Description

The CKD Tatra KT4 tram was developed on request of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) in the late 1970’s. East Germans required a new, modern tram for their ageing fleet of two-axle trams. Tatra engineers found a solution for the problem by means of modifying a six-axle tram car into a four-axle formation, coming up with the creation of the KT4.

The model proved to be a success in the Eastern German Republic and the orders starting pouring in from the Soviet Union in the 1980’s. Lviv (Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic at the time) was the first city in the USSR to test out a couple of the KT4 prototypes in 1976. It was an ideal manoeuvrable tram for the narrow cobbled streets of the old part of the city. Lviv received the biggest quantity of this type, 145 units out of the total number of 415, which were delivered to the Soviets. The original model KT4D was allocated for the German market, and the KT4SU model was thus named and distributed to the USSR.

The tag in your possession was crafted from the KT4SU-1116, which was the first tram of the last batch of units delivered from 1988 till 1989. Furthermore, that was the last batch ever delivered to the Ukrainian SSR before the collapse of the Soviet Union. After its delivery and installation until mid 90’s, the KT4SU tram was paired with the lead tram, and from the mid 90’s till 2007 it operated as the main carriage. In 2007 due to technical issues the tram was sited at Depot 2 in the Lviv ElektroTrans, where it had sadly remained stationary for the next 17 years before being scrapped on 27.03.2024.

The Rolling Stock team are grateful to the city of Lviv council and “PPO LKP LvivElektroTrans” for being the first city willing to work closely together with our team to preserve rail history!