Istanbul’s iconic red and white trams, built 100 years ago and loved by locals and tourists alike, are set to give way to a more modern tram.
The tram has become a symbol of Istanbul’s most popular shopping street, Istiklal Avenue, which runs 1.4 kilometers (0.9 mi) on the European side of the city.
The original trams, which were put into operation in 1914, have undergone regular repairs, without ever betraying their historic appearance.
The new battery-powered trams, from the wooden floor to their reversible seats, stay true to the look of their predecessors.
Two cameras on either side of the vehicles replace the old rear-view mirrors, giving drivers better visibility and enabling them to drive while seated.
“It is very good that they are modernizing the tram. The new one has not changed the nostalgic aspect of the old one,” said local Gonul Murtekin, who is traveling with her grandson.
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Nostalgia and energy saving
Istanbul city hall says it plans to retire all the old trams and place them in a transportation museum that is still in the planning stages.
In the meantime, the newest tram will co-exist with its centuries-old ancestors while undergoing trials.
City officials hope to dismantle overhead power lines on Istiklal Avenue within a year.
Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu pledged to reduce energy consumption.
“With the battery system, we save a lot of energy,” said Ali Tugrul Kucukalioglu, Istanbul’s director of electric transportation.
He pointed out that a tram can “run for two days on a single battery”.
The batteries will allow the city to get rid of overhead power lines for streetcars.
“During national holidays, the tram had difficulty moving because of the flags hanging from the tracks,” Koukoukalioglu said.
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More importantly, the tram has been stripped of its outer side rails, which passengers would cling to as it traveled up and down Istiklal Avenue.
“It was a danger for them and for our drivers,” Koukoukalioglu said.
Sticking to the tram
Yusuf Deniz, a young roasted chestnut seller, remembers seeing tourists fall from the tram and get injured.
“When tourists want to hold on to the tram, they don’t do it like the Turks do,” he said. “So the new tram is better.”
Until the collapse of the Ottoman Empire in the 1920s, Istiklal Avenue, or the Great Avenue of Pera as it was then known, was the heart of the city’s cosmopolitan quarter.
The street remains popular with tourists who choose to travel to Taksim Square on the trams for centuries.
Not all locals, however, feel the same way about the new trams.
Ahmet Huseyin, 16, is sad that he can no longer make the journey stuck to the side of the tram and get some fresh air.
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“It is destroying the traditional side of Taksim as it used to be,” he said.
Source: AFP