mx/ce/ce.html |title=The Indomitable Tramways of Celaya |authorfirst=Allen |last=Morrison |access-date=2008-12-22}}</ref> The last horse-drawn tram to be withdrawn from public service in the UK took passengers from [[Fintona]] railway station to Fintona Junction one mile away on the main Omagh to Enniskillen railway in Northern Ireland. The tram made its last journey on 30 September 1957 when the Omagh to Enniskillen line closed. The "van" now lies at the Ulster Transport Museum.

The world's first electric tram line operated in [[Sestroretsk]] near [[Saint Petersburg]] invented and tested by inventor [[Fyodor Pirotsky]] in 1875.<ref>C. N. {{harvnb|Pyrgidis. Railway Transportation Systems: Design, Construction and Operation. CRC Press, |2016. P. |p=156}}</ref><ref>Ye. N. {{harvnb|Petrova. St. Petersburg in Focus: Photographers of the Turn of the Century; in Celebration of the Tercentenary of St. Petersburg. Palace Ed., |2003. P. |p=12}}</ref> Later, using a similar technology, Pirotsky put into service the first public electric tramway in St. Petersburg, which operated only during September 1880.<ref name="guarnieri 1">{{Cite journal|last=Guarnieri|first=M.|year=2020|title=Electric tramways of the 19th century|journal=IEEE Industrial Electronics Magazine|volume=14|issue=1|pages=71–77|doi=10.1109/MIE.2020.2966810|hdl=11577/3340486 |s2cid=214624057|hdl-access=free}}</ref>

The first electric tramway in Australia was a Sprague system demonstrated at the 1888 [[Melbourne Centennial Exhibition]] in [[Trams in Melbourne|Melbourne]]; afterwards, this was installed as a commercial venture operating between the outer Melbourne suburb of [[Box Hill, Victoria|Box Hill]] and the then tourist-oriented country town [[Doncaster, Victoria|Doncaster]] from 1889 to 1896.<ref>{{harvnb|Green|1989}}{{page needed|date=June 2024}}</ref> As well, electric systems were built in [[Trams in Adelaide|Adelaide]], [[Trams in Ballarat|Ballarat]], [[Trams in Bendigo|Bendigo]], [[Trams in Brisbane|Brisbane]], [[Trams in Fremantle|Fremantle]], [[Trams in Geelong|Geelong]], [[Trams in Hobart|Hobart]], [[Trams in Kalgoorlie|Kalgoorlie]], [[Trams in Launceston|Launceston]], [[Leonora, Western Australia|Leonora]], [[Trams in Newcastle, New South Wales|Newcastle]], [[Trams in Perth|Perth]], and [[Trams in Sydney|Sydney]].

In Japan, the Kyoto Electric railroad was the first tram system, starting operation in 1895.<ref>[http://www.city.kyoto.jp/koho/eng/historical/first/04.html Kyoto Tram from Kyoto City Web]. Retrieved 12 February 2009.</ref> By 1932, the network had grown to 82 railway companies in 65 cities, with a total network length of {{convert|1479|km|mi|abbr=on}}.<ref>[{{cite newsletter |url=http://www.japanfs.org/en/mailmagazine/newsletter/pages/027840.html |title=The Rebirth of Trams from the |magazine=JFS Newsletter, |date=December 2007]. Retrieved |access-date=12 February 2009.}}</ref> By the 1960s the tram had generally died out in Japan.<ref>{{harvnb|Freedman|2011|p=6}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.japanfs.org/en/news/archives/news_id027840.html|title=The Rebirth of Trams: The Promise of Light Railway Transit (LRT)|access-date=19 April 2020}}</ref>

[[File:Recharge d'un tram à accumulateur TPDS à Pont de Puteaux.jpg|thumb|Recharging battery-powered trams of [[:fr:Compagnie des tramways de Paris et du département de la Seine|Paris and Seine Tramway Company]], Pont de Puteaux, Paris, late 1890s]] As early as 1834, [[Thomas Davenport (inventor)|Thomas Davenport]], a Vermont blacksmith, had invented a battery-powered electric motor which he later patented. The following year he used it to operate a small model electric car on a short section of track four feet in diameter.<ref>{{harvnb|Nye|1992|p=86}}</ref><ref>[{{cite web |url=http://chem.ch.huji.ac.il/history/davenport.html |title=Thomas Davenport from |publisher=the Hebrew University of Jerusalem] {{webarchive|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081016141835/http://chem.ch.huji.ac.il/history/davenport.html |archive-date=16 October 2008 }}. Retrieved |access-date=14 February 2009.}}</ref>

