Donetsk, Feb 28 — DAN. Mariupol authorities plan to launch tram service in the beginning of May to time the event with the 90th anniversary of the city tram system. The tram service has not operated since February 2022 due to considerable damage to its infrastructure.
Donetsk News Agency correspondents visited the Mariupol Tram Depot to see the preparations to relaunch the rail transit system. As of early 2022, the city had 70 tram cars; of those 36 were fully destroyed during hostilities. Overhead wires and tramway tracks also took much damage.
Tram Depot engineers and specialists from St Petersburg have repaired 20 tram cars; another 14 are next in line. The rebuilding of tram service infrastructure is ongoing. Tram Depot chief Anatoly Strizhenko said that the first tram route would be launched on May 1.
“Its length is five kilometers from the Depot to the endpoint next to City Hospital No 2, ” Strizhenko told DAN.
The Depot will operate 13 cars at the initial stage.
Mariupol launched its tram system on Mary 1, 1933. Previously, the city had seven tram routes.
In November 2022, Mariupol launched self-powered trolley-buses.*jk