The T3 trams are a legend of rail transport, they still run not only in Prague
Tatra T3 trams belong to the legends of rail transport, during almost four decades, 14,000 of them left the gates of the factory in Smíchov, Prague, and in addition to Czechoslovakia, they were exported to East Germany, Romania, Yugoslavia – and above all to the Soviet Union. The tram, the exterior of which was designed by František Kardaus, first appeared on the streets of Prague in 1961, and the transport company began to put it into regular service on November 21, 1962. In Prague, its modernized operating version still makes up the majority of the vehicle fleet, with more than four of them parked in the garages hundreds.
The roots of “the three”, which can be proud of the title of the most produced tram of all time, need to be sought across the Atlantic, where in the early 1930s the heads of transport companies from all over the USA agreed on a new tram solution.
The concept of PCC (abbreviation of Presidents’ Conference Committee, in Czech Vyboru sjezdu prezdění – i.e. presidents of transport companies) was significantly different from the cars produced at that time: among other things, the tram was supposed to have two rotating two-axle chassis, each with one engine, the driver controls his ride using the so-called accelerator that allows smoother and faster acceleration.
The production of similar trams was considered at ČKD even before the Second World War, but then came the occupation and forced wartime production, and the plans were put to an end for a long time. Work on the project of a new tramway based on the PCC concept began again in 1947, and thanks to the mutual exchange of information, the already nationalized factory received negotiated plans for the electrical equipment from the American company Westinghouse in the late 1930s, and in addition, the licensing rights for the chassis also went to Prague.
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After February 1948, the Americans did not receive the originally promised fees for each product produced, only an initial ten thousand dollar lump sum went to the company managing the rights.
The first tram of the PCC concept – much more subtle from the outside than the American prototype due to the narrower Czech streets – was designated Tatra TI (later T1) and arrived in 1952. Its typical feature was only one headlight in front, often supplemented by the typical red star at the time.
Only less than three hundred trams, nicknamed the “iron” because of their narrow front, were produced until 1958, before they were replaced by the improved tram type T2 (originally TII). Compared to its predecessor, it was lengthened and wider, and its appearance was more reminiscent of the American PCC. “those twos” became a bit frowned upon – because it had a prominent “box” above the windshield to indicate the line number and the final one.
However, the Tatra T2, in contrast to “the one”, which was produced in 133 examples, practically did not make it to the streets of Prague. The capital of Czechoslovakia, also due to the insufficient production capacities of the Smíchov plant, saw only “the three” (it too originally had the designation Roman numeral), in which the designers solved the problem with the excessive weight of the Tatra T2, which was a problem mainly in cities with a neglected rail network.
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The tram received a characteristic front end made of laminate, designed by Kardaus, which is different from the Tatra 603 passenger car.
The T3 trams were presented to the public for the first time in September 1960 at the engineering fair in Brno, and from June of the following year the people of Prague could see the prototype during test runs. “Those threes” were put into sharp operation in the fall of 1962.
From the start of production until 1976, the Prague transport company purchased 892 T3 trams, in the 1980s another 292 slightly modified trams, known as T3SU and T3SUCS, were added. This was based on the design for the Soviet Union, which over the years took over 11,000 trams produced in the Smíchov factory, two thousand of which went to Moscow alone and almost a thousand to Kyiv.
In Prague, the Tartra T3 trams first ran on line number 4, i.e. from Zlíchov to Hostivař. Over time, other routes were added, in May 1974 the T3 trams definitively replaced their two-axle predecessors. At first, unlike the older two-axle trams, when the motor car was followed by up to two tractors, they only ran solo, and they began to be used in typical two-car sets in the summer of 1964.
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And because common control had not yet been resolved at that time, in addition to the conductor (they only started to disappear in the early 1970s, definitively with the opening of the subway in May 1974), the driver also rode in the back, who was only responsible for controlling the doors, lighting and giving signals colleagues ahead.
The last classic Prague T3 entered regular service in the fall of 2011, but modified variants marked T3M and T3R.P, as well as a slightly extended version T3R.PLF, which has a low-floor middle section, are still in use today.
They have an irreplaceable place in the fleet of the Prague transport company, and unlike the more modern angular Tatra T6 trams, which DPP retired last June after 25 years of operation, they still have many years of service ahead of them, DPP wants to include them in 2030 at the earliest. Only typical laminate passengers can only enjoy the seats on retro line 23, plastic is replaced in the modernized cars.