Trams in

Opatija Opatija (; it, Abbazia; german: Sankt Jakobi) is a List of cities and towns in Croatia, town and a municipality in Primorje-Gorski Kotar County in western Croatia. The traditional seaside resort on the Kvarner Gulf is known for its Mediterranean ...

ran from February 1908 to March 1933, connecting the railway station in

Matulji Matulji ( it, Mattuglie) is a municipality in Primorje-Gorski Kotar County, Croatia. It is located west of the city of Rijeka, north of the town of Opatija, and it borders Slovenia. Municipality There are a total of 11,246 inhabitants in the m ...

with

and

Lovran Lovran ( it, Laurana, german: Lauran) is a village and a municipality in Primorje-Gorski Kotar County, Croatia. It is situated in eastern Istria, on the western coast of the Kvarner Bay with a population of 4,101 in the municipality and 3,336 in th ...

History

The Opatija line was planned in 1892 as a steam driven tramway line from Matulji to

Volosko Volosko (Italian: ''Volosco, Volosca'') is a part of the city of Opatija, located in the Kvarner Gulf in western Croatia. It is located in the north of Opatija, on the road towards Kastav and Rijeka. The toponym ''Volosko'' drives from the nam ...

, however, this concept was not accepted due to complaints by the hotel industry fearing the smoke and noise generated by steam locomotives, which would disturb their guests. The routing of the electric railway on the Matulji - Lovran route began in 1904, and the then Ministry of Railways issued a building permit for its construction in 1907. The concession for building this 12 kilometer long track was issued on February 9, 1906 and the tramway went into operation on February 9, 1908. The tramway line was closed on March 31, 1933, and the next day the public transportation was conducted using Consorzio Intercomunale Servizi Automobilistici Fiume-Abbazia busses. The tracks were removed and taken to

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

by ship from the port of Opatija. The tram cars were sold to

Ljubljana Ljubljana (also known by other historical names) is the capital and largest city of Slovenia. It is the country's cultural, educational, economic, political and administrative center. During antiquity, a Roman city called Emona stood in the are ...

, where they ran and were in use until 1958.

Technical

The line was descending from Matulje at the elevation of 212 meters (650 feet) in Matulji to the lowest 2 meters above sea level. The tram was single-track, and bypasses were built every few kilometers, where there were also stations, of which there were a total of 27. It had 13 locomotives and five passenger cars, and used a voltage of 750 volts of direct current. Although the section from Matulji to Preluk is quite steep, the tram did not use gears to overcome the steepness, but had electromagnetic brakes with quick engagement. The tram ran daily between Matulji and Lovran from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m., departing every 15 to 20 minutes. It started from the railway station in Matulji towards the center of Matulji, its draw was at Preluk, and then went down towards Volosko, Opatija, Ičići, Ika and Lovran. There was a tram stop in front of the town hall, and a big one at that, since trams from opposite directions passed each other there. For this purpose, the otherwise single-track railway was now double-tracked there. The luggage was transported in separate wagons. In the summer they used open wagons to carry the public through Opatija.

Gallery

File:Opatija tram (2).jpg, File:Opatija tram (3).jpg, File:Opatija tram (4).jpg,

References

Sources

Istria on the Internet - Tramways

{{Trams in Croatia