The Lisbon tramway network () is a system of trams that serves Lisbon, capital city of Portugal. In operation since 1873, it presently comprises six lines. The system has a length of 31 km, and 63 trams in operation (45 historic "Remodelados", 8 historic "Ligeiros" and 10 modern articulated trams). The depot is located in Santo Amaro, in Alcântara. History Origin Lisbon's municipal government wished to develop urban transit and granted concessions to build and operate various systems that included funiculars and tramways. The first tramway in Lisbon entered service on 17 November 1873 as a horsecar line. The vehicles, called americanos after their point of origin, were initially deployed in the flat parts of the city where animals were capable of hauling their passenger loads. Cable trams To surmount the steep slopes where draft animal conveyance was impossible, funiculars were envisioned in proposals made to the municipal government in 1882. The first of them started operating in 1884. This inaugurated the era of cable-driven transport, but the technology of electrical generation, transmission and power was developing concurrently and would eventually supersede it. Cable tram services (or cable cars) afforded an alternative to funiculars for the longer and curved routes required to follow Lisbon's streets. Individual vehicles grasp a steel cable that runs continuously in a channel below the roadway surface. The transport company that ran the funiculars applied for and received the concessions to operate cable trams and from 1890 initially proposed two routes based on plans by the Portuguese engineer Raoul Mesnier du Ponsard, who had already designed Lisbon's funiculars. In all, three lines operated in the city. Each had a gauge, corresponding to that of the extant americanos. The rolling stock on the Estrela and Graça lines were built by Maschinenfabrik Esslingen; the São Sebastião cars apparently were designed by Maschinenfabrik Esslingen but built in Portugal. Elevador da Estrela The first line, put into operation on 15 August 1890, was long and ran from Praça Camões to Largo da Estrela. At the Estrela terminal, the company set up a small depot where the steam-operated powerhouse was also located. Rolling stock consisted of a tug and trailer. Since single-ended vehicles were used on the Estrela route, there was a turntable there and a turning loop (raquette) at Praça Camões. The service ran until 1913 when it was rendered economically unviable by competing electric trams. Its former route is