Vilnius Wheels: The Evolution of the City and Public Transportation

For a long time, Vilnius relied on horse-drawn transport to meet its growing needs – sturdy two-wheeled carts for cargo, and lighter ones for passengers. Eventually, a type of horse-drawn rail tram – known in Vilnius as a konkė (from the Russian konʹ, meaning horse) – arrived from St Petersburg.

Between 1893 and the First World War, roughly 10,000 passengers used the konkė system daily. There were 27 carriages and 122 horses in service across three main routes.

Two of these lines crossed at the junction of Gedimino Avenue and Vilniaus Street. One connected the railway station with the Green Bridge via Vilniaus, Pylimo and Sodų streets. The second ran from the Žvėrynas Bridge to Užupio Avenue via Cathedral Square, Barboros Radvilaitės Street and Maironio Street. A third route linked Cathedral Square to the ferry crossing on the Neris in Antakalnis, at the end of P. Vileišio Street. These routes gave residents easy access to the city’s periphery, river crossings, and ports.

The Vilnius City Council first explored the idea of electric trams in 1899, inspired by cities such as Berlin, Hamburg, and Warsaw. However, a mix of bureaucratic delays, public resistance to roadworks, budget issues, and a lack of technological solutions led to the project being shelved until the First World War. Interestingly, in 1908, Józef Piłsudski and his followers famously robbed a mail train near Bezdonys, redirecting funds to the Polish independence movement, thereby also preserving the Old Town from the disruptive redevelopment that electric tramlines would have brought.

By the turn of the century, the streets of Vilnius were busy enough to warrant action to protect pedestrians. Taking inspiration from London, one of the engines of the industrial revolution, the city introduced pedestrian crossings marked with granite tiles or steel studs. The location of the current zebra crossing at the intersection between Gedimino Avenue and Vilniaus Street dates back to at least 1911. Shrewd shopkeepers often paid to have crossings built just in front of their stores.

Cyclists were already part of the urban landscape when horse-drawn trams first arrived. From 1896, they were closely monitored – registered, restricted, and regulated. Around 300 cyclists joined forces to form a society with headquarters established in the Bernadine Garden; the riders had to contend with increasingly strict rules.

To legally ride, cyclists had to pass a test and register their bikes with the police. Bicycles had to be fitted with brakes, a bell, lights, and a number plate. Riding was banned in the Old Town, parks, and along avenues. When even their access to the Bernadine Garden was restricted, cyclists campaigned for the right to reach their own headquarters. Eventually, they were allowed to ride on Barboros Radvilaitės and Maironio Streets, Gedimino Avenue, along the bank of the Neris River, and in parts of Antakalnis – though even access to the suburbs was restricted.

Bicycles began to boom in popularity around 1925. By 1940, some 40,000 imported bicycles had entered Lithuania. The ‘Amlit’ factory – founded by Lithuanian Americans – produced up to 2,000 bikes annually. They remained a luxury: a single bike cost as much as two or three cows. After purchasing a bicycle, it was mandatory to register it with the county administration and to pay fees for a license to ride it. 

In the Soviet period, Šiauliai became the bicycle capital of Lithuania, where the ‘Vairas’ factory began production of the bikes named ‘Ereliukas’ and ‘Kregždutės‘ (‘Little Eagle‘  and ‘Swallow‘) in 1951. Cycle lanes paved with asphalt became more common. The oldest known cycle route in Vilnius stretches from the public transport roundabout in Antakalnis towards Nemenčinė, most likely in the direction leading to one of the first collective gardens.

Just like in the past, the banks of the Neris are a favourite route among cyclists. In the post-pandemic years, bike numbers have soared, and P. Vileišio Street, which runs parallel to the river, was transformed into a ‘bicycle highway’ that meets every modern standard. Here, cyclists are fully equal road users. 

This kind of integration is new for Vilnius and emerged only in 2022. The first tentative attempt was on M. K. Čiurlionio Street, which was further improved on Krokuvos Street, but now, P. Vileišio Street offers all the necessary design elements for a safe ride. There are plenty of places for rest stops, and a strip of cobblestones in the middle of the road helps regulate car and bike speed alike.

Winding along the river, the ‘bike highway’ becomes a regular cycle path, eventually crossing Antakalnio Street and connecting to the city’s oldest suburban bike route. This route begins at the roundabout at the end of the public transport lines, which once marked the edge of the city limits during the Soviet era. The cycle path continues along Nemenčinės Plentas, towards Lake Balžis, Lake Tapeliai, and the first collective gardens (allotments).

Nearby, a stretch of green next to the old roundabout has been turned into Suoliukų (Bench) Park as part of the Saulėtekis development. Architect Algirdas Kaušpėdas and his team wanted to introduce visitors to as many sculptors as possible, so he invited a range of sculptors to contribute works, forming a shared composition.

When the konkė network was launched in June 1893, its stables and carriage workshops were housed at the site of the Š. Gurvičius’ circus in Lukiškės Square. However, these premises proved unfit for winter, so in autumn of the same year, the city council (Dūma) moved quickly to set up a proper tram park; land at the far end of the Užupis–Antakalnis line was chosen.

Tracks were laid on the site, and the existing residential buildings were adapted to repurpose them as office space. Garages were converted into wagon workshops, and new stables were built for 192 horses, alongside blacksmiths for shoeing them.

The oldest trolleybus still running in Vilnius is a 1958 Škoda, Model No. 1387. It still serves Route No. 2, the city’s very first line. The first two trolleybus routes will soon celebrate their 70th anniversary. Like the konkė lines before them, they crossed paths in the city centre: one ran from the station to Žvėrynas (via Sodų, Pylimo, Jogailos Streets and Gedimino Avenue); the other ran from the station to Antakalnis (via Sodų, Pylimo, Jogailos, Gedimino, Vrublevskio, and Antakalnio Streets). By around 1970, Vilnius had the sixth-largest trolleybus fleet in the world, with 203 vehicles!

The Antakalnis depot is more than just a huge parking area where the trolleybus fleet sleeps – it also houses repair workshops, technical inspection centres (vehicles are checked every 4,500 km), a driver training centre, and the traffic control headquarters responsible for ensuring that public transport services meet population density trends, as well as passenger flows and needs. Modern systems allow each vehicle to be tracked in real-time, making quick coordination and rapid responses in case of disruptions through direct contact with the drivers.

Powered by overhead electric cables, trolleybuses are the greenest form of public transport available. Their infrastructure may soon support a new generation of electric vehicles.

The first public transport buses belonged to private carriers who stepped in, coming to the rescue after World War I, when engineer Liudvikas Piegutovskis’ motorised horse-drawn carriages were left without horses and were increasingly breaking down and slipping off the rails. However, it was not until 1926 that the City Council signed a deal with the Swiss firm ‘Arbon’ to provide regular bus services. The first three of these routes linked the station with the Town Hall and Žvėrynas, Antakalnis, and Vilnius Calvary (Kalvarija). By 1931, the fleet had grown to 100 buses carrying 25,000 passengers a day.

During the Second World War, the military requisitioned every vehicle for use at the front. After the war, captured German Opels and Mercedes vehicles were repaired and repurposed, as well as Soviet heavy ‘ZIS’ trucks, and used to transport passengers. The familiar yellow short and long ‘Ikarus’ buses only arrived in 1972. A single journey cost 4 kopecks, a price that did not change until the rouble was withdrawn from circulation in 1991.

The first Soviet bus depot stood at the start of Ukmergės Street (now Konstitucijos Avenue) behind the Green Bridge. In 1964, a much larger 6.7-hectare complex opened on Verkių Street, providing parking for 400 buses, service workshops, a petrol station, a two-storey administration building and an automated three-lane bus wash.

The first passenger steamboat in Vilnius was built in Koblenz on the Rhine and was brought against the current from Kaunas in 1856. Around 1880, a pier was built at the foot of Gediminas Hill, at the confluence with the Vilnia River. From there, one boat ran about six times a day during the warm season to Verkiai, stopping at the Trinapolis Monastery and Calvary (Kalvarija), and on the other side of the river in Valakampiai. Routes to Žvėrynas and Vingis Park were operated briefly and irregularly only during the Soviet era, after the riverbed was cleaned and deepened in 1956.

At the end of the interwar period, three private steamers regularly sailed on the Neris: K. Borowskis ‘Sokół’ (the Polish name translates as ‘Sakalas’ in Lithuanian and ‘Falcon’ in English ), H. Janowicz’s ‘Kurier’ (‘Kurjeris’ or ‘Courier’) and ‘Śmigły’ (‘Vikrusis’ or ‘Nimble). In the spring of 1940, they were taken over by the Lithuanian State Shipping Company. All three miraculously survived the bombings of 1944 and, in the spring of 1945, after the debris of the destroyed bridges had been cleared, they sailed to Valakampiai.

Passengers were transported most regularly from around 1964, when four diesel-powered ships could be seen sailing: ‘Ryga’, ‘Kijevas’, ‘Taškentas’, and ‘S. Nėris’. They sailed daily every two hours from the pier in the centre of Vilnius to Turniškės, stopping at the piers in Pospeška at the end of Antakalnis, Valakampiai, Trinapolis, and Verkiai.

The fate of these boats is a metaphor for the historical upheaval at the end of the 20th century. The ‘S. Nėris’ was selected for parts to repair the other three vessels and was scrapped around 1985–1986. Although the ‘Taškentas’ was in perfect condition, it was cut up for scrap metal in the 1990s. The ‘Kijevas’, with only its engine remaining, was bought by private individuals and sailed downstream to Kaunas, but it ran aground on a sandbank and was consequently used for scrap a year later. However, the ‘Ryga’, which escaped the scrapyard and was looked after by private owners, can still be seen sailing today.