Milan Trams Page2: Ventotto Trams

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	Milan Trams ATM - Azienda Trasporti Milanesi Page 2: Peter Witt/Ventotto Trams All images link to larger copies which will open in a new window/tab This page is under construction
	Founded in 1931, Azienda Trasporti Milanesi is a Public Limited Company owned by the Milan Municipality which manages public transport in the Lombard capital and in 46 provincial towns, serving an area with a population of 2.4 million people. It operates 18 tram lines, run with Peter Witt streetcars from the 1920s, Stanga trams from the 1950s and more modern classes. There are also 72 urban Bus lines, 4 Trolleybus lines, 35 interurban Bus lines, 4 Metro lines (Metropolitana di Milano) and one surviving interurban tramway, carrying over 734 million passengers in 2010.

In the 1920s, the increasing traffic on the Milan urban tramway network made pressing the substitution of the old 'Edison' 2-axle tramcars. The municipal tram office decided to design a new type of tramcars, built on two bogies, taking as a model the Peter Witt streetcars built in Cleveland and in other cities of the United States.

The Milan streetcar was designed by the municipal engineers in 1927, and two prototypes, built by Carminati & Toselli and numbered 1501 and 1502, came into service at the end of the same year.

After a few tests, the construction of 500 units (numbered 1503 to 2002) began, divided between several manufacturers:-

1503 to 1612 - Società Italiana Carminati & Toselli built 110 units
1613 to 1722 - Società Italiana Ernesto Breda built 110 units
1723 to 1772 - Officine Meccaniche di Reggio Emilia built 50 unit
1773 to 1882 - Officine Meccaniche built 110 units
1883 to 1992 - Officine Elettroferroviarie Tallero built 110 units
1993 to 2002 - Officine Meccaniche Lodigiane built 10 units

The electrical equipment was built by Ansaldo and TIBB, the bogies by Fiat under Commonwealth-license.

The cars were delivered in 1929–1930 and immediately put into service. The Peter Witt system involved entrance at the front with a conductor sat just ahead of central exit doors. They could take 33 seated passengers and 125 in total. Seats were longitudinal in the forward section and transverse behind the exit. In 1932–1935 some cars were equipped with an experimental half door at the tail, and from 1938 to 1940 with full-sized doors. The rear transverse seating was changed to longitudinal to assist flow to the rear exit. The Peter Witt system was therefore abandoned after a few years of service. The trams were known locally as 'Ventottos' ('twenty-eights' after their year of introduction).

During the Second World War many cars were seriously damaged, but only one unit had to be demolished, the others being repaired or reconstructed from 1945 to 1949.

From 1970 on, the traditional green livery (introduced in 1930) was abandoned, and a new orange one introduced; from 1972 the traditional trolley pole was substituted by a pantograph. Since 1976 some cars were put aside and later demolished. Nowadays circa 100 units are still in service, repainted in the last years in a white and yellow livery already used on the prototypes. (ref: The Development of the Modern Tram by Brian Patton & Wikipedia)
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	Sections on this Page Peter Witt Trams 1928-1930 1530 - 1536 - 1566 - 1569 - 1597 - 1598 - 1597 - 1609 - 1623 - 1626 - 1636 - 1638 - 1641 - 1670 - 1677 - 1688 - 1704 - 1723 - 1725 - 1726 - 1749 - 1754 - 1757 - 1773 - 1785 - 1787 - 1788 - 1789 - 1809 - 1822 - 1825 - 1852 - 1861 - 1877 - 1879 - 1880 - 1935 - 1944 - 1963 - 1968 Milan Tram Pages Milan Page 1 - Milan Overview Milan Page 2 - Peter Witt trams 1501-2000 series - this page! Milan Page 3 - Stanga/TIBB trams 4600/4700 series Milan Page 4 - Fiat/Stanga 3-section trams 4900 series Simplon Facebook Links - Simplon Ship Postcards facebook page - Simplon Minor Railways facebook page - Simplon Piers & Lighthouses facebook page - Simplon Tramways facebook page - Simplon Cliff Lifts facebook page	Simplon Tram Pages:- Tramways Header Page Birmingham Budapest Cagliari Trams Dublin LUAS Ferrovie della Sardegna - Sardinian Narrow Gauge Helsinki Trams & Ferries London Tramlink Nottingham Express Transit Riga Trams & Trolleybuses Rostock Trams Sassari Trams Sheffield Supertrams Tallinn Trams & Trolleybuses Trondheim Trams West Midland Metro Associated Pages Tramways Header Page Cruise Ships Ocean Liners UK Excursion Vessels World Ferry Fleets Simplon Postcards - Home Page Simplon Postcards - Recent Updates References - Links Official Milan ATM website:- http://www.atm.it/ The Development of the Modern Tram by Brian Patton (Adam Gordon 2006):-
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