Tramway routes in Turin

Facts and curiosity about Turin tramway network

On December 18th 1883 a storage battery tram circulated, for the first time, along Turin tracks.
The first line to be electrified (1st May 1898) was the "Linea dei Viali" Tram 209 with the indicator of the Boulevards Line (Boulevards circle line), forerunner of present route number 16.
Between last years of XIX century and first years of XX century, Turin tram lines created a very dense network: trams circulated even along the avenues inside Parco del Valentino Stt line I along Parco del Valentino in the first years of XX century .
In those years, at a time when illiteracy was still widespread, colors and ideographs Ideographs and route tables used by Saeai lines were used in order to easily distinguish the different routes.
The first fixed stops Tram stop in front of Porta Nuova station date back to March of 1901. Until then the stops were in demand at any point of the route.
During World War I special tram services were set up to carry bullets Special tram routes for carrying bullets during World War I from the factories to the barracks and special tram services to carry the wounded soldiers Special tram routes to the city's hospitals during World War I from the stations to the city's hospitals.
In the early decades of the twentieth century the trams traveled also along minor roads: some streets, as via Porta Palatina Via Porta Palatina and via IV marzo or via Palazzo di città Via Palazzo di città , were so narrow that trams ran close to the buildings and in some points the two tracks converged into one.
During the Thirties the one-way tram cars began to replace the old bidirectional two-axle trams. So a new kind of terminus began to be used, the so-called “priest hat terminus”, Triangle terminus of route 18 in Barriera di Milano (triangle terminus) which allowed an U-turn in tight spaces at the cost of a short reverse way.
The only narrow gauge interurban tramway was the Torino-Saluzzo route. The gauge was 1.10 m, so this line shared with urban route number 7, in the section in common, the only rail right track.
When, in 1934, the new wholesale market Tram at new wholesale market was opened in the south part of the city, freight tram service was set up; it consisted of tram cars with trailers, carrying fruits and vegetables to local markets.
The 27 route was the most short-lived line: it circulated for 102 days only, shortly after the end of World War II.
In the same period the circle lines number 16 (clockwise and anticlockwise) were for a short time named “red circle line" and "blue circle line".