Last year, the last tram passed through the Troja "Rámusák"

photo: Jakub Karlíček

Prague - The tram bridge over the Vltava River, known as "Rámusák," was originally constructed in the late 1970s as a temporary structure, but ultimately served the electric tramway for over 30 years, with the last tram crossing it on October 7, 2013. After that, Prague residents traveling by public transport from Holešovice to Kobylisy had to use the metro or take a long detour with a transfer. The replacement for the decades-old steel bridge, the elegant Troja Bridge, is officially opening to tram and automobile traffic today.
    The only purely tram bridge in Prague (officially pedestrians were not allowed on it) was hastily built as part of the tram line and was opened on the anniversary of the Prague Uprising on May 5, 1977. However, it only retained its original form for three and a half years before traffic was banned on it due to emergency conditions. After that, military engineers reconstructed it using parts from a bridge that was located a bit upstream and had previously served automobile traffic during the construction of the new Barikádníků Bridge.
    "Rámusák," as the bridge was nicknamed among Prague residents for the typical noise made by passing trams, was reopened in March 1981 and served until last autumn. However, since May 2010, due to the construction of the Blanka Tunnel, traffic was only allowed on one half of the bridge, further downstream, making trams give way to each other. The definitive end of operations on "Rámusák" came a year ago, but the bridge itself still arched over the Vltava for several months before workers dismantled it this spring.