The Convict Tramway<ref name="The Sydney Morning Herald - 8 February 2014 - Taranna - Tasmania">{{cite news |url=http://www.smh.com.au/news/Tasmania/Taranna/2005/02/17/1108500205988.html |title=Taranna – Tasmania |date=8 February 2014 |work=[[The Sydney Morning Herald]] |publisher=[[Fairfax Media]] |access-date=23 February 2018}}</ref> was hauled by human power in the form of convicts from the [[Port Arthur, Tasmania|Port Arthur]] convict settlement.<ref name="Tasman Council - Local History - History of the Tasman Peninsula">{{cite web|url=http://www.tasman.tas.gov.au/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=119&Itemid=592|title=Local History – History of the Tasman Peninsula|publisher=[[Tasman Council]]|access-date=4 July 2015}}</ref> and was created to replace the hazardous sea voyage from [[Hobart]] to [[Port Arthur, Tasmania]].<ref name="UNESCO - Port Arthur Historic Sites Statutory Management Plan 2008 - page 27"/><ref name="The Sydney Morning Herald - 8 February 2014 - Taranna - Tasmania"/> [[Charles O'Hara Booth]] oversaw the construction of the tramway.<ref name="The Fatal Shore - pages 407-408">{{harvnb|Hughes|1987|pp=407–408}}</ref>

It opened in 1836 and ran for {{convert|8|km|mi|abbr=on}} from Oakwood to [[Taranna]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.theage.com.au/news/tasmania/taranna/2005/02/17/1108500205988.html|title=Taranna – Tiny township on the road to Port Arthur|date=8 February 2004|work=[[The Age]]|publisher=[[Fairfax Media]]|access-date=4 July 2015}}</ref> By most definitions, the tramway was the first passenger-carrying railway/tramway in Australia.<ref name="UNESCO - Port Arthur Historic Sites Statutory Management Plan 2008 - page 27">{{cite web|url=https://whc.unesco.org/document/105335|title=Port Arthur Historic Sites Statutory Management Plan 2008|publisher=[[UNESCO]]|access-date=5 July 2015}}</ref> An unconfirmed report says that it continued to [[Eaglehawk Neck]] and, if this was so, the length of the tramway would have been more than doubled. The tramway carried passengers and freight, and ran on wooden rails. The gauge is unknown. The date of closure is unknown, but it was certainly prior to 1877.<ref>{{cite map |first=John |last=Yonge, ''|title=Australian Railway Atlas: No.1 -Tasmania'', |publisher=Quail Map Company, |place=Exeter U.K., |date=2004}}</ref>

[[File:2022 09 14 Hannings & Kahl point-setting system, Amsterdam CS.jpg|thumb|A 3-way Hanning & Kahl point-setting system at [[Amsterdam Centraal station]]. It automatically sends trams arriving at stand A to the correct platform. The indicator on the right displays "Lijn 24, Spoor 4". The points are accordingly set to send the next tram, on route 24 to De Boelelaan/VU, into the platform 4 on the left. Meanwhile a tram 4 to RAI waits at platform 2.]]Where tracks diverge, the driver chooses the route, usually either by flicking a switch on the dashboard or by use of the power pedal – generally if power is applied the tram goes straight on, whereas if no power is applied the tram turns. Some systems use automatic point-setting systems, where the route for each journey is downloaded from a central computer, and an onboard computer actuates each point as it comes to it via an [[induction loop]]. Such is the case at [[Manchester Metrolink]].<ref>{{cite magazine |first=David |last=Bickell, '|title=Signalling Metrolink', ''|magazine=Rail Engineer'' |number=122, |date=2 December 2014: |url=https://www.railengineer.co.uk/signalling-metrolink/}}</ref> If the powered system breaks down, most points may be operated manually, by inserting a metal lever ('point iron') into the [[point machine]].

