#AlamNyoBa ☻Things We No Longer See in Manila 1. The Tranvia. horse drawn tranvia philippines Tranvias de Filipinas. Photo credit: John Tewell via Flickr. In case you don’t know, the tranvia is the grandfather of the modern-day LRT. Our ancestors would have remained dependent on the calesa or carruaje had Leon Monssour of Department of Public Works didn’t propose the construction of a streetcar system in 1878. Monssour’s plan earned the government’s approval, but it only materialized when an entrepreneur named Jocobo Zobel de Zangroniz took over the project. Together with a Spanish engineer and a Madrid banker, Jacobo established the La Compañia de Tranvias de Filipinas in 1882. Among the five routes, only the Malabon line ran on steam while the rest were horse-drawn. Therefore, it can be said that the first steam railroad in the country was a streetcar. Steam powered tranvia A steam-powered tranvia in 1883. The steam-powered tranvia (see photo above) operated from 1888 to 1898. Trips coming from Tondo usually started at 5:30 AM and ended at 7:30 PM. Those that originated from Malabon, on the other hand, ran from 6:00 AM until 8:00 PM. The tranvia was a major mode of transportation in Manila until 1902, when the company operating it stopped expanding and only 10 streetcars were used for each of the five lines. As a result, a law was passed in October 1902 to build electric power and transportation networks in the city. This is when Meralco–known then as Manila Electric Railroad and Light Company–came to the picture. The company replaced the La Compañia de Tranvias de Filipinas and by 1913, completed 9 out of 12 lines. Manila tranvia 1900s Electric street tram. Photo credit: philippine-history.org The slow demise of the tranvia started when it was heavily damaged during the WWII. After the war, it was decided to finally end the tranvia operations and just focus on rebuilding the nation. Later, resourcefulness pushed Filipinos to put the remaining army jeeps into good use. The jeepney was born and has since become the country’s major mode of transportation.
Posted on: Wed, 12 Nov 2014 03:25:13 +0000
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