Bratislava's Christmas tram. (source: TASR)
A VINTAGE tram operated in downtown Bratislava between December 10 and 23 to mark Christmas. Covered in Christmas-themed decorations inside and out, its route went from Vazovova Street through Krížna, Špitálska, Jesenského, Šafárikovo Square, SNP Square and back through Obchodná and Radlinského.
Operating from 16:00 (13:00 on weekends) until 20:00, the tram took passengers for free, the TASR newswire wrote. The idea for the Christmas tram was first implemented in 2011, and it received an overwhelmingly positive response, Bratislava Transport Company (DPB) spokesperson Agáta Staneková said. The historical tram also played Christmas songs and the interior was decorated by mentally handicapped people from the “Centrum pre mentálne postihnutých ľudí”.
It was also possible to rent the tram for special Christmas events through an auction, and the proceeds from the auction went to the Ľudiaľuďom charity web-portal.
The old ČKD-Tatra T2 tram is a Czechoslovak model produced by Tatra Smíchov and ČKD Stalingrad during the late 1950s and early 1960s. Between 1958 and 1988, 67 such trams operated in the Slovak capital. Staneková praised the interest of Bratislava inhabitants and visitors in the tram and considered the idea one worth repeating.