* The opening of new tram and light rail systems has sometimes been accompanied by a marked increase in car accidents, as a result of drivers' unfamiliarity with the physics and [[Track geometry|geometry]] of trams.<ref>Charles S. {{harvnb|McCaleb, ''Rails, Roads & Runways: The 20-Year Saga of Santa Clara County's Transportation Agency'', (San Jose: Santa Clara County Transportation Agency, |1994), |p=67.}} Besides recounting statistics and anecdotes, this source also reprints a ''[[San Jose Mercury News]]'' cartoon of one such accident, in which a bemused tow truck driver quips, "Dang! [[Rod Diridon, Sr.|Rod Diridon]] was right! The trolley does reduce the number of vehicles on the road!"</ref> Though such increases may be temporary, long-term conflicts between motorists and light rail operations can be alleviated by segregating their respective rights-of-way and installing appropriate signage and warning systems.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://trb.org/news/blurb_detail.asp?id=2536 |title=Light Rail Service: Pedestrian and Vehicular Safety &#124; Blurbs &#124; Main |publisher=Trb.org |date=2014-03-30 |access-date=2015-03-08 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080601181812/http://trb.org/news/blurb_detail.asp?id=2536 |archive-date=1 June 2008}}</ref>

Trams are in a period of growth, with about 800 tram systems operating around the world, 10 or so new systems being opened each year, and many being gradually extended.<ref>''{{Cite magazine |last=Claydon |first=Geoffry |title=80 Years of the LRTA |magazine=Tramways and Urban Transit'' No. |number=956, |date=August 2017, p. |page=301}}</ref> Some of these systems date from the late 19th or early 20th centuries. In the past 20 years their numbers have been augmented by modern tramway or light rail systems in cities that had discarded this form of transport. There have also been some new tram systems in cities that never previously had them.

''Tramways with tramcars'' ([[British English]]) or ''street railways with streetcars'' ([[North American English]]) were common throughout the industrialised world in the late 19th and early 20th centuries but they had disappeared from most British, Canadian, French and US cities by the mid-20th century.<ref>[{{cite magazine |url=http://lda.ucdavis.edu/LDA191/Course%20Handouts%20&%20Readings/08-ULI_Streetcars.pdf |first=Jeffrey |last=Spivak: |title=Streetcars are back from|magazine=Urban Land |date=January 2008 |pages=108–110 |via=Landscape Architecture Department, UC Davis] {{webarchive|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090225095245/http://lda.ucdavis.edu/LDA191/Course%20Handouts%20%26%20Readings/08-ULI_Streetcars.pdf |archive-date=25 February 2009 }}. Retrieved |access-date=10 February 2009. ucdavis.edu}}</ref>

