City systems
Prague’s Tram Numbering Began With Line 5
The Prague Public Transit Company dates the start of tram-line numbering to 24 October 1907, when line 5 was established first.
Prague
Prague’s tram numbers did not begin with line 1. They began with 5.
The numbering story starts at five
The Prague Public Transit Company dates the beginning of tram-line numbering to 24 October 1907 and says line 5 was established first.
The surprise is the order, not the existence of numbers
A modern route map makes it easy to assume a numbered system must have begun with line 1. The documented starting point is different: the first numbered Prague tram line in this account was 5.
Use the number as a small piece of transport history
The detail is useful because it turns an ordinary route number into evidence about how a system developed. Numbering conventions can look orderly in the present without revealing the sequence in which they originally appeared.
Reviewed visuals
See the story
Supporting images selected in the Prague Stories visual review. Context images are labeled so they are not mistaken for documentary proof of the exact subject.
Vertical Prague street frame with a red vintage tram; front route text is too soft to read reliably.
Quick facts
- The Prague Public Transit Company dates the start of tram-line numbering to 24 October 1907.
- Line 5 was established first in that numbering history.
- The documented starting point was therefore not line 1.
- The fact is a chronology clue about the development of Prague’s tram network.
Questions
Did Prague’s tram-line numbering begin with line 1?
No. The Prague Public Transit Company says the numbering history began with line 5.
When does the transit company date that beginning?
It gives 24 October 1907 as the start of tram-line numbering.
Sources & further reading
- History of the public transport in Prague — Prague Public Transit Company