K2 tram in the streets of Prague

02. 02. 2023

On Thursday, 2 February 2023, the DPP christened the Tatra K2 tram, thus expanding its collection of historical trams of the Czechoslovak manufacturer ČKD Tatra Praha.

The vehicle was presented to the public on Friday, 3 February 2023, at the Public Transport Museum, and on Saturday, 11 February 2023, it will set off on route of line no. 42. The vehicle produced in 1977 was designed by well-known Czech designers František Kardaus and Miroslav Navrátil, who designed the legendary fiberglass seats. The vehicle with registration number 7000 will be run on line no. 23 and historical lines no. 41 and 42. At the same time, it will be possible to rent the vehicle for private and commercial purposes.

From the history of the K2 tram:

The Tatra K2 trams were developed as the second generation of domestic six-axle articulated trams conceptually following the T3 series. It was a significant historical milestone of the Czechoslovak industry for the transition to articulated vehicles. The prototype of the K2 tram was built in 1966 and its type tests were largely carried out in the streets of Prague, where it ran without passengers with registration number 7001. Subsequently, it was presented at the Brno International Fair in 1966, where it already bore number 7000, and after returning from the fair, trial operation continued in the towns of Most and Litvínov. After the tests were completed, the vehicle was transferred to Brno in January 1968, where it received registration number 607 (later 1007) and served there in regular service until 1988.

The DPP’s vehicle with registration number 7000 was manufactured at the ČKD Tatra Praha plant in 1977 and delivered to Bratislava as the last K2 tram. From the beginning, the Bratislava Public Transit Company used it only as a training vehicle for drivers under registration number 394. In 1983, the vehicle was renumbered to 8133. In 2009, after 32 years of service, the K2 training vehicle was decommissioned and parked at the Krasňany depot in Bratislava, without having ever been put into service with passengers. Thanks to this, the tram has not undergone major structural modifications and thus has remained exceptionally preserved with many original elements.

Tatra K2 tram’s christening

PHOTO: DPP – Petr Hejna.