The restored RVZ-6 tram car has joined the retro tramway exposition on Peterburgskaya Street

The Mayor of Kazan Ilsur Metshin inspected the new exhibit and talked with Metroelectrotrans’s veterans.

The Alley of Fame of the Kazan Municipal Enterprise Metroelectrotrans on Peterburgskaya St. was replenished with a restored RVZ-6 tram car. Such trams have been running in the city for almost half a century – from 1962 to 2009. The Mayor of Kazan Ilsur Metshin inspected the updated exposition and talked with the veterans of the enterprise.

“The history of our electric transport began before the Soviet Union. In Kazan, trams developed along with Moscow and St. Petersburg, and some innovations appeared in the capital of the republic earlier than in other cities. It is important that you keep the history, and your veterans are still on the beat”, - the Mayor said.

Aidar Abdulkhakov, Director General of Metroelectrotrans, showed the head of the city a stand with portraits of 30 employees of the enterprise – participants of the Great Patriotic War. In addition, information boards about the history of the development of the Kazan tram have been installed along the alley for citizens and visitors of the capital to learn more about the vehicles presented in the Alley of Fame, Aidar Abdulkhakov said.

The restored Soviet 1962- tram car became the fourth exhibit. In 2010, when the alley was established, an 1875 horse-drawn carriage, an 1899 two-axle Nivelles motor car and a 1929 X series motor car were installed here.

Single-sided four-axle RVZ-6 motor cars were produced from 1961 to 1987. In three tram depots of Kazan, 521 cars were operated for 47 years, they ran on 23 routes with a track length of 183 km. The restoration of the tram took about two months. As of today, this is the last such car in Kazan, the rest have been disposed of.

Farid Sibgatullin, a veteran of the company, told Ilsur Metshin about the reasons of popularity among drivers of RVZ-6 cars: “These trams differed from others with a system of four brakes. During the entire operation of such cars, there has been no accident”. Presently, Farid Sibgatullin, who has worked at Metroelectrotrans since 1970, teaches at a technical school.

Together with the veteran of the enterprise, the Mayor of the city entered the tram car, where he issued a ticket and looked around the driver's cab.

For reference, the Alley of Fame on Peterburgskaya Street was opened on May 9, 2010 in memory of the feat of the people in the Great Patriotic War. The alley was created by the Municipal Unitary Enterprise “Metroelectrotrans”.