Daugavpils Tramway

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A KTM-31 tram in Daugavpils

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RVR-6 tram

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Lines and final stops of the tram system

Daugavpils Tramway (Latvian: Daugavpils tramvajs), the tram system of the Latvian town of Daugavpils, was opened on 5 November 1946 with a Russian broad-gauge trackage of 1,524 mm (5 ft). An uncommon characteristic of this system is the use of trolley poles for current collection. The system is operated by the municipal public transport company "Daugavpils satiksme", which was known as a/s "Tramvaju uzņēmums" (English: Tramway enterprise JSC) before 1 January 2014 when it took over the city's bus services from SIA "Daugavpils autobusu parks".

A second line through the town was opened in 1950, and was extended in 1951 and 1958. Further extensions followed in 1965 and 1990. The tram system comprises approximately 25 kilometers of track and three tram lines. The tramway system is supplemented by a larger system of urban bus lines.

The rolling stock comprises vehicles of the type RVR-6 built in Riga (Latvia) and KTM-5 and KTM-8 built in Ust-Katav (Russia). In 2002, 12 Czech tram cars of type T3D were purchased secondhand from the German tram system in Schwerin. In 2013 a contract was signed to purchase 12 new Belarusian Belkommunmash trams as part of an infrastructure renovation project. The new trams were expected to arrive in Daugavpils in August and to start running not earlier than October. However the contract was cancelled.

The Russian-made UKVZ KTM-model trams were purchased in March 2014. In September eight partially low-floor 71-623 trams and four low floor 71-631 trams were delivered.

External links

• Official website of the tram company (Latvian) (Russian)
• Daugavpils on public-transport.net