Historically, the [[Tramways in Île-de-France|Paris Tram System]] was, at its peak, the world's largest system, with {{convert|1111|km|mi|abbr=on}} of track in 1925{{citation needed|date=December 2019}} (according to other sources, ca. {{convert|640|km|abbr=on}} of route length in 1930). However it was completely closed in 1938.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tundria.com/trams/FRA/Paris-1930.shtml|title=Paris 1930|first=Gabor|last=Sandi|access-date=12 March 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170806062045/http://www.tundria.com/trams/FRA/Paris-1930.shtml|archive-date=6 August 2017}}</ref> The next largest system appears to have been {{convert|857|km|abbr=on}}, in [[#South America|Buenos Aires]] before 19 February 1963. The third largest was Chicago, with over {{convert|850|km|abbr=on}} of track,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.shore-line.org/CSL.html|title=Welcome to the Shore Line Interurban Historical Society &#124; Chicago Surface Lines|publisher=Shore-line.org|access-date=2015-03-08|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402094714/http://www.shore-line.org/CSL.html|archive-date=2 April 2015}}</ref> but it was all converted to [[trolleybus]] and bus services by 21 June 1958. Before its decline, the [[Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe|BVG]] in Berlin operated a very large network with {{convert|634|km|abbr=on}} of route. Before its system started to be converted to trolleybus (and later bus) services in the 1930s (last tramway closed 6 July 1952), the first-generation London network had {{convert|555|km|mi|0|abbr=on}} of route in 1931.<ref>{{Cite report |publisher=London Passenger Transport Board: |title=Annual Report, |date=1938}}</ref> In 1958 trams in Rio de Jainero were employed on ({{convert|433|km|mi|abbr=on|disp=semicolon}}) of track. The final line, the [[Santa Teresa Tram|Santa Teresa route]] was closed in 1968.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tundria.com/trams/BRA/Rio-1958.shtml|title=Rio de Janeiro 1958|first=Gabor|last=Sandi|access-date=12 March 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170806064020/http://www.tundria.com/trams/BRA/Rio-1958.shtml|archive-date=6 August 2017}}</ref> During a period in the 1980s, the world's largest tram system was in [[Trams in Saint Petersburg|Leningrad]] (now known as St. Petersburg) with {{convert|350|km|mi|abbr=on}}, USSR, and was included as such in the [[Guinness World Records]];{{citation needed|date=December 2019}} however Saint Petersburg's tram system has declined in size since the fall of the Soviet Union. [[Vienna]] in 1960 had {{convert|340|km|mi|0|abbr=on}}, before the expansion of bus services and the opening of a subway (1976). Substituting subway services for tram routes continues. {{convert|320|km|mi|0|abbr=on}} was in [[Minneapolis–Saint Paul]] in 1947: There streetcars ended 31 October 1953 in Minneapolis and 19 June 1954 in St. Paul.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tundria.com/trams/USA/Minneapolis-St.Paul-1947.shtml|title=Minneapolis – St. Paul 1947|first=Gabor|last=Sandi|access-date=12 March 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170319062538/http://www.tundria.com/trams/USA/Minneapolis-St.Paul-1947.shtml|archive-date=19 March 2017}}</ref> The [[Trams in Sydney|Sydney tram network]], before it was closed on 25 February 1961, had {{convert|291|km|abbr=on}} of route, and was thus the largest in Australia. As from 1961, the Melbourne system (currently recognised as the world's largest) took over Sydney's title as the largest network in Australia.

Urban public transportation has been experiencing a sustained revival since the 1990s. Many European cities are rehabilitating, upgrading, expanding and reconstructing their old tramway lines and building new tramway lines.<ref>{{cite report |publisher=SCI/Verkehr, |title=Light Rail Vehicles, Worldwide rail market report, Oct|date=October 2003}}</ref> In 2014, the [[Aubagne tramway]] in [[Southern France]] became the first tram system in the world [[Free public transport|not to charge fares]].<ref>{{cite web| url=http://carfree.fr/index.php/2011/07/06/aubagne-aura-le-premier-tramway-au-monde-entierement-gratuit/| title=Aubagne aura le premier tramway au monde entièrement gratuit!| last=Robert| first=Marcel| date=2011-07-06| website=carfree.fr| language=fr-FR| access-date=2020-04-21}}</ref>

In the UK, most of the old Victorian era tramways were decommissioned from the 1950s-70s and replaced by buses. The exceptions were [[Blackpool Tramway]], opened in 1885 and one of the few tramways to still use [[English Electric Balloon|double decker trams]] in the 21st century, and [[Great Orme Tramway]] which has operated at [[Llandudno]] since 1902.<ref>[{{cite web |url=https://www.blackpooltransport.com/heritage-tram-tours |title=Blackpool heritage trams] |publisher=Blackpool Transport}}</ref>

Many decommissioned trams have preserved at [[transport museum]]s and [[heritage railway]]s. The first of these was [[Seaton Tramway]], which opened at its current site in 1971 but dates back to 1949. Other notable preserved tramways include [[Crich Tramway]] (opened 1963), [[East Anglia Transport Museum]] (opened 1965), [[Heaton Tramway]] (opened 1979), [[Telford steam tram]] (opened 1980), and [[Wirral Tramway]] (opened 1995). Additionally, [[Beamish Museum]] has reconstructed a turn of the century tramway using original rails and preserved tramcars.<ref>[{{cite web |url=https://www.beamish.org.uk/news/a-new-addition-to-beamishs-tramway-fleet/ |title=New addition to Beamish tram fleet] |date=25 January 2024}}</ref>

