1891: Organized Public Transport Began in Zagreb with Horse Tram

When driver Ferdo cracked his whip on September 5, 1891, and the horse Belko pulled the ‘horse tram’, organized public transport began in Zagreb. The first ride started from the then tram depot on Savska Road (today’s Technical Museum), passing by the Croatian National Theatre and Frankopanska to Ilica.

This marked the beginning of a system from which today’s Zagreb Electric Tram, ZET, would develop over the following decades.

Osijek Before Zagreb

However, Zagreb does not hold the primacy in Croatia. The first tram on Croatian soil operated in Osijek as early as September 10, 1884, a full seven years before Zagreb’s ‘horse tram’. At that time, Osijek was among the pioneers of tram transport in this part of Europe, while Zagreb only received its tram after long discussions and preparations that lasted almost a decade.

Half the City in a Horse Tram

The start of Zagreb’s tram operation was linked to the rapid growth of the city at the end of the 19th century. Zagreb then had just over 40,000 inhabitants, and the need for organized transport was becoming increasingly pronounced. In those early years, the tram network extended to the Southern, now Western railway station. The fleet consisted of 16 tram cars and 32 horses.

In the very first days, public interest was enormous. The day after the tram was put into operation, over 20,000 people rode it, almost half of the city’s population at that time.

Tram Tracks Dictated the City’s Development

A true transport revolution occurred in 1910 when Zagreb received the electric tram. Horse traction was still used for a while on secondary tracks but gradually faded into history. The new system allowed for faster transport, greater capacity, and further network expansion. Electrification was important not only for transport but also for the city’s overall development, as it enabled more efficient connections to increasingly distant city districts.

As Zagreb expanded throughout the 20th century, so did the tram network. New tracks followed the development of settlements to the east and west, and later the construction of New Zagreb south of the Sava River. The tram became one of the main recognizable symbols of the city. Many settlements developed precisely along its routes, and even today, location in the tram zone affects real estate prices.

Shortly after the ‘horse tram’, the funicular, which operates as part of ZET, and the Sljeme cable car (since 1963) began regular operations.

Introduction of Buses

Over time, it became clear that the tram could not meet all the needs of the growing metropolis. Therefore, in 1927, city bus transport was launched, which was integrated into ZET four years later. Buses connect the peripheral parts of the city and suburban settlements, as well as the cities of Velika Gorica and Zaprešić and the municipalities of Stupnik and Bistra with tram corridors. From a former tram operator, a system gradually emerged that today handles the majority of public transport in the Croatian metropolis.

In many European cities, trams disappeared from the streets over the decades, but Zagreb retained and continuously developed its network. This speaks not only to the size of the city but also to the fact that public transport in Zagreb is still relatively slow today.

Every Day Three Times Around the Equator

At the beginning of the 21st century, a new major modernization occurred with the introduction of low-floor trams. This made public transport more accessible to people with disabilities, elderly citizens, and parents with strollers, and the tram remained the backbone of everyday life in Zagreb more than a century after its arrival.

The history of ZET shows how much the city has grown from the first horse tram on September 5, 1891, to today, when a fleet of nearly 500 buses and over 250 trams transports about 180 million passengers annually.

ZET’s vehicles circle the equator three times every day, and each year they travel the distance to the Moon and back 109 times!