The pictures presented here were taken in the second half of the '70s. The accent was made on the old yellow MTV and KTV cars; it was clear that they didn't have much time left. There are also some shots from the left bank; the Tatras seen there are gone, too.

It is quite senseless to only muse about "how good it was then and how bad it is now" (all the more so because not all was good at all!). But to recall what we still partially remember not only on photos is certainly pleasant.

Special thanks to Michael Taplin and Aare Olander for kindly sharing the pictures with me.

Downtown
		A snowy day at then Ploschad Leninskogo Komsomola (nowadays Evropeyskaya Ploschad), the terminus of route 16, which was almost a copy of the very first Kiev electric tram route. At the right edge of the pictures is the recently demolished building at Kreschatik, 5 (which housed the Stolichny restaurant). [Michael Taplin, 01.1976]
		Some two and a half years later. One of the two last remaining stub-end routes (route 16 being already "temporarily" closed), number 8. One clearly remembers everything that's now replaced with a narrow sidewalk and an "expanded" roadway: the phone booths, the vegetable kiosk, the cutting-and-sewing class notice... [Michael Taplin, 11.09.1978]
		The turn of Ulitsa Tolstogo (Vetrova joins it in the left). An approaching tram triggered the traffic light, which prohibited the cars from crossing the tracks. (It wasn't all that easy to cross them, one must admit, especially when coming out of Vetrova, for they were on some kind of a ridge. When they were lifted, drivers must have felt relieved...) [Michael Taplin, 01.1976]
		The intersection of Tolstogo and Saksaganskogo. The building on the right houses the 32nd post office (it still does); in front of it are not only phone booths and a shoe repairer's kiosk, but also vending machines, which used to dispense a liter of oil for 50 kopeks. The tracks in the foreground, turning from Saksaganskogo into Tolstogo, were at the time only used for depot runs of route 8. [Michael Taplin, 14.01.1976]
		The terminus of the same route 8 at Zheleznodorozhny Massiv, by a steep edge from which a marvelous panorama of the city can be seen. Nowadays, trolleybus route 3 loops here. [Michael Taplin, 11.09.1978]
		A tram on route 9, cautiously turning from Saksaganskogo on a steep descent of Vladimirskaya. They will "reach" for this place in stages: In 1996, route 9 will be closed; in 1997, all regular service on this stretch suspended; in 2001 — all routes removed from Saksaganskogo, leaving only a depot branch alive; in 2005, tracks lifted... [Michael Taplin, 01.1976]
		Route 9 turning from Kominterna onto Zhilyanskaya. In the background is Dom Byta, built in the beginning of the '70s. Note a traffic jam made of... trams and trolleybuses. As fas as cars go, only a taxi, a service Volga and another Volga are to be seen. [Michael Taplin, 12.09.1978]
		A block above this place, a turn from Kominterna into Saksaganskogo. Two-axle service vehicles, rebuilt from old Kiev or Nikolaev cars, were still active. A ubiquitous Gastronom and an old Moskvich convertible... [Michael Taplin, 14.01.1976]
Bulvarno-Kudryavskaya, Dmitrievskaya and around
		A tram on route 15 lets a colleague pass while turning from Gogolevskaya into Vorovskogo (formerly Bulvarno-Kudryavskaya); both are bound for Lvovskaya Ploschad. In 1991, the Gogolevskaya line was shut down amid "safety concerns" about this very turn. Five years later, the Vorovskogo line followed. [Michael Taplin, 11.09.1978]
		The same route 15 on Menzhinskogo (Dmitrievskaya). One of the few places where the two tracks are laid on the two sides of the road. [Michael Taplin, 11.09.1978]
		The second end of the stretch where route 15 ran by itself, the turn from Pavlovskaya into Menzhinskogo (Dmitrievskaya). Also pictured is an instruction MTV car, as well as a non-tram-related sign of the epoch — a line by the foodstore... Nowadays, "elite" houses stand nearby, and the Dmitrievskaya line, which is still alive, is an intolerable "nuisance". [Michael Taplin, 11.09.1978]
		Leaving a private right of way and entering the intersection of Kosiora (Chornovola) and Dmitrievskaya. In the background on the left there's a triangle, where this line is joined by the Glubochitsa line, further away is Lukyanovskaya Ploschad and a tram depot by the same name. [Michael Taplin, 11.09.1978]
		At Lukyanovskaya Ploschad. A double-ended car makes a rather rare occurrence on route 14. To the left are the tracks entering the depot; far away is an MTV from route 14 or 15, bound for Svyatoshin or Kislorodny Zavod, respectively. Discernible from behind the trees is a trolleybus of route 23 in the loop. [Michael Taplin, 11.09.1978]
Ploschad Pobedy
		Near the intersection of Zhilyanskaya and Starovokzalnaya; a tram on route 2 is Vokzal-bound. Nowadays, all routes still remaining make a right turn into Starovokzalnaya here. Back then they proceeded straight ahead, and there was a stop right on this spot; the stop sign is visible on the left. [Michael Taplin, 14.01.1976]
		On almost the same spot, going in the opposite direction, passing by the freight entrance of the Ukraina Department Store. This train goes towards Kislorodny Zavod via Brest-Litovsky Prospekt and Bulvar Lepse. [Michael Taplin, 01.1976]
		Another view of the same place. Route 1 also ran on Brest-Litovsky Prospekt and Bulvar Lepse back then, turning from the latter onto Prospekt 50-Letiya Oktyabrya, on the first stretch of today's speed tram line. A shortened version of that route still runs here. [Michael Taplin, 14.01.1976]
		The same place, the same route, different rolling stock. The head car is one of the not-too-many single-ended Kiev-manufactured cars, KTV-55. Despite winter time, work on rail renovation on curves is in progress... [Michael Taplin, 01.1976]
		Beyond the branching, the line continues straight ahead along Zhilyanskaya Ulitsa, past the Transsignal plant and former backyards, which housed the Evbaz (Jewish Market) for some time after it was expelled from Ploschad Pobedy. Having passed under the Vozduhoflotsky Bridge, it entered Brest-Litovsky Prospekt in an S-curve. Nowadays, the route 3 loop and the beginning of the speed tram line are in a couple hundred meters from here. [Michael Taplin, 01.1976]
		If we were to turn right at the above-mentioned branching, we would reach this piece of line, which crosses Ploschad Pobedy in its western part. Today this spot is chronically full with people, kiosks... and of course cars traversing the pedestrian-only area (of course it's forbidden... but who cares!). Back then, captured were just a KTV-55-2 "push-pull" on route 9, a Tatra on route 13 (today's route 18), a group of people... and of course the end of a slogan Slava radyanskomu narodovi ("Glory to the Soviet people!"). [Michael Taplin, 09.1978]
		Traversing Ploschad Pobedy. Running to the left is Bulvar Shevchenko (now this block is assigned to Prospekt Pobedy, which is not too logical, as the boulevard still survives). The car features a Soviet-style social advertisement. [Michael Taplin, 12.09.1978]
		A repair car AV-2 pulls a broken trailer across Ploschad Pobedy. The background is where the famous Evbaz used to be; now there's a circus, with Igor Kio visiting. The underground crossing is not even projected yet. For the rest, this place looks about the same today. [Michael Taplin, 11.09.1978]

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