The Copenhagen tram system was a

tram A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport are ...

way network in service from 22 October 1863 - 22 April 1972 in and around

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establish ...

. The first lines were horse-drawn trams which were replaced in the 1880s by steam-powered tramways. In the 1890s electrical trams were introduced. The trams were operated by a number of private companies until 1911 when the city took over the operation of most of the system, followed by a full take-over some years later. The system was closed on April 22, 1972 at a time when streetcar systems across Europe and North America were being closed because they were not seen as a modern transportation solution and they were largely replaced by

bus A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a road vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van. It is most commonly used in public transport, but is also in use for cha ...

es and private cars. Copenhagen also had an expanding commuter rail service, the

S-train The S-Bahn is the name of hybrid urban-suburban rail systems serving a metropolitan region in German-speaking countries. Some of the larger S-Bahn systems provide service similar to rapid transit systems, while smaller ones often resemble c ...

, which had expanded greatly over the preceding decades. Teddy Østerlin Koch has since argued that the removal of the trams was a mistake, as modernised trams were more economical than reported in the city's evaluations of the time, and that an updated tram system would have been cheaper, more timely, better for the environment, and more effective at transporting large volumes of passengers than the solutions eventually implemented: building a

Copenhagen metro The Copenhagen Metro ( da, Københavns Metro, ) is a 24/7 rapid transit system in Copenhagen, Denmark, serving the municipalities of Copenhagen, Frederiksberg, and Tårnby. The original system opened in October 2002, serving nine stations on t ...

(opened 30 years after closure of tram system) and expanding the bus network.

Future developments

After a 40-year absence, plans are now underway to build a new light rail line in Copenhagen between Lundtofte and

Ishøj Ishøj is a Danish town with a population of 20,017 (1 January 2015).Transport in Copenhagen Transport in Copenhagen and the surrounding area relies on a well established infrastructure making it a hub in Northern Europe thanks to its road and rail networks as well as its international airport. Thanks to its many cycle tracks, Copenhagen ...

History of trams The history of trams, streetcars, or trolleys began in the early nineteenth century. It can be divided up into several discrete periods defined by the principal means of motive power used. Horse-drawn The world's first passenger tram was ...

* Kjøbenhavns Sporvei-Selskab

References

External links

Danish tram museumTram Travels: Københavns Sporveje (KS)
Rail transport in Copenhagen Tram transport in Denmark

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