ARHIVELE OLTENIEI - Universitatea din Craiova

82Şerban Pătraşcumoney to repair 14 them, at almost 15 months since they were brought in Craiova,the situation remained the same. In June 28 th 1943, the engineer I. Negus, themanager of The Communal Factories admitted that: “regarding the tramwaysquestion, they are being mended, because they were given to us alreadydamaged, and they required total repairing” and he recommended the building ofsome workshops and a garage for the tramways 15 .Instead, after a large amount of work, many obstacles and a substantialfinancial effort 16 , they managed, during 1943, to make the trolleybusesfunctional. The works involved: making the installations of the trolleybusesnetwork (180 metallic pillars, anchoring, automatic and fixed switches, etc),building a depot, the paving with cubic stone and maintaining in good conditionthe streets on which the trolleybuses were about to traverse (Carol the FirstBoulevard) or land expropriations. 17 During the summer (in June and July) wereused the following routes: Centre – Station and Centre – Park. The third line, onwhich the works already began, was supposed to follow the next route: Centre –The Brick Street – The Military Hospital. 18 This entire route Station – Park hadfour zones and cost, in January 1944, the equivalent of price for two pieces ofbread, for one of these zones a person had to pay 15 lei, and for acommunication ticket, on the general route, 2 000 lei. Dispensation could haveonly the war invalids, with more than 80 percent rate of invalidity and eventhose people in special cases. 19 The Craiova’s dwellers, most for necessity –because there was no other mean of transport – and the others probably fromcuriosity, will travel a lot with the trolleybuses. Especially the route Centre –Station will bring a lot of money, an average of 81 000 lei a day 20 .14 They tried to repair 4 tramways for which they allocated 1,5 millions lei but, finally,the sum rose to 9 millions lei (cf. Buletinul Oficial al Municipiului Craiova, an. III, nr.16-18, 15 thDecember 1942 – 15 th January 1943, p. 2; Liberalul, an. I, nr. 6 from 10 th February 1945, p. 4).Cleverer or maybe luckier, the Authorities from Constanta, in the same period, succeeded to repairand to open a tram line with tramways also brought from Odessa.15 Buletinul Oficial al Municipiului Craiova, an. IV, nr 6-9, 15 th June – 15 th August1943, p. 6. The construction of the depot, estimated to cost 4 millions lei, was put out to contract tothe society Dalla Barba and Peresutti, which began building it in Calea Brestei (cf. BuletinulOficial al Municipiului Craiova, an. IV, nr 6-9, 15 th June – 15 th August 1943, p.3-4).16 Besides the subventions received from the Internal Ministry and their own funds, theMunicipality authorized the Communal Factories to contract a loan of 20 millions lei, for 40 years,from the Casa de Credit Judeţean şi Comunal (Buletinul Oficial al Municipiului Craiova, an. III,nr. 13-15, 15 th October – 30 th November 1942, p.5-6).17 Buletinul Oficial al Municipiului Craiova, an. III, nr. 3-4; an. III, nr. 16-18, 15thDecember 1942 – 15 th January 1943, p. 2; an. IV, nr. 6-9, 15 th June – 15 th August 1943, p. 3-4; an.IV, nr. 10-14, 15 th August – 15 th October 1943, p. 6.18 Buletinul Oficial al Municipiului Craiova, an. IV, nr 6-9, 15 th June – 15 th August1943, p. 6.19 Buletinul Oficial al Municipiului Craiova, an. III, nr. 3-4; an. III, nr. 16-18, 15thDecember 1942 – 15 th February 1944, p. 9.20 Buletinul Oficial al Municipiului Craiova, an. IV, nr 6-9, 15 th June – 15 th August1943, p. 6.