51°03′11″N 3°43′12″E / 51.053°N 3.72°E / 51.053; 3.72 (Gent) The Ghent tramway network (Dutch: de Gentse tram) is a network of tramways forming part of the public transport system in Ghent, a city in the Flemish Region of Belgium, with a total of four lines (T1, T2, T3 and T4).

Since 1991, the network has been operated by De Lijn, the public transport entity responsible for buses and trams in Flanders.

The system used to have one short tunnel, around 150 meters (160 yd) long, passing underneath Sint-Pieters railway station.

The rolling stock consisted of 43 carriages, 14 of them open and the other 29 closed, with 100 horses used to draw them.

On August 13 of 1897 operating concessions were issued to the Société Anonyme des Railways Économiques de Liège-Seraing et Extensions (RELSE) and the Compagnie Générale des Railways à voie étroite (CGR).

These companies merged on January 4, 1898 to form the SA des Tramways Electriques de Gand.

The aim of this move was to replace horses by electric traction, as well as the further usage of the tram network.

The maximum speed of each was 12 km/h (7.5 mph); by law, the operator was not allowed to travel any faster.

A special 600 kW (800 hp) generating station was built to charge the batteries of these trams.

However, battery traction was operationally unsuccessful, so in 1903 a decision was made to install overhead electrification.

[5] Route 3 to Mariakerke, closed in 1969, is planned to reopen in the 2010s under De Lijn's Pegasusplan.

Plans are also afoot for a tramline connecting Gent Sint-Pieters and Gent-Dampoort railway stations (route 7).

The plan also includes increased frequencies (eight trams per hour), additional bus services and a Park & Ride system.

Additional shortened routes are organized frequently when mass activities such as Gentse Feesten take place in the center of the city.

While works on the tracks at the Coupure area are being done, tramline T4 will only serve 4 stops from Sint-Pieters Station to Ghent's University Hospital.

Trams on all of the routes run from approximately 5:30 AM until 01:30 AM on weekdays, until 2:15 AM on friday and saturday and until 11:30 PM on sundays.

At a stop, when wishing to board, a passenger should raise their hand to request an approaching tram to halt.

Tickets are sold by vending machines at many tram stops, and at special "Lijnwinkel" kiosks (which also sell monthly and weekly passes).

In 1993 a PCC tram from Saint-Etienne (France) arrived in Ghent, board number STAS 507.

From 1971–1974, 54 PCC trams were delivered to Gent, built at La Brugeoise et Nivelles (BN) in Bruges.

It was brought back to the condition of 1971, and repainted into the original MIVG blue livery, as it was from 1971–1991.

Up to 2010 the usage of non-modernized PCCs is supposed to finish but, as of 31/12/2008, a total of 43 PCC trams remain in service across the whole of East Flanders.

[1] It is likely that these PCCs will continue service for a long time, since there are not enough new trams on order to replace them, especially regarding the planned network expansions.

(HermeLijn) These low floor trams (joint enterprise of Siemens and Bombardier) were supplied in Ghent since 1999 till 2007/8.