Electric trams

The last decades of the 18th century have registered a strong expansion of the technical progress which prepared the true industrial revolution on the European and American continents, developed during the entire period of the 19th century. The old manual technical methods have been replaced by the invention of useful machines and tools in almost all domains.

Among the important discoveries the tram is also included, invented in 1775 by the British John Outram. In the beginning, the vehicle destined for transporting travellers outside the cities, circulated on cast-iron rails, being pulled by two horses. In 1832, John Stephenson built the first urban tram in New York which made the connection between Manhattan and Harlem. After twenty years, Emil Loubat, of French origin, had the idea of embedding the rails in the pavement, an example being the 6th Street in New York.

In 1854, France becomes the first country in Europe where the tram pulled by horses circulated in Paris, between Place de la Concorde and Saint-Cloud. In the ‘70s, within the 19th century, England, Belgium and Germany were the European countries where this mean of transportation was circulating. In 1869, the tram pulled by horses had been also introduced into circulation in Timisoara so that three years later, in 1872, we find it in Bucharest as well.

1881 marks the appearance of the first electric tram in Berlin, following Vienna (1897), Frankfurt on Main (1884), Richmond (USA - 1888), Clermont – Ferrand (France - 1890), Kiev (1891). In Romania, in Bucharest, in December 1894, the first electric tram has been put in function, between Obor and Cotroceni. Then followed the cities of Sibiu, Timisoara, Arad, Braila and others.

Together with the development and the increase of the number of the means of public transportation in Bucharest, in April 1909, the Communal Council of the City Hall has decided the incorporation of the Bucharest Society of Transportation (BST) with the purpose of electrifying all the tramway lines in the Capital and building new lines.

Responding to the passion of the stamp collectors for topics from the history of technique, Romfilatelia introduces into circulation the postage stamp issue “Electric trams”. The images of the stamps of the philatelic issue present models of electric trams which have entered the history of this means of passenger transportation.

On the stamp with the face value of Lei 0.80 the first electric tram in Frankfurt on Main (1884) is illustrated.

On the postage stamp with the face value of Lei 1.20 the first electric tram in Bucharest (1894) is illustrated.

On the postage stamp with the face value of Lei 1.60 the first electric tram in Vienna (1897) is illustrated.

On the postage stamp with the face value of Lei 2.10 the first electric tram in Braila (1899) is illustrated.

On the postage stamp with the face value of Lei 2.40 the first electric tram in London (1901) is illustrated.

On the perforated souvenir sheet of the postage stamp issue with the face value of Lei 8.10 the first electric tram in Berlin (1881) is illustrated.

Philatelic document – issued into a limited run printing of 400 copies, numbered, equipped with the postage stamp set, cancelled with the “first day” post mark.

The issue is completed by a set of 5 maxicards.