In Memory of Kiev Trams. Photo galleries:: Kiev Cars:: MTV-82

MTV-82 — A WORKHORSE OF THE BYGONE ERA

Part 1
(routes 1 through 4)

[ 1-4 | 5-6 | 7-8 | 9-11 | 12-14 | 15-16 | 17-21 | 23-B | Unknown ] [ Kiev Cars ]

The MTV (Moskovskij TramVaj) tram car was designed right after World War II in Moscow; from 1949 till 1961 it was manufactured in Riga. Kiev received these cars in several series:
1201-1305, from 1949 onwards, to the Lukyanovka depot (aka Lenin depot);
1321-1387, from 1954 onwards, to the Kurenevka (Krasin) depot;
1501-1575, from 1953 onwards, to the Central (Shevchenko) depot;
1576-1582, in 1964, used from Krivoy Rog, to the Central depot,
for a grand total of 254. All Soviet technical appliances of the 50's being of very good quality, this car was no exception. If it were not for reasons having nothing to do with its technical merits, the MTV could be still carrying passengers today. However, the beginning of the Tatra expansion marked the end of the Soviet car era in the city, and the last Kiev passenger MTVs were gone by 1984.

The photo gallery is organized by the route number; all Kiev routes that employed the MTV-82 car will be represented here.

1. Dvorets Sporta - Semyi Sosninykh

The 1349 at the Dvorets Sporta (Sports Palace) terminal, Shota Rustaveli St. The loop was laid around a city block, ahead of the tramcar.
[Hans Oerlemans, 10.09.1978]

1369 with a trailer is heading towards the suburb of Borschagovka, pictured at the corner of Saksaganskogo and Tolstogo. Seen in the foreground are service tracks used by route 8 for depot pull-ins, later on by route 5 for regular runs, and then, when part of the Saksaganskogo line was lifted, by all the routes that ran here.
[Hans Oerlemans, 10.09.1978]

1512 plus trailer, Dvorets Sporta-bound, on Saksaganskogo between Tolstogo and Stepana Khalturina (nowadays Pankovskaya).
[Hans Oerlemans, 11.09.1978]

The same 1349 we met before, here on the future speed-tram line, on Borschagovskaya near Semyi Sosninykh. The cars can still cross the tramway tracks...
[Lukyanovka Depot museum, 1970's]

2. Ploschad Bogdana Khmelnitskogo - Vokzal

The terminal at Ploschad Bogdana Khmelnitskogo (today Sofievskaya Ploschad). The cars looped around a flowerbed, in the middle of which is the Khmelnitsky monument (to the right of the car). Later on, trolleybuses turned here, now the square is all-pedestrian.
[Kiev Electric Transportation Museum, 1950's]

Vladimirskaya, corner of Voroshilova (Yaroslavov Val). A Vokzal (railway station)-bound 1270 is about to turn right into Yaroslavov Val. Route 4 turned right here as well, while 1 (old), 8, and 15 continued straight ahead.
[Archive of Photographic Documents of Ukraine, 24.07.1955]

The 1226 at the Vokzal (railway station) loop. A simple single-tracked loop, it served a significant number of routes - so cars came in one right after another! Nowadays, trolleybuses run here, and the loop is relocated to the Starovokzalnaya terminal nearby.
[Raymond De Groote Jr., 11.07.1959]

Cars 1236 from route 2 and 1280 from route 6 in the Lukyanovka depot. The route sign for the 2 still says "Ploschad Bogdana Khmelnitskogo", this being the last year that trams run there...
[Archive of Photographic Documents of Ukraine, 1959]

Lvovskaya Ploschad - Vokzal

The 1280 adorned by a slogan translated as "Comsomol & Youth Crew", makes its descent from the railway station along Kominterna (Communist International Street, indeed; the name survives to this day) towards Zhadanovskogo (Zhilyanskaya).
[Wolfgang Schreiner, 06.1961]

The turn from Zhilyanskaya into Ploschad Pobedy (Victory Square), next to the Ukraina department store. Visible on the right is a track turning into the same line, towards the circus and Lvovskaya Ploschad, from Borschagovskaya and Brest-Litovsky Prospect (that is how route 6 ran); that track was lifted in the 1980's.
[From "Trams in Eastern Europe", 17.05.1974]

