A 1950s Munich tram in a turning loop

Munich is a fine city; its trams add pleasingly to the stately, dignified urban backdrop. In September 2009 this beautifully maintained 1950s stock was taking tourists and tram enthusiasts on circuits of the city to the accompaniment of rakish oompah-oompah music. Such a shame that these now "historical" carriages are no longer in normal service use - there is absolutely nothing wrong with them. They glide smoothly and happily along the streets of the early 21st century, but doubtless they do not conform to certain arcane health-and-safety or accessibility rules imposed by heartless authorities in Brussels. They are things of great beauty.

Over the wall in East Berlin

Berlin's huge double-decker buses

Berlin is a vast city with at least three commercial centres: the lengthy Kurfurstendamm in the west, the redeveloped area around Friedrichstrasse in the east, and the cluster of mushrooming steel-and-glass towers at Potsdamer Platz in the capital's geographical centre. 

When the wall went up in 1961, the city's transport infrastructure had to be rushed to the operating table as tram, U-Bahn and S-Bahn lines were severed in half by the GDR's "anti-fascist protection barrier". 

One consequence was the complete disappearance of trams from West Berlin, and for the next three decades colossal yellow double-decker buses served the public transport needs of the "western imperialist" half of the city. 

A bus outside the Zoo station in West Berlin

Over in the east, though, the tram network remained a crucial part of Berlin's municipal transport system, and since German reunification in 1990 there have been moves afoot to extend some lines back into the western part of the city. 

The fleet has been comprehensively upgraded and the vehicles are sparklingly clean, fast and efficient. There's a bit of a lack of tram romance in Berlin - most of the lines run down arterial roads the size and width of airport runways - but this is a utilitarian system that operates like clockwork at fixed intervals. Indeed many of Berlin's tram routes have been rebranded as "metro" lines to denote their high performance and extreme reliability. So German... 

A tram passes by last remants of the wall

Poignantly, one of Berlin's tram lines runs past remnants of the wall at Bernauer Strasse. Here, there is a large open-air exhibition telling the story of the city's postwar division and its compelling human tragedies. As you wander along the former death strip where guard dogs once patrolled, the dark old Cold War Berlin of the 1960s seems utterly incomprehensible.     

A metro tram at Alexanderplatz

Many of Berlin's main tram routes start amid the brutalist Eastern Bloc architecture of Alexanderplatz, under the shadow of the Television Tower. This is where demonstrators gathered in vast numbers in November 1989 to demand free elections and an end to Communist rule. Now the square is lined with sausage stalls and kiosks selling beer and Schnaps. All the menace has gone - but the former Stasi HQ just a short U-Bahn ride away is a reminder of the horrors of life in the GDR's surveillance state.

No visit to Berlin is complete without a trip on the U-Bahn. The cosy little yellow trains often run directly under the pavement, and the reassuring sound of their whirr and clatter can be heard drifting up through grilles in the pavement. At every station a platform attendant calls out the train's destination and then the timeless words: "Zu-rueckbleiben, bitte!"

The Berlin U-Bahn: "Zurueckbleiben, bitte!"

Take the tram to Prague's Cafe Slavia

Trams are an essential part of Prague's urban landscape, hurtling across spider-web junctions under forests of overhead wires. Much of the rolling stock dates back to the Communist era, and it is utilitarian rather than beautiful. But for the visitor, trams are often the best option to cover the considerable distances across the city centre - the useful route 22, for example, takes all the hard work out of the steep ascent to Prague Castle. 

One of the focal points of the extensive network is outside the Cafe Slavia, opposite the National Theatre on the right bank of the River Vltava.Take the tram here and have a coffee, a beer or a plate of steaming goulash and dumplings in the pleasantly refurbished interior of this landmark cafe, where querulous intellectuals congregated during the First Republic. 

There's a wonderful view of the castle, looming over the city from the other side of the river, and an even better view of every single tram that rattles and clatters over the four-way junction. So sit here and peel back the various layers of history in this complex, mesmerising city, and have another beer as you watch the trams go by.

Pictures taken outside and around the Cafe Slavia on 01/08/2013

Hannover's trams go underground too

To Germany now, for a look at Hannover's Stadtbahn system. Until the mid-1970s, this regional capital of half a million people was served by a fairly comprehensive network of ageing yellow trams, some of which dated back to the 1920s. The city centre was a jumble of tracks, with routes converging in front of the central station and at the major intersections of Steintor, Kropcke and Aegidientorplatz. But in 1975 the first line was taken partially underground and rebranded "Stadtbahn" or "City Train", and an entirely new fleet of bright green metro-trams was brought into service to run on the upgraded network. The new trams were able to continue running at street level, as here next to Dohrener Turm in the south of the city...

