The question of tram traffic development in Ulyanovsk

Abstract

The paper discusses the process of public transport development in Ulyanovsk. Special attention is paid to the tram construction projects that existed in the pre-revolutionary period and conditions they were implemented under. This paper examines the connection between the administrative status of the city and the public transport development. In 1920s Ulyanovsk lost the provincial center status and attempts to organize the citys line of electric vehicles were postponed for a long time. Only during the Great Patriotic war, when Ulyanovsk became the center of a newly formed region, the authorities decided to create the city tram. Considering the stages of tram transport development the author tries to identify the causes of construction work delay. The main ones were the following: inadequate funding, prolonged execution of all necessary documentation, lack of material-technical base and skilled workers. This paper examines actions undertaken to address these problems. The source of the study consists of unpublished documents from the funds of Federal and regional archives: the State archive of the Russian Federation, Russian state archive of Economy, branch of Russian state archive for scientific-technical documentation in the Ulyanovsk Region, State archive of contemporary history of the Ulyanovsk Region. The author also uses articles of the regional newspaper called Ulyanovskaya pravda.