The world’s oldest Tatra T3 tram in regular service (manufactured in 1963) operates in Kharkiv, Ukraine.

“In regular service” means it carries passengers on a regular basis. It mainly runs on Route 1, the shortest route in the city.

There is an even older car in Prague (1962), but it is used for museum and sightseeing tours. The main external difference between our veteran and all the others is that it has two doors.

The car didn’t arrive in Kharkiv until 2013; in the Czech Republic, it carried passengers until 1985, then was converted into a training car, and in 1997, back into a regular service car.

The most interesting fact is that it originally had three doors, but during the conversion, the Czechs removed the middle door. I’d like to believe that car number 3050 will be preserved for future generations—it’s simply too valuable.

By the way, the T3 design has its roots in the American PCC tram of the 1930s.