urban rail transport, modernization, society, 20th century, Moravia, Silesia, economic history

This paper deals with the issue of building urban transport in Ostrava and Brno at the turnf of the 20thg century. The aim of this paper is to present public transport as an important part of the modernization process of society in those days. The internal structure and financial situaction of individual transport companies have been analyzed, as well as their relationship to their respective municipal governments and the transformation of these relationships during the researched period.