The Modern Tramway of May 1951 included a short article by Peter J. Jacques about the Tramways of Udine and District. [1]
The featured image for this article is a photograph of Sante Gerussi probably dating from the early 1920s. The tram is No. 21 serving on the Udine-Tricesimo-Tarcento line. Originally these trams were painted white but were repainted when the management was transferred from the Società friulana di Elettricità to the Società anonima Tranvie del Friuli. The bus in the image may be the one that connected Tricesimo with Buja, © Public Domain. [13]
In 1951, Peter Jacques wrote:
“Udine is the chief town of the north-east Italian province of Friuli and is situated some 80 miles north-east of Venice. Its 70,000 inhabitants are served by the metre gauge tramcars of the Tranvie del Friuli. There are three town services, operated by 18 four-wheel single-deck cars, and two interurban lines, each with its own cars.” [1]
A vintage postcard image of Via Aquileia with a horse-drawn tram prominent in the picture, © Public Domain. [9]
“Horse tramways were established towards the end of the last century, and operated from the Piazza Liberta (then known as Piazza Vittorio Emanuele) to the station (circular) and to Porta Gemona, where a depot was built.” [1]
Jacques writing about it, said:
“An interurban steam tramway was constructed to connect the city with San Daniele, to the north-west. The Udine terminus and depot of this line were connected to the town tramways.” [1]
The Udine to San Daniele Tramway opened in 1889. Its engineer was Adolf Gründorf and it was managed in the early years by the German banker Karl Neufeldt, it was the first (and only) steam tramway in Friuli, although as early as 1924, under the management of engineer Giacomo Cantoni, it was able utilise electric locomotives. [3]
Although officially a tramway, due to its numerous stations and depots, the length of its trains, and the fact that it was often separated from the road, the Udine–San Daniele line resembled a small railway. [3]
None of its locomotives or other rollingstock survived its closure. [3]
Jacques continued:
“In 1908, the town lines were electrified and 14 single-truck cars were purchased; they were built in 1907 by the Electric Company of Milan and had bow collectors. The connecting track between the town system and the San Daniele line was closed at the time of the electrification.” [1]
Jacques continued:
“During the 1920s considerable improvements were made to the system; cars were overhauled and tracks renewed where necessary, most of the station route being reconstructed with double track, partly on reservation. The Porta Gemona service was extended to Chiavris along the track of the newly-opened electric interurban tramway Udine-Tarcento.
“On 2nd July 1932, an extension of the town tramways was opened on the main Venice road, westwards, on side reservation, as far as San Rocco (via Nervesa); in the following October the line was further extended to its present terminus at San Caterina. On 6th January 1947, the reserved-track line from Chiavris to the Hospital, a branch from the Udine-Tarcento interurban, was opened.
“The present tram fleet comprises the original 14 cars built in 1907 (Nos. 1-14), four cars purchased from Gorizia (Nos. 51-54) and the cars used on the San Daniele and Tarcento lines. All are 4-wheeled except the motor trams on the Tarcento line. The San Daniele interurban tramway is now worked by battery operated motor-cars, although occasionally one of the original steam locomotives is seen. Trailers on this line are closed, with end platforms, and are similar to those used on the former Giants Causeway tramway. The four cars bought from Gorizia are larger than the 1907 class and were built in 1927. They originally ran with central-partitioned saloon and end platforms, but in 1949 and 1950 were rebuilt with folding platform doors and conductor’s seat, and the partitions were removed, ready for ‘pay as you pass’ service.
“The management plan to modernise Nos. 1-14 completely, and the first car to undergo this treatment, No. 13, emerged from the workshops entirely transformed. The ends and roof were removed, as were the partitions between the saloon and the platforms. The longitudinal seats were replaced by transverse single seats. New control equipment was fitted and the exterior and new roof finished in streamline fashion with large windscreens. [1: p107]
The Friuli tramways were an interurban and urban transport network, active primarily in the first half of the twentieth century, connecting Udine with neighbouring towns such as Tarcento and San Daniele del Friuli. Operated by the Società Tranvie del Friuli (TdF) since 1923, these electric lines (often nicknamed ‘white trams’) were crucial to the region’s economic development before road transport became more reliable in the 1950s. [2]
The main tram lines in Friuli were:
Udine-Tarcento Tramway (1915-1955): Also known for its white colour, the line arrived in Tarcento in 1927, quickly connecting the Torre torrent valley to Udine and the railway station.
A vintage photograph showing the “White Tram” in Tricesimo. [3]
Udine-San Daniele Tramway (1889-1955): An important interurban line that connected the capital to San Daniele del Friuli, characterised by a route that acted as a true local railway, operated with accumulator-powered electric locomotives from 1924 onwards.
As this vintage photograph shows, trams on the Udine to San Daniele Interurban line were more like trains! © Public Domain. [8]
Udine Urban Network (1887-1950 approximately): Started with horse-drawn traction and then electrified from 1908 thanks to Arturo Malignani and the Friulian Electricity Company, the urban network shared depots and infrastructures with the interurban lines.
Trams in the centre of Udine in 1922, © Public Domain. [11]
A tram outside Udine railway station building, © Public Domain. [12]
After 1952 …
In the 21st century, Udine does not have an active tram system. The historic, 1000 mm gauge tramway network, which opened in 1887 and once operated through the city centre (including Piazza Vittorio Emanuele), was decommissioned and closed in 1952. Public transport is now managed by Arriva Udine via an extensive bus network. [10]
When Jacques wrote his short article for The Modern Tramway, little did he know that the Udine tram network had only a year or so before it was closed!
References
- Peter J. Jacques; The Tramways of Udine and District; in The Modern Tramway, Volume 14, No. 161, May 1951, p107.
- https://www.stagniweb.it/foto6.asp?File=traminte&Inizio=17&Righe=10&InizioI=1&RigheI=50&Col=5, accessed on 15th May 2026.
- https://www.vecchibinarifvg.it/le-ferrovie-in-friuli/tranvie-friulane, accessed on 15th May 2026.
- http://www.stagniweb.it/foto6.asp?File=carttram&Inizio=15&Righe=10&InizioI=1&RigheI=50&Col=5, accessed on 15th May 2026.
- https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tranvia_Udine-Tarcento, accessed on 15th May 2026.
- https://ebay.us/m/k66mBE, accessed on 15th May 2026.
- https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tranvia_Udine-San_Daniele, accessed on 25th May 2026.
- https://www.dlfudine.it/gruppi/articoli_tender/tender69.pdf, accessed on 15th May 2026.
- https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rete_tranviaria_di_Udine?oldformat=true, accessed on 15th May 2026.
- https://www.welcomeoffice.fvg.it/practical-info/daily-life/transport-facilities/udine-transport-system, accessed on 15th May 2026.
- https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tram_Udine.jpg, accessed on 15th May 2026.
- https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Udine,_stazione_ferroviaria.jpg, accessed on 15th May 2026.
- https://acrobat.adobe.com/id/urn:aaid:sc:EU:2a54dd68-d611-494a-862a-7667957ff066, accessed on 16th May 2026.
Roger Farnworth 
