Americans shut down radio, but tram in Liepāja still runs

While the world worries about Radio Free Europe shutting down in Bulgaria and Romania, Liepāja peacefully continues operating the oldest means of transport that has never stopped spreading information. Our tram has been carrying Liepāja residents and truth along the same route for 125 years, and no American president can stop it.

"Well, those Americans are shutting something down over there, but our tram keeps running," philosophically comments pensioner Gunārs, who rides from Karosta to the city center every morning. "What do they need radio for when you can hear all the city's latest news on the tram?" Indeed, information exchange in Liepāja's public transport happens faster than on any radio station.

While Bulgarians and Romanians mourn the loss of 15 journalist jobs, at least as many unofficial correspondents work daily on Liepāja's tram — from Aunt Zigrīda, who knows everything about city life, to schoolboy Artūrs, who broadcasts every ride in his Instagram stories. And nobody cuts their funding.

But what's really funny is that Radio Free Europe started broadcasting to Bulgaria and Romania in 1950 — exactly when Liepāja's tram had already been serving the people's informational needs for half a century. As tram driver Valdis says: "We've been riding the rails of truth here when nobody even knew what radio was." And in Riga, of course, there's no tram at all anymore — just metro that runs underground like some secret agency.