Almost nowhere else in Kazakhstan, the good old trams have not been preserved, driven by residents and visitors through the streets. It is not for nothing that sometimes the city called «The tram capital of Kazakhstan».
Trams give Pavlodar a unique charm. Come here and you will feel it. Do you hear? This knock of wheels. Just do not confuse with the sound of the railway. The tram sounds more refined. Lively moves along its metal street and carries its passengers.
Local historians say that the Pavlodar tram made its first run on October 18, 1965. Now 15 routes and 112 cars operate in the city - the largest tram system in our country. The length of the tram tracks in Pavlodar, according to the authorities, is 110 kilometers.
“Pavlodar is one of the few cities in Kazakhstan that managed not only to completely preserve, but also to develop the tram service,” say Pavlodar ecologists Svetlana Mogilyuk and Marina Poukh in one of their books.
Recently, to old cars have been added new, bright trams here: orange, red-white. 23 red-white trams, produced on special order in Belarus, now carry people around the city. The cars were designed at the «Belkommunmash» Minsk plant, and they truly adorned this city. Even the drivers themselves say that they are especially comfortable and cozy: new trams, unlike old ones, smoothly gain momentum and do not twitch while driving. Passengers also like the new trams. They say that the cabin is not as noisy as before, and the seats are much more comfortable. By the way, these trams were brought to Pavlodar in small batches on freight trains in 2017. To prepare new cars for work on the Pavlodar streets, specialists came here from Minsk - the capital of Belarus. They carried out pre-commissioning work, training system technicians and other specialists of the “Tram management of Pavlodar”. Town governors, knowing that trams are an environmentally friendly mode of transport, tried to do everything to renew Pavlodar trams. The 23 new cars made it possible to renew the rolling stock of the tram depot to 40 percent.
In general, Pavlodar residents are curious people. They manage to meet in these trams and even fall in love. Because it smells of romantic. In the evening, the cars glow with bright lights, especially beautifully - on the eve of the New Year.
If you arrive in Pavlodar on Children's Day, you can see how girls and boys ride in solemnly decorated wagons. Travel is free and children are treated sweets. Sometimes trams turn from ordinary ones into excursion ones, so that tourists or indigenous citizens can not only go, but also learn something interesting in this city.
Sometimes a tram temporarily turns into an exhibition, where exhibits from some city museum are installed for the whole day. Another time, the carriage can become a real concert venue with songs and even dances. In 2017, in honor of the Year of Youth, a tram with the symbols of the local center for the development of youth initiatives traveled around the city. Sometimes trams are used to collect charitable assistance. For example, ring route number 5 is perfect for all the funs. On New Year's Eve on January 1, 2018, in this amazing city, trams (like buses) transported the celebrated citizens to their homes since 1 a.m. until 4 a.m. The fare in urban public transport was the same as on any other day - 80 tenge.
Come to Pavlodar to ride along its streets on trams! They have become an integral part of this city. Therefore, the spirit of local life you will definitely feel in these a little bit noisy, but nimble wagons.
Anton Sergueev
Photo by author