... but were also fully adapted to the requirements of the new underground lines and their metro-style stations. Here a route 7 Stadtbahn stops at Kropcke in the city centre in September 2009:

At the time of writing, just two wholly street-level tram lines remain in Hannover (routes 10 and 17), and these are now also served by 1970s Stadtbahn rolling stock, as the last traditional trams were taken out of service in the 1990s. Below is a two-carriage Stadtbahn on Ernst-August-Platz in August 2009 - with the rear carriage rather tastelessly dominated by lurid pink advertising. Not something to be encouraged, in this blogger's view. 

To mark the advent of Hannover hosting Expo 2000, a new series of Stadtbahn vehicles were developed in the late 1990s - these are now gradually replacing the lime-green 1970s stock. Visually they are very appealing, in their silver livery with a discreet green stripe at platform level; they are also better streamlined, and the interiors are brighter and less cluttered than their predecessors. Seating is generally sideways-facing, recorded announcements are crisp and clear, and TV monitors provide a news and information feed for passengers. There was even a short-lived experiment with refreshments trolleys - not entirely necessary, as the longest Stadtbahn journey only takes an hour or so from start to finish. Here is a route 11 Stadtbahn at the Zoo terminus in September 2010:

Across Lisbon on the number 28

Lisbon has sleek modern trams running along the River Tejo from Rossio in the city centre to Belem and Alges on the western periphery. The number 15 is a good way to reach the Belem ferry terminal and the Monument to the Discoveries - it's fast and frequent. But for me the highlight of a stay in Lisbon is a ride on the historic tramcars of the number 28. Starting in the leafy suburb of Estrela, the line takes you down a steep hill to the Basilica... 

... and then past the imposing Parliament building, the Palacio de Sao Bento. From there it lurches up to the Bairro Alto, Lisbon's labyrinthine party district, and crosses atmospheric Chiado square before descending back down to grand, stately Praca do Comercio:

At this point the tram will become phenomenally full as all the tourists jump on - so make sure you're already sitting down, and preferably next to one of the large pull-down windows. It can get very hot in Lisbon over the summer, and as the tram winds its way up the ancient twisting cobbled streets of the Alfama some passengers find it more pleasant to ride along Indian-style...

The final section of route 28 takes you through ever narrower streets to the shady square at Graca and back down in a loop to the Metro station at Martim Moniz. Along the way you'll pass elderly men playing cards in their vests, little black cats nibbling at half-opened rubbish bags, and cheeky little street urchins kicking balls at gormless tourists. The tram drivers will all be busily texting each other on their mobile phones. It will be hot and sweaty - but it will be utterly unforgettable.

The ideal tram: old, yellow and clattering over points

This blog is devoted to pictures of European trams. Occasionally a bus will also feature, if particularly sleek, elegant or elderly - but as a rule we are concerned here with trams and their place in the urban environment. There will be no discussion of tram types, of wagon numbers or manufacturers; there will be no technical information proffered; and neither will we investigate their operators or municipal regulators. Occasionally some useful travel information will be thrown the tram enthusiast's way - some maps, timetables and ticketing details may be provided in due course. But essentially Trampics will be a gallery of exactly that: tram pictures. And what interests me most is the tram against its city backdrop. Not the tram in the garage or the museum, but the working tram gliding up and down tree-lined avenues and narrow cobbled streets, screeching round corners, stopping at squares, clattering over points and bashing into the occasional car.

Tram in front of Lisbon cathedral - July 2012

The ideal tram? At least 30 years old, well-maintained, with polished wooden seats and large pull-down windows. A roller-blind destination display with crisp black lettering on a white background. A bright - preferably yellow - livery, with maybe an advert for a local newspaper or a fountain pen manufacturer on the side. A couple of ticket validation machines that go "ker-ching!" when you insert the ticket. A real purpose to the line, that doesn't just serve as a silly frippery for tourists. A lot of junctions to clatter over. A frequency of once every 12 minutes (every 20 after 10pm). Posters warning passengers not to lean out of the windows, to use a handkerchief when blowing their nose, and possibly another to report suspicious packages. But no CCTV. If there are to be announcements, then please be crisply rendered - and only once. A sense of calm and order. No litter, and definitely no graffiti. Maps in attractive primary colours. Something like that - or something very close to it - is the ideal tram.