The 1230 is Vokzal-bound and runs along the freshly-built line through Ploschad Pobedy, against the background of the new circus building under construction (open in 1960).
[Wolfgang Schreiner, 10.1959]

The same place nineteen years later. In the background there is a train of two 9Tr trolleybuses, either on route 5 or 9.
[Hans Oerlemans, 11.09.1978]

The 1221 crossing the square in the opposite direction, plus a "zebra" pedestrian crossing sign, phone booths, vending machines dispensing carbonated water for 1 kopeck (pure) and 3 kopecks (with syrup) and a slogan "Long live the Soviet people". Strange as it may seem, the only thing surviving (so far) are the tramway tracks.
[Hans Oerlemans, 10.09.1978]

The next last stop before Lvovskaya Ploschad was Centralnyj Rynok (Central Market), which used to be one of the main destinations on route 2.
[Sergey Pirkovsky, 1970's; courtesy of Alexander Shanin]

The Lvovskaya Ploschad terminal. To the left is a dispatch building. No more trams here as well...
[Kiev Electric Transportation Museum]

3. Petropavlovskaya Ploschad - Dom Ofitserov

Before the line above Evropeyskaya Ploschad was torn down, route 3 used to connect Podol with Kurenevka and Pechersk. Here the 1374 moves along Zhdanova (Aleksandrovskaya; Sagajdachnogo) on approach to Pochtovaya Ploschad and Aleksandrovsky (Vladimirsky) Spusk.
[Raymond De Groote Jr., 11.07.1959]

Having descented from the upper part of Aleksandrovskaya (Kirova; Grushevskogo), the same 1349 which is to be seen on route 1 later, approaches the upper end of Aleksandrovsky Spusk at Ploschad Stalina (nowadays Evropeyskaya Ploschad).
[Wolfgang Schreiner, 10.1959]

Vokzal - Okruzhnaya Doroga

The new 3 was a predecessor to the speed route of today. Train 1223+1083 is on Zhadanovskogo (Zhilyanskaya) near Ploschad Pobedy; routes 2, 9, 13, and 25 make a right turn here, while 1, 3, 7, and 23 continue straight ahead.
[Dieter Kuellmer, 1977]

4. Ploschad Bogdana Khmelnitskogo - Kabelnyj Zavod

One of the first MTV-82s to hit the tracks in Kiev, the 1212 on the old route 4 goes down from Lvovskaya Ploschad, along Vorovskogo (Bulvarno-Kudryavskaya) before making a right turn into Gogolevskaya.
[Archive of Photographic Documents of Ukraine, 1950]

Sister car 1223 in the Lukyanovka depot.
[Circa 1950]

[In Memory of Kiev Trams | Photo Gallery of Trams and Trolleybuses]

© Stefan Mashkevich, Aare Olander, 2002
Any usage of materials found herein requires explicit consent of the author and/or copyright holders as specified.
Last modified 18 November 2002

