Russia’s smallest town with own tram system built by German POWs

(9 May 2017) LEADIN In the heart of the Russian Ural mountain range, deep in the sub arctic forest known as the Taiga, lies the town of Volchansk. It is an unremarkable town, but it has one claim to fame... it is the smallest town in Russia with its own tram service. STORYLINE Welcome to Volchansk, best known as Russia’s smallest town with its own tramway. A single-track line connects the northern and the southern part of the town. Costing just 30 US cents per ride, the tram carries up to 300 people on a weekday, running across town once an hour on old crooked rails. In 1956, Volchansk was granted the township status after it expanded 6 kilometers north to compounds where coal, and before that gold mines, had been located. The tram system, along with much of the town’s infrastructure and industrial facilities, was constructed by German prisoners of war during and after World War II. The tram system became operational in 1951 and initially ran al