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Brno orders another 60 trams; Trieste –Opicina tramway opens in Italy.
NEW TRAM ORDERS 128
Mike Taplin offers up his annual round-up of the global vehicle market – which this year appears marked by stagnation.
AL E x ANDRIA 134
Mike Russell returns to Alexandria, and finds a system and fleet in much need of attention.
PROFILE : JAMES HAMMETT
UKTram’s Managing Director recounts his journey from apprenticeship to leader.
LRTA SPECIAL SECTION
The intertwined challenges of building a tramway; battery trams in Birmingham; Celebrating the industry’s rising stars.
BRAu NSCHWEI g
Twenty years since its most recent extensions, this German city is looking to extend its routes. Andrew Thompson looks at the options.
S y STEMS FACTFILE : C
Light rail forms the core of this city’s urban transportation offering. Neil Pulling explores how the system has evolved through various challenging projects.
WORLDWIDE REVIEW
Test running starts on new Perth line; Prague agrees new extension; Warsaw launches tender for new trams.
CLASSIC TRAMS:
P ENNS y LVANIA M u SE u M PART 1
In the first of a short series, Mike Russell uncovers the Pennsylvania Trolley Museum, deserving of its premier ranking.
How will light rail defend itself in a new era?
It is good to learn the UK’s West Yorkshire is not wasting any time in pushing forward its light rail system for the two major population centres of Leeds and Bradford (plus others) to further address the recognised backlog of economic investment in the north of England.
It is hardly a surprise, but welcome nonetheless, that a survey of local people has seen them vote overwhelmingly for something they have wanted for at least half a century.
All this is bound to be a lively topic when the UK Light Rail Conference returns to Leeds on 22-23 July, when we will hear the opinions of top industry figures and learn first-hand from manufacturers and the supply chain how they view their prospects.
West Yorkshire Mayor Tracey Brabin is more impatient than most to get shovels in the ground next year, and we all have to hope that major capital schemes such as this will not get derailed yet again. The new elephant in the room is how to raise GBP6bn (EUR7.2bn) to raise defence spending to over 2.5% of GDP, with more to follow.
While trams themselves are only part of the light rail jigsaw, this issue talks about a worldwide slowdown in deliveries of new vehicles. As Michael Taplin explains in some detail, the general sluggishness by manufacturers conveniently matches up with delays in the completion of new networks, route extensions, and general renewals.
Time-served builders such as Alstom are often burdened by the inefficient factories they have inherited through mergers and takeovers, so how many plant closures are on the horizon?
China figures yet again. It has always seemed to be able to turn tram building on and off like a tap, but will this continue now that the world is sailing into uncharted waters?
Matt Johnston, Editor
COVER: A KVB K4000 pair with a line 1 service on 26 July 2024 at Deutzer Freiheit on the east-west axis of Cologne’s light rail operations. Neil Pulling
APRIL 2025 Vol. 88 No. 1048 www.tautonline.com
EDITORIAL
Editor – Matt Johnston matt@mainspring.co.uk
Associ At E Editor – Tony Streeter tony.streeter@mainspring.co.uk
WorldW id E Editor – Michael Taplin miketap@mainspring.co.uk
sEN ior c o N tributor s –Howard Johnston , Neil Pulling
WO rldW id E C ONT ribu TO r S r ichard Foster, Andrew Grahl, Andrew Moglestue, Herbert Pence, Mike russell, Nikolai s emyonov, Alain s enut, Andrew t hompson, Witold urbanowicz, bill Vigrass, t homas Wagner, Philip Webb.
Productio N – Lanna Blyth tel: +44 (0)1733 367604 production@mainspring.co.uk
d E si GN – Debbie Nolan
A Dv ERTI s I ng
co MME rci A l M ANAGE r – g eoff Butler tel: +44 (0)1733 367610 geoff@mainspring.co.uk
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Neil Pulling
M. J. r ussell
M. J. r ussell
Testing starts for Prague’s first 52T
Škoda unveiled the first of Praha (Prague)’s new 52T trams at its Plze ň test track on 27 January. This was developed to meet the contract specification from the Czech capital’s transport operator DPP; 40 have been ordered in a deal worth CZK16.6bn (EUR662m).
Zdeněk H ř ib, First Deputy Mayor for Transport and Chairman of the Prague Public Transit Company Supervisor Board said: “This is a significant milestone because, after almost 20 years, Prague is getting a completely new type of tram. We have started an unprecedented tram boom in Prague. New lines are growing
Brazilian revival
Trams now run over the full length of the Santa Teresa Tramway’s Paula Mattos branch. The 1.3km (0.8-mile) line in the Brazilian capital Rio de Janeiro closed in 2011, but the 550m Largo do Guimarães – Rua Monte Alegre section reopened on 28 August 2024; the remainder, to Largo das Neves, followed on 13 January after an opening ceremony on 10 January.
Services on the line currently operate Monday to Friday only, 08.00-17.00. Repair of three defective T’Trans trams has brought the available fleet to eight.
Work to reopen the section between Dois Irmãos and Silvestre, underway since early 2024, is expected to be completed in May.
Manchester tenders for green power
Transport for Greater Manchester has issued a tender for 45 000 megawatt hours of ‘green’ energy a year. TfGM aims to become the first carbon-neutral transport operator in the UK.
The deal is worth an estimated GBP57m (EUR69m) over 15 years.
Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham said: “We’re making rapid progress to electrify our bus fleet and our depots, and are on track to have a full electric network by 2030.”
like mushrooms after rain in the capital, which is why it is necessary to expand the tram fleet substantially.
