160 years of trams in Vienna and the debut of the Tram World Championship 2025: also taking part was a team from Brno, which ultimately secured a strong sixth place.
The sixth-largest tram network in the world is celebrating a special anniversary this year: 160 years of trams in Vienna! For this reason, Vienna came up with something special for the 12th Tram European Championship: the European Championship became the first World Championship – the TRAM-WM 2025.
Team Austria from Wiener Linien won the first Tram World Championship on Saturday. In eight disciplines, they prevailed over 24 other teams, including a Czech team from Brno. In front of tens of thousands of visitors at the Ring by the Vienna City Hall, teams from Poland and Norway finished second and third.
In two rounds, the 25 teams from six continents completed eight competitions – including tram bowling and tram curling, but also more serious challenges such as a target brake test and maintaining speed without a speedometer. The most difficult discipline proved to be braking the tram precisely so that the second door opened exactly at a marked point. Most participants failed here.
For Czechia, tram drivers (šalináři) Katka Hájková and Marek Blecha from Brno’s transport company competed to claim the title of the world’s best tram drivers. In the exciting contest, they ultimately finished sixth.
This year’s event featured 25 teams from around the world. In addition to drivers from Italy, Latvia, Norway and other parts of Europe, teams from Melbourne, Brazil, San Diego and Hong Kong also competed.
Next year: Tram European Championship in Warsaw
It was the first World Championship – and the second is likely a little way off. Next year’s competition, which will take place in Warsaw, will again be a pure Tram European Championship.
Top 10 of Tram WM 2025
- Austria (Vienna) – 5,599 points
- Poland (Poznań) – 5,244 points
- Norway (Oslo) – 5,140 points
- Hungary (Budapest) – 4,954 points
- Ukraine (Kyiv) – 4,863 points
- Czechia (Brno) – 4,750 points
- Germany (Berlin & Leipzig) – 4,719 points
- Belgium (Brussels) – 4,447 points
- Romania (Oradea) – 4,425 points
- Latvia (Riga) – 4,415 points
