The archival photos allow you not only to immerse yourself in the atmosphere of Kyiv in the 1900s, but also to see what transportation was like in the early 20th century - in particular, trams were horse-drawn, steam and electric.
Photos were published on the Facebook-page "Club of Native Kyivan".
Thus, the idea of building a horse-drawn city railroad in Kyiv was considered back in the 1870-80s, but it was not implemented at that time. It could be done only in 10 years and already in the summer of 1891 the regular traffic along Velyka Vasylkivska Street officially started. This day is considered to be the date of the official opening of Kyiv tram route. The tramcars moved along Velyka Vasylkivska Street from the "Lybid" station to Mariinsko-Blahovishchenska Street. Conductors wore dark brown coats with blue belts and silver sprigs on their caps. There were about 70 horses in the park, working in two shifts.
At the same time, at the end of the 19th century, there were attempts to use steam engines for trams. Four steam trams were in operation. Despite the noise and smoke, the steam tram was no less popular than the horse-drawn tram. At the same time, they worked simultaneously on the same route.
The first tramcars with electric motors arrived in Kyiv in May 1892. They were built by the Struve brothers at a factory in Moscow according to American drawings. On the same day, they were tested on Oleksandrivska Street in Podil, and on May 8, on Oleksandrivskyi Descent (on the line from Podil to Khreshchatyk). On June 9, the electric tram was tested by an official commission, and on June 13, it began operating for passengers.
Earlier we wrote how the first aircraft were tested in Kyiv in 1911.