The tram line is returning to Plotní Street in Brno after 150 years

Brno - The tram line that is currently being constructed on Plotní Street in Brno is not a first for this street, but rather it returns after a long 150 years. Historian of Brno's public transport Jiří Štursa recalled that tracks appeared on Plotní as early as 1869, when the horse tram began operations in Brno, and they were intended to serve as a freight line between the stations now known as the main and lower stations, according to ČTK.

"However, the line existed only for a short time because the railway company of the state railways, which operated both stations in Brno, built a railway connecting line and there was no point in having a tram line for freight transport to the lower station," explained Štursa. At the time, the Northern Railway of Emperor Ferdinand and the private State Railway Company operated in Brno, both of which had separate freight stations. The current main station was once a dual station for passenger transport, where both companies were based. The State Railway Company had warehouses in the area of today's bus station on Benešova Street, while the Northern Railway of Emperor Ferdinand occupied the area known as Little America.

The tracks for the freight tram ran under the viaduct over Křenová and turned right after it. They continued to Trnitá Street, then turned into Zvonařka Street and from there into Plotní Street, leading to the lower, then Rosice station, which was also operated by the State Railway Company.

The connecting line had a more direct route and continued directly south from today's main station along the embankment around today's Tesco store and Vaňkovka to the Rosice station via the current bus station on Zvonařka. The embankment was practically preserved until the beginning of the 21st century, before the Vaňkovka shopping center was built. "The last sections of the embankment disappeared only last year," noted Štursa.

When the tram line could not serve freight transport, it found use in 1869 and 1870 as a site for technical-police tests of newly delivered horse tram cars. In 1871, workers dismantled the tracks.

Freight transport was a completely ordinary part of tram operations in the 19th century. This was the so-called American system of trams. In the USA, it was common for passenger cars to be pulled by horses and for freight transport to be handled by steam locomotives. Freight transport also operated in Brno for several decades until the beginning of the 20th century. Many factories had tram sidings. "The main effort was to transport goods to the military clothing warehouse, which was located in today's Štefánikova Street," said Štursa.