Brno Trams and observations at Brno main train station during late afternoon of November 2022.
Brno holds first place in the Czech Republic in at least one thing: the tram network here is the oldest in the country. Electric trams began to run here in 1900. And because at that time the city of Brno was essentially German, tram lines were officially called elektrische linie. Combining and shortening these two words resulted in the typical Brno word for streetcar: šalina.
The Brno tramway network (Czech: Tramvajová doprava v Brně, simply Tramvaje v Brně) was the first network of its kind to be put into operation in what is now known as the Czech Republic, with its horse tram lines dating back to 1869. Today, Brno is the second largest city in the Czech Republic, after Prague, and its tram network is also the second largest in the country.
Currently, the Brno tram system comprises 11 lines, with a total operational track length of 139 kilometres (86 mi) and a total route length of 70.4 kilometres (43.7 mi). The lines not only service the urban area, but also lead to the neighboring town of Modřice located south of Brno. Before construction began on the final leg of the extension in 2008, the entire network was made up of 69.7 km of track. The trams are operated by the City of Brno, Dopravní podnik města Brna (DPMB). Some of them are: VarioLF2, EVO2, Tatra T6A5, Tatra T3R, Tatra RT6N1, Tatra KT8D5N, Tatra T3RF
In the Brno dialect of the Czech language (hantec), the word for tram is ‘šalina’. The origins of this word can be traced to the German expression ‘Elektrische Linie’ (electric lines) or 'schallen' (to sound).
