60 years ago, the legendary Tatra T3 tram hit the streets of Prague for the first time iRADIO
Exactly 60 years ago, the Transport Company hl. m of Prague, the legendary Tatra tram type T3 is in operation for the first time. Even with technical modifications, it still roams the streets of Prague in high numbers. In 1962, the rounded T3 cars with innovative chassis were a design and technical revolution in the operation of urban public transport.
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Unmistakable round lights and rounded shapes, cars of the T3 series are familiar to generations of travelers not only in Prague and other cities here, but also abroad. The introduction into Prague traffic in 1962 was a big change.
“T3 was certainly timeless anyway, the shape solution was designed by artist František Kardaus. It was to enable him to create a relatively avant-garde solution using laminate fronts, which in turn includes larger windows and more interesting shaping of the car,” explains the head of the Dopravní podniku hl. m Prague Robert Mára.
The technical possibilities also manifested themselves in operation. “They were ground-breaking cars, they had high acceleration and deceleration, the dynamic parameters were an order of magnitude better than those of the old two-axle trains, so the traffic speeded up quite substantially,” he adds.
T3 cars still on the streets
The advanced technical solution allows the modified T3 trams to still be used in operation even after sixty years.
“It was possible to continuously modernize, improve the electrical equipment, the interior for passengers, while maintaining the original appearance. Prague currently has around 350 cars of the T3R.P series, which we still see on the streets today.”
Were it not for the requirements for barrier-free access, T3 cars could be a regular and majority part of Prague public transport.
The only problem is the stairs
“From a technical point of view, they are certainly fine, and I think that if we didn’t have a problem with the low floor, they could be here for decades. That car only needs to be serviced once every four years, otherwise it is a maintenance-free tram,” praises David Dienstbier, head of the car repair shop.
The Tatra factory in Smích produced about 14,000 cars of the T3 series, which was a world record at the time. At the time of the biggest sales, even a thousand vehicles were produced per year.
“Prague received roughly 1,200 cars, for Czechoslovakia it could have been a little over 2,000 cars. The rest went mainly to the Soviet Union, then the German Democratic Republic, Yugoslavia took a lot,” calculates Robert Mara. According to him, T3 cars still run regularly outside the Czechia, mainly in Russia and Ukraine.
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