1. Dvorets Sporta - Semyi Sosninykh
	The 1349 at the Dvorets Sporta (Sports Palace) terminal, Shota Rustaveli St. The loop was laid around a city block, ahead of the tramcar. [Hans Oerlemans, 10.09.1978]
	1369 with a trailer is heading towards the suburb of Borschagovka, pictured at the corner of Saksaganskogo and Tolstogo. Seen in the foreground are service tracks used by route 8 for depot pull-ins, later on by route 5 for regular runs, and then, when part of the Saksaganskogo line was lifted, by all the routes that ran here. [Hans Oerlemans, 10.09.1978]
	1512 plus trailer, Dvorets Sporta-bound, on Saksaganskogo between Tolstogo and Stepana Khalturina (nowadays Pankovskaya). [Hans Oerlemans, 11.09.1978]
	The same 1349 we met before, here on the future speed-tram line, on Borschagovskaya near Semyi Sosninykh. The cars can still cross the tramway tracks... [Lukyanovka Depot museum, 1970's]
2. Ploschad Bogdana Khmelnitskogo - Vokzal
	The terminal at Ploschad Bogdana Khmelnitskogo (today Sofievskaya Ploschad). The cars looped around a flowerbed, in the middle of which is the Khmelnitsky monument (to the right of the car). Later on, trolleybuses turned here, now the square is all-pedestrian. [Kiev Electric Transportation Museum, 1950's]
	Vladimirskaya, corner of Voroshilova (Yaroslavov Val). A Vokzal (railway station)-bound 1270 is about to turn right into Yaroslavov Val. Route 4 turned right here as well, while 1 (old), 8, and 15 continued straight ahead. [Archive of Photographic Documents of Ukraine, 24.07.1955]
	The 1226 at the Vokzal (railway station) loop. A simple single-tracked loop, it served a significant number of routes - so cars came in one right after another! Nowadays, trolleybuses run here, and the loop is relocated to the Starovokzalnaya terminal nearby. [Raymond De Groote Jr., 11.07.1959]
	Cars 1236 from route 2 and 1280 from route 6 in the Lukyanovka depot. The route sign for the 2 still says "Ploschad Bogdana Khmelnitskogo", this being the last year that trams run there... [Archive of Photographic Documents of Ukraine, 1959]
Lvovskaya Ploschad - Vokzal
	The 1280 adorned by a slogan translated as "Comsomol & Youth Crew", makes its descent from the railway station along Kominterna (Communist International Street, indeed; the name survives to this day) towards Zhadanovskogo (Zhilyanskaya). [Wolfgang Schreiner, 06.1961]
	The turn from Zhilyanskaya into Ploschad Pobedy (Victory Square), next to the Ukraina department store. Visible on the right is a track turning into the same line, towards the circus and Lvovskaya Ploschad, from Borschagovskaya and Brest-Litovsky Prospect (that is how route 6 ran); that track was lifted in the 1980's. [From "Trams in Eastern Europe", 17.05.1974]
	The 1230 is Vokzal-bound and runs along the freshly-built line through Ploschad Pobedy, against the background of the new circus building under construction (open in 1960). [Wolfgang Schreiner, 10.1959]
	The same place nineteen years later. In the background there is a train of two 9Tr trolleybuses, either on route 5 or 9. [Hans Oerlemans, 11.09.1978]
	The 1221 crossing the square in the opposite direction, plus a "zebra" pedestrian crossing sign, phone booths, vending machines dispensing carbonated water for 1 kopeck (pure) and 3 kopecks (with syrup) and a slogan "Long live the Soviet people". Strange as it may seem, the only thing surviving (so far) are the tramway tracks. [Hans Oerlemans, 10.09.1978]
	The next last stop before Lvovskaya Ploschad was Centralnyj Rynok (Central Market), which used to be one of the main destinations on route 2. [Sergey Pirkovsky, 1970's; courtesy of Alexander Shanin]
	The Lvovskaya Ploschad terminal. To the left is a dispatch building. No more trams here as well... [Kiev Electric Transportation Museum]
3. Petropavlovskaya Ploschad - Dom Ofitserov
	Before the line above Evropeyskaya Ploschad was torn down, route 3 used to connect Podol with Kurenevka and Pechersk. Here the 1374 moves along Zhdanova (Aleksandrovskaya; Sagajdachnogo) on approach to Pochtovaya Ploschad and Aleksandrovsky (Vladimirsky) Spusk. [Raymond De Groote Jr., 11.07.1959]
	Having descented from the upper part of Aleksandrovskaya (Kirova; Grushevskogo), the same 1349 which is to be seen on route 1 later, approaches the upper end of Aleksandrovsky Spusk at Ploschad Stalina (nowadays Evropeyskaya Ploschad). [Wolfgang Schreiner, 10.1959]
Vokzal - Okruzhnaya Doroga
	The new 3 was a predecessor to the speed route of today. Train 1223+1083 is on Zhadanovskogo (Zhilyanskaya) near Ploschad Pobedy; routes 2, 9, 13, and 25 make a right turn here, while 1, 3, 7, and 23 continue straight ahead. [Dieter Kuellmer, 1977]
4. Ploschad Bogdana Khmelnitskogo - Kabelnyj Zavod
	One of the first MTV-82s to hit the tracks in Kiev, the 1212 on the old route 4 goes down from Lvovskaya Ploschad, along Vorovskogo (Bulvarno-Kudryavskaya) before making a right turn into Gogolevskaya. [Archive of Photographic Documents of Ukraine, 1950]
	Sister car 1223 in the Lukyanovka depot. [Circa 1950]