Residents of the Iļģuciems district have had to put up with the construction work for a long time. Finally, expecting the tram to run again on this route, it has turned out that only the old trams can be taken to Iļģuciems.
“Currently, the tram movement has been restored. […] The low-floor tram will not be able to run at this time on the section from Ausekļa Street to Mīlgrāvis, because this line is not suitable for a low-floor tram. Modelling work is underway on how the tram could run. It is planned that when works are completed on the rest of Slokas Street and also on the 7th tram section, which is the end of May of this year, we will also be sure to inform you about the route and the running of the low floor tram,” said Baiba Bartaševiča-Feldmane, representative of the municipal company Rīgas Satiksme.
In theory, low-floor trams from Iļģuciems could start running at the end of May, it's not yet clear, though, whether they will travel to Ausekla Street as tram route 5, or whether there will still be a new route connecting to tram route 7. However, it must be assumed that only new trams will not always run.
"We currently have 46 low-floor trams running both tram 1 and tram 11 routes at the same time and they will be on this new route, which is also being worked on and modelled. But clearly trams will be divided along routes,” Bartaševiča-Feldmane said.
It is planned to include information on the timetable which tram is serving the route at which time so that passengers can count on which tram they will travel on. This is particularly important, for instance, for the elderly, people with prams, people with injuries or disabilities, as the old trams have steep steps and are inconvenient to get on.