“In the next two years, we will launch several new lines, for example to Malešice, Strahov, Nové Dvory, Žižkov, or the museum, where we will build on the already implemented line on Wenceslas Square. In short, trams are a symbol of modern and ecological transport, making Prague a cleaner and more pleasant city to live in.”
Tram 9501 is set to start commissioning trials in the Czech capital in April. The 100% low-floor tram is 32m long and 2.5m wide and can carry up to
243 passengers (70 seated). Its four bogies are powered with the two outer ones rotating. Škoda is
using 230 suppliers to help build the trams, 73% of which are Czech companies.
Another 60 EVO2s for Brno
DPMB, the transport operator in the Czech city of Brno, has ordered 60 more EVO2 kits from Pragoimex. They are due to be delivered between 2026 and 2033. Pragoimex, the trading name for Czech consortium Alliance TW Team, has been supplying EVO2 articulated cars to DPMB since 2020.
The 100% low-floor car bodies are produced by KOS in Krnov, with electrical equipment from Starman Electronics. The resulting kit of parts is assembled in DPMB’s own workshops in the suburb of Brno-Medlánky. According to reports, the decision to order more EVO2s was because the first batch has
been reliable and DPMB wants to keep the know-how gained from the vehicles’ assembly. This new batch of these single-ended vehicles should be between 21m and 23m long and 2.56m wide. They are to be able to negotiate 18m-20m radius curves and will have air conditioning.
ABOVE: The first of the new trams for Praha, 9501, on the test track. Škoda
New trams unveiled at Plzeň test track
ABOVE: The EVO2 tram design is set to become a staple of the Brno fleet. A. Thompson
Paris starts métro renewal
Arrival of first métro trains marks step towards fleet renewal
RIGHT: Carrying an experimental livery chosen by network sponsor Îlede-France Mobilités, the first MF19 train is at Bobigny workshops. Alstom
Arrival of the first of 411 MF19 steel-wheel métro trains to Bobigny workshops in February was the first step towards Paris métro operator RATP’s large-scale fleet renewal. EUR4.9bn is being invested, with delivery likely to run until 2035.
The first batch should enter service on line 10 by the end of 2025. After that, MF67, MF77 and MF88 trains on lines 7-bis, 3-bis, 13, 12, 8, 3 and 7 will be replaced by a new design, featuring increased comfort, more space,
improved information systems, better accessibility and security.
Some 98% of the material used in the MF19s is recyclable, while they are to use 25% less energy than previous vehicles. The modular design permits four- or five-car trains with three lengths (61m, 76.1m and 77.5m) to suit the requirements of eight lines. EUR3bn is also being invested in the lines’ infrastructure. A new maintenance depot will be built at Créteil-Valenton, while the one at St-Fargeau will be modernised.
Italy’s Trieste – Opicina tramway re-opens
Almost nine years after it was closed following an accident, Italy’s 5.2km (3.2-mile) metregauge Trieste – Opicina tram line reopened on 1 February. An initial timetable of 19 daily trips using a single car between 07.00-20.00 was increased to 39 trips with two cars from 17 February. By the time this issue closed for press, 58 trips should be running with three cars.
Dating from 1902, the line incorporates an 800m funicular section to overcome a 160m
difference in height. Services start from Piazza Dalmazia in Trieste; the line will later be extended by 100m to the traditional terminus at Piazza Oberdan.
The six trams in the fleet were built by Stanga in 1935-42. It was a head-on collision between two of these vehicles that caused the closure of the line in August 2016. There are also two pusher cars for the funicular section, built by Ceretti & Tanfani in 2006.
‘Landmark document’ released for UK tram-train
The UK’s Light Rail Safety & Standards Board has published a “landmark document” on tramtrain operation.
LRG 71.0 - Tram-Train Interface Guidance is, the LRSSB states, “intended to give advice rather than set a mandatory standard for the sector” and is “based upon goal setting principles and good practice”.
All aspects of tram-train operation are covered, from the
design of potential vehicles to the signalling arrangements where light and heavy rail networks meet.
Tram-trains are increasingly common in Europe, but Britain’s only such operation runs between Sheffield and Rotherham, which began service in 2018. However, the mode is planned for Cardiff – while other proposals include expanding the Sheffield operation.
Strasbourg safety recommendations published
France’s Land Transport Accident Investigation Bureau has issued its first recommendation following the tram accident at Gare Centrale in Strasbourg on 11 January (TAUT 1047). LTAIB says that drivers should receive education on the ultimate function of the safety brake in dynamic situations, particularly in regard to Alstom Citadis stock. Service on Lines A and D through the Gare Centrale
subway did not resume until 23 February.
The city council is to put forward revised proposals for the northern extension in October. This comes after a commission rejected the 4.8km (three-mile) extension to Schiltigheim and Bischeim late last year (TAUT 1046). The results of consultation into the new plans should be submitted to a public inquiry in 2027.
RIGHT: The first car on the reopened Trieste – Opicina tramway. Funimag
Trams reach Florence’s centre
Historic centre finally within tram reach
Firenze (Florence) reintroduced trams in 2010 – but it took until 25 January for them to run through the historic city centre. That was when the VACS (Variante Alternativa Centro Storico) line was opened by the Italian city’s mayor Sara Funaro.
This is a 2.5km (1.6-mile) extension of line T2, which originally opened in 2019. It has five stops and terminates at San Marco University (the old T2 terminus at Unita was closed). The new line starts from the Viale Filippo Strozzi junction with T1 (the