* The railway into the centre of [[Newcastle railway line|Newcastle]] was truncated at [[Wickham railway station, New South Wales|Wickham]] on 25 December 2014,<ref>[{{cite news |url=https://www.newcastleherald.com.au/story/2784964/last-train-leaves-newcastle-station-video/?cs=303 |title=Last train leaves Newcastle station] {{webarchive|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141225213501/http://www.theherald.com.au/story/2784964/last-train-leaves-newcastle-station-video/?cs=303 |archive-date=25 December 2014 }} ''|newspaper=[[Newcastle Herald]]'' |date=26 December 2014}}</ref><ref>[{{cite press release |url=http://www.transport.nsw.gov.au/media-releases/new-era-newcastle |title=New era for Newcastle] {{webarchive|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141226093545/http://www.transport.nsw.gov.au/media-releases/new-era-newcastle |archive-date=26 December 2014 }} |publisher=Transport for NSW |date=26 December 2014.}}</ref> and the railway line was replaced by the [[Newcastle Light Rail]] line in February 2019.

* The [[Tranvía del Este]] in [[Puerto Madero]], Buenos Aires, operated from 2007 to 2012, and it is now dismantled.<ref>[{{cite news |url=http://www.lanacion.com.ar/2047236-el-tranvia-de-puerto-madero-una-postal-de-la-desidia-que-se-empezo-a-demoler |title=El tranvía de Puerto Madero, una postal de la desidia que se empezó a demoler] by |first=Diego |last=Gabot, ''|publisher=La Nación'', |date=26 July 2017 |language=pt}}</ref>

* Also in the city of [[Mendoza, Argentina|Mendoza]], in [[Argentina]], a new tramway system is currently on service since 2012, the [[Metrotranvía of Mendoza]], which will have a route of {{convert|12.5|km|abbr=on}} and will link five districts of the [[Greater Mendoza]] conurbation.<ref name="taut-dec2012">"{{cite magazine |title=Mendoza light rail service begins" (|date=December 2012). ''|magazine=[[Tramways & Urban Transit]]'', p. |page=451. |publisher=[[Light Rail Transit Association|LRTA Publishing]]. {{|issn|=1460-8324}}.</ref>

The English terms ''tram'' and ''tramway'' are derived from the [[Scots language|Scots]] word {{lang|sco|tram}},<ref>{{cite web|url = https://dsl.ac.uk/entry/dost/tram_n_2 |title = tram, n.² |work = A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue (up to 1700)|publisher = Dictionary of the Scots Language}}</ref> referring respectively to a type of truck ([[goods wagon]] or freight [[railroad car]]) used in [[coal mining|coal mines]] and the tracks on which they ran. The word ''tram'' probably derived from [[Middle Dutch|Middle Flemish]] {{lang |dum|trame}} ("beam, handle of a barrow, bar, rung"). The identical word {{lang|fr|trame}} with the meaning "crossbeam" is also used in the [[French language]]. Etymologists believe that the word ''tram'' refers to the wooden beams the railway tracks were initially made of before the railroad pioneers switched to the much more wear-resistant tracks made of iron and, later, steel.<ref>{{harvnb|Duden-das Herkunftswörterbuch-Etymologie der deutschen Sprache-Mannheim |2001 p859|p=859}}</ref> The word ''Tram-car'' is attested from 1873.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=tram |title=Online Etymology Dictionary |publisher=Etymonline.com |access-date=2015-03-08 |url-status=live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20150510061427/http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=tram |archive-date=10 May 2015}}</ref>

* {{cite book |first=Robert C.Mark |last=PostPetrova |title=UrbanSt. MassPetersburg Transitin Focus: ThePhotographers Lifeof the StoryTurn of athe TechnologyCentury; |url=https://booksin Celebration of the Tercentenary of St.google.com/books?id=lZ6Kke0MZWwC&pg=PA43 |year=2007Petersburg |publisheredition=Greenwood Publishing GroupPalac |isbndate=978-0-313-33916-52003}}