__NOTOC__ The Tramway de Versailles or ''Tramway Versaillais'' was a standard gauge

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 system serving the French city of

Versailles The Palace of Versailles ( ; french: Château de Versailles ) is a former royal residence built by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, about west of Paris, France. The palace is owned by the French Republic and since 1995 has been managed, ...

. The first lines opened in 1896 and served: * Square Duplessis – Grandchamps * la

Rive Droite The Rive Droite (, ''Right Bank'') is most commonly associated with the river Seine in central Paris. Here, the river flows roughly westwards, cutting the city into two parts. When facing downstream, the northern bank is to the right, and the sou ...

– Sénat * la

Rive Gauche The Rive Gauche (, ''Left Bank'') is the southern bank of the river Seine in Paris. Here the river flows roughly westward, cutting the city in two parts. When facing downstream, the southern bank is to the left, and the northern bank (or ''Rive D ...

– Chambre Députés. The first modernisation was the opening of a steam tram between Versailles and

Saint-Cyr-l'École Saint-Cyr-l'École () is a commune in the western suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris. It used to host the training school for officers of the French army, the École spéciale militaire de Saint-Cyr (ESM), which w ...

on 20 November 1889. The second happened in October 1895 when the SVTE (''Société Versaillaise de Tramways électriques'') took over the network, electrified it and purchased 29 electric tramways from the Postel-Vinay works. The network went from three to six lines and served: * Line A: Glatigny – Granchamp * Line B: Clagny – Orangerie * Line C: Le Chesnay – Chantiers * Line D: Square Jean Houdon – Montreuil * Line E:

– Trianon * Line F:

– St Cyr In 1907, line C was extended to Porchefontaine and line D to République. During the 1950s the network was formed only of lines A, B, C and E. It was seriously amputated at the dawn of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

and closed on 3 March 1957 during a glorious celebration with 200 000 inhabitants, the mayor of Versailles, Maurice Chevalier and the

baptism Baptism (from grc-x-koine, βάπτισμα, váptisma) is a form of ritual purification—a characteristic of many religions throughout time and geography. In Christianity, it is a Christian sacrament of initiation and adoption, almost ...

of the replacing

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.

Rolling stock

* Horse-drawn trams. * 29 electric Postel-Vinay tramcars (1896), transformed in 1922 and renumbered 1 to 9. They were open-ended and painted in yellow and white. the tramcars were staffed by two men, a wattman, who drove the trams, and a ticket inspector, who was in charge of collecting fares, the trolley pole and point levers. The tramcars were modernised after

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

and their open ends closed as well as the replacing of the two motors by one more powerful. * 2 Carde double-decker tramcars (1908). * 4 large capacity tramcars (1927), numbered 53 to 56 and capable of transporting 55 seated passengers. * 1 modern Satramo tramcars (1930). * 11 transformed Postel-Vinay tramcars in 1933, numbered 10 to 20. The tramcars received their definite livery in the 1940s and were painted in blue and light grey.

Tramcars in preservation

Tramcar n°1 is preserved at the AMTUIR in Saint-Mandé. It was the first tram "rescued" by the museum on 16 March 1957. It was acquired by the museum from EDF thanks to contributions by amateurs.

References

* Histoire des Transports dans le Villes de France – Jean ROBERT.

External links

*
Tramcar 1 in preservation
{{France Metro Tramway

Tramway