No abstract
The first public rail transport in the world started functioning in 1820. Like everywhere at that time, horsedrawn coaches heaved on tracks were the most popular. The first horse-drawn tram started carrying passengers in the industrial region of Wales, England. Starting from 1893, three the so called konkė lines of such a tram started operating in Vilnius. Although the ticket was expensive to the city residents of those days, however, they intensively used this kind of transport: in 1909, 2.6 million passengers were transported. Although attempts to replace horse drawn-vehicles by internal combustion engines after the First World War were made, this form of transport was found to be irrational and soon gave the way to buses. Initiative for the trams equipped with electric motors was shortly defeated in Vilnius: lack of funds was felt, and confusion in the administration of the city was predominating. For the period 1915–1920, the local government changed very frequently. In 1926, konkė tracks were dismantled. Its remains still can be seen at the enclosures of the embankment of the Vilnia (Vilnios upė) confluence. The coaches were sold for suburban residents that erected small cattle-sheds for domestic animals.
Neris is the second longest river in Lithuania, flowing over the territory of Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania. It played an important role in the history of Vilnius, particularly, as a waterway, which, in the past, connected the Grand Principality of Lithuania (GPL) with the neighbouring regions and countries. The river and its tributary, Vilnia, played the main role in the economic development of the city, as well as the development of the industry based on water-driven mechanisms, fishing and other riverside trades, recreational activities of the inhabitants and the urban infrastructure of Vilnius. The role of the river, which decreased in the second half of the 19th century because of the development of land (railway and automobile) transport, became negligible in the years of the soviet power . It happened due to the drop of water elevation caused by the intense drainage of the areas and, particularly, the barbarous construction of a dam at the riverhead in Byelaruss in 1974, which fenced off a large area of the Vileyka Reservoir. Moreover, the works for deepening the riverbed by removing stones and shoals were stopped, and it made the river unnavigable. The paper also describes frequent floods caused by the drifting of ice in the spring, which brought great damage to the city in the past, as well as the types of ships and rafts used for navigation.
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