Trams for trans

 Two pieces of positive trans news revolving, of all things, around trams.

Last weekend a trans friend of mine went to work as a volunteer conductor (conductress?) on the trams at the UK's national tram museum at the Crich Tramway Village in Derbyshire. It was her first day on the job and she was attracted to it both by the trams and by their LGBT-friendly policies. If you can do the job with competence and enthusiasm then they'll have you, they said. Which is how any job ought to be. 

She says it was tiring but she really enjoyed it. Obviously there's a lot to learn, even in the apparently simple task of giving out tickets, but interacting with families who were enjoying a day out was the best part. She hopes to go more regularly and eventually, if she's up to the job (of course she is!), they'll put her on a course to become a driver.

It's a pity that Britain got rid of so many of its tramways. London, for instance, lost its trams in 1952, which were replaced by buses. Then they realised that trams have merits after all so they introduced the Croydon Tramlink to South London in 2000, although that's more of a light rail system than a streetcar or trolley. New tram systems have also been reintroduced in other British cities like Manchester, Edinburgh and Nottingham, some more successfully than others. 

I have used public transport most of my life and delays in my getting out in public as a girl were partly due to my reliance on public rather than private transport. On public transport, there's nowhere to hide!

I'm writing on this topic partly to praise the trans-friendly employer above and to pay a promise to put up some of the pictures I took of the old trams in Milan that have been in continuous service since 1928. Milan has had an extensive tram network operating continuously since the nineteenth century so, unlike at Crich, they're not museum pieces - I use them to get about. But I wanted to record their presence as they can't stay in service for ever. Last month I mentioned one of these old trams decked out in Pride colours and since there are a lot of trans girls who like transport and vehicles (I guess you can't take all the boy out of the girl!) I agreed to post pictures here. 

Next time I'll try to photograph and film the interiors with their glass lamps and the wooden seating polished to a high shine. But if you want more info, here's the Wikipedia article.

The best places to see them are in Piazza Cordosio, a busy square in the city centre between the cathedral and the castle, and outside the monumental central station. There are about 150 still in service running on half a dozen routes. Route 5 runs closest to home, hence it features more here.

I'm hoping to edit the various film clips together in due course and put them up on YouTube but here's a bit of film of two trams painted with advertising departing, and a tram in standard livery arriving. You get to hear the noises of trams rattling on rails and the wooden doors opening with a hiss and slap. The guy getting on the middle door, which is for exiting passengers, shows typical local behaviour!

I took photos of the three other types of tram to be seen, dating from the late 1950s, the late 1970s and the more recent low-slung caterpillars. I could give you a close-up of the 1950s tram but I couldn't resist keeping the lady in the snazzy jumpsuit in the picture. Now that's an outfit I don't think I'd ever have the guts to wear in the street, so kudos to her.

And here's the old lady in Pride colours (I identify with her!) and the latest type outside the colossal railway station. The city's transport provider, ATM, is an equal opportunities employer and I'm pleased to report, as the second positive item here, that, as of next year, any trans person may used their preferred name and gender on their season ticket. This measure has been brought in thanks to the hard work of our wonderful trans councillor, Monica Romano, who was elected on the basis of locals having tried everyone else so why not trust a trans for once! That trans-positive campaign worked, as I mentioned in 2021. And here we are.

Enjoy your travels, girls.

Sue x