This year marks 13 years since Karolína Hubková started working as a tram driver. She completed a standard course that every tram driver in Prague must attend. „In two months, you will learn regulations, transportation conditions, some basic technical knowledge, line management, and drive around the city in a training tram. They learn to ride trams that run in normal traffic on normal lines, nothing special.” Prague is a big tram city, so it looks like a „factory for new drivers”.

Gradually, she had a close relationship with the history of transportation. As a young girl, Karolína traveled as a conductor and a steward on steam trains, allowing her to travel abroad, often with friends. After six years as a „normal” driver, she received an offer to represent the newly designed tram T3 Coupé, which is intended for sightseeing trips, birthday parties and company briefings. „I accepted the offer, and along with it came a prestigious offer to drive other sightseeing trams, which are mostly really old and have a different driving style. It was another tram course, more individual and intensive. There were no longer 15 of us like in the basic course, but only 3. I was the first woman since 1974, when regular operation of these two-axle trams was terminated. My two colleagues and I completed the course and our muscles grew. I became a driver of historical and excursion trams. Every day I made tourists and people celebrating birthdays and weddings happy.”

Karolína Hubková became a celebrity in the national community of transportation. For personal and health reasons, she had to put her beloved job on hold. „Topics such as workaholism and pregnancy appeared in my life. Because I couldn’t drive trams while pregnant, I got a replacement job.” She commenced working at the exhibition of the Museum of Public Transport. „Unfortunately, I lost my child, but I still asked if I could stay in my new job and driving a tram could not remain just a part-time job and a joy.” The company’s management agreed with her and she launched the marketing development of the Museum. Karolína devised guided tours, special exhibitions, and other cultural events.

„When I mentally recovered and published my book, luck struck again.” Today she is on parental leave, which in the Czech Republic can last up to three years. „I have an amazing son, I’m writing another book on the topic of transportation, and I’m looking forward to going back to my job to tell stories about the history of urban transportation in Prague, take my favorite tourists on an old tram, and continue to promote the incredible cultural heritage of our ancestors.”

There are many female tram drivers in Romania. How is gender inclusion viewed in this field in the Czech Republic?

I think the number of female tram drivers is increasing all over Europe. Women are becoming much more emancipated, and driving modern trams is no longer as physically difficult as it used to be a hundred years ago. Modern technologies, on the other hand, greatly assist in driving.

 

How does the driving style differ between a modern tram and a vintage tram? Which one would you rather drive for pleasure?

If I exclude horse-drawn traffic from the list, trams were previously controlled using a hand controller and hand brake, making extensive use of the laws of physics and the gradient conditions of tram tracks. Physical fitness and technical knowledge of the vehicle were prerequisites. Today, this is no longer the case, traffic is controlled by electronics and computers, lots of engines on endlessly long trams. That’s nothing for me. I’m a traditional person who likes it when the tram listens and not when I have to listen to the tram.

 

In Prague, there is a division responsible for the maintenance of historical trams. What are the challenges of maintaining or conserving these industrial historical assets?

Yes, Prague not only has its own exhibition, the Museum of Public Transport, but also its own unit of historical vehicles. We operate two regular special historical lines 41 and 42, one retro line 23 and bus line K. For these special lines, we also have vehicles that have slight modifications to meet legislative requirements for everyday operation. The trams in the Museum’s exhibition do not have these modifications. That is the main difference.

 

Does the joy of driving the tram compensate for a demanding work schedule?

My work is not only my hobby, but also my lifestyle. After burnout at work, I realized that I needed to have other hobbies, so I cut back on my work a bit and now devote myself to gardening and family, for example.

 

What are the satisfactions of working in an industrial history museum?

I love people, I love their stories and destinies, I love creating experiences for people and teaching them something new. Prague is one of the world leaders in tram transport. We have one of the densest tram networks in the world, we have produced thousands of trams that still run all over the world today. The world deserves to know this, which is why I am so grateful for the space you gave me in this interview.

Acest material a fost realizat cu acordul și sprijinul lui Karolína Hubková.