Skoda crosses an important milestone and celebrates the 25th anniversary of the first streetcar to come out of the company’s plant in Pilsen.

Lo and behold, Skoda’s history actually has more distant roots, going back to the early twentieth century, as several streetcar models that plied the streets of many cities in the Czech Republic were made with Skoda-branded components; to be exact, these were the traction motors and systems to keep the car’s power under control.

Even after 140 years of existence, electric streetcars are still very popular worldwide, and their demand is increasing due to the trend toward green technologies. Streetcars are a highly efficient means of urban transportation over short and medium distances, both in terms of energy efficiency and the number of passengers they can carry.

Skoda streetcars are currently in service in 19 cities: Prague, Pilsen, Brno, Ostrava, Olomouc, Most (Czech Republic), Bratislava (Slovakia), Chemnitz and Schöneiche (Germany), Helsinki and Tampere (Finland), Portland and Tacoma (USA), Cagliari (Italy), Braslavia (Poland) Eskișehir, Konya (Turkey), Miskolc (Hungary), and finally Riga (Latvia).

Highlights

The bus industry’s smartphone moment

On 18 March 1895, at 6:25 in the morning, the world’s first motor bus line opened between Siegen, Netphen and Deuz. The vehicle was a Benz Landauer. It had eight seats, a one-cylinder engine of five horsepower, and fifteen kilometres of bad road ahead of it. On the steepest hill, the passengers had ...

Related articles