Last tram: Turku becomes a car city

For 64 years electric trams rang through the streets of Turku. On the night of 1 October 1972 the last one made its final round, packed with four times as many people as it was built for. Then the buses took over.

The 1970s · Republic

The big story

Last tram: Turku becomes a car city

In the 1960s cars, buses and wide streets looked like the future, and trams looked old. Turku closed its tram lines one by one, and in 1972 the last tram went to the depot. Fifty years later the city decided to bring trams back.

Trams in Turku

Horses first. Turku had horse-drawn trams in 1890–1892. The electric tramway opened on 22 December 1908 Well documented.
German builders. The German company AEG built and ran the tramway under a 40-year deal with the city. The city bought the operation on 15 April 1919. The first cars were built by ASEA Well documented.
Growing network. In 1908 there were two lines, a circle around the centre and a line to the harbour. In 1932 the network grew to three lines, and in 1951 a circular line 3 was added, later split into an inner circle 3A and an outer circle 3B Well documented.
War and peace. During both world wars, when petrol was scarce, the trams were full. After 1945 passenger numbers fell Well documented.

Closing down

Many plans. Plans to close the tramway were made in 1952 and again in 1961–62, and one proposal suggested closing it by 1980. The city council rejected or delayed them. Planned light-rail lines to Raisio and Kaarina were never built Well documented.
Politics. The right-wing parties wanted private bus companies to take over, the left wanted city-run buses Well documented.
The decision. The head of the city traffic department proposed ending trams by 1972, because keeping them would need money for tracks and cars. The bus plans simply assumed that buses were cheaper, without a proper comparison of the costs. 75–80 diesel buses were needed Well documented.
One by one. Line 1 closed on 11 March 1967, the inner circle 3A on 24 April 1971, line 2 on 31 May 1972 and the outer circle 3B on 1 October 1972 Well documented.

The last ride

23:30. On 1 October 1972 the last tram on line 3B left at 23:30 and finished its round at 23:54 Well documented.
Packed. It carried nearly two hundred passengers, although it was certified for only 50. Many people wanted to say goodbye Well documented.
What is left. Six of Turku’s old tram cars survive Well documented.

A city for cars?

More cars. In the 1960s and 1970s more and more Finnish families bought a car, and cities were planned around them Likely.
Fewer passengers. After the trams closed, fewer people used public transport, and the city buses ran at a loss until they were reorganised in the 1990s Well documented.
A mistake? The closure of the Turku tramway is now widely seen as a mistake Well documented.
Trams return. In May 2026 the city council decided to build a new tramway, with passenger service planned from 2033 (stop 50) Well documented.
What we do not know. We did not find reliable details of the car-traffic plans of the time, such as new roads through the centre Well documented.

How do we know?

City council decisions and the traffic department’s plans were written down, and tram enthusiasts have collected the dates of every line and car. Our tram facts come from one well-referenced encyclopedia article. The story of the last ride, with nearly two hundred people on board, comes from the same source.

The tram lines close one by one, 1965–1972; then see how full the last tram was.The trams and buses are simple drawings, not exact models.

Why it matters

The choice made in the 1960s, buses and cars instead of trams, shaped how people in Turku have moved around for fifty years. Many cities that kept or rebuilt their trams are now held up as examples. In the 2030s you may ride a new tram on almost the same streets where the old ones ran.

On the lighter side

Disco, flared jeans and youth clubs

In the 1970s young Finns found their music on the radio, on television and on cassette tape. Before the decade was out, disco, punk and teen pop had all arrived. A mixtape was the playlist of the seventies.

Music on tape

Little for the young. In the early 1970s the radio played little music for young people Well documented.
Saturday, four o’clock. Teenagers sat by the radio with a cassette recorder and taped songs from the Saturday youth show “Nuorten sävellahja” between four and five in the afternoon, or from the Sunday chart show “Lista” Well documented.
Your own mix. The cheap cassette let young people collect and swap their own music for the first time Likely.

Pop on television

Iltatähti. The TV music show Iltatähti (“Evening star”) started in June 1973. The rock band Hurriganes made its first TV appearance there on 4 December 1973 Well documented.
Disco. In February 1977 the show reported on the Finnish championships for disc jockeys, and later that spring a singer performed schlager with a disco touch Well documented.
Punk. On 6 March 1977 Iltatähti showed the Sex Pistols. Later that year the teen pop band Bamboo from Lahti suddenly became hugely popular Well documented.
From Turku. In October 1977 Kaamos, a progressive rock band from Turku, played on Iltatähti in the same programme as Seija Simola and the British band Smokie Well documented.

Free time

Hanging around. A TV documentary from 1979 showed young people at daytime dances and hanging around the streets, which adults often frowned on. At home, stereos and television filled the evenings Well documented.
Flares and long hair. Flared jeans, long hair and platform shoes were the fashion of the decade, in Finland as in the rest of the Western world Likely.
The big event. In Turku the big youth event of the decade was Ruisrock, which drew about 100,000 people in 1971 (stop 43) Well documented.
What we did not find. We did not find when Turku’s first discos or youth houses opened, or what they were called Well documented.

Side A: radio

Side B: TV

A 1970s mixtape: pick a track to hear a moment from radio and TV.Events from the whole of Finland. The Turku band Kaamos is the one Turku moment we found.

How do we know?

Yle’s archive keeps the radio and TV programmes of the time, and its articles describe what was shown and when. A 1979 documentary on free time shows how young people actually spent their evenings. For Turku we found almost nothing; local newspapers and the city youth office’s records would be needed.

Why it matters

The seventies were when young people began to choose their own music and their own media: taping songs, watching pop on TV, travelling to festivals. The playlists, streams and festivals of today grew out of the mixtapes and pop shows of those years.

Sources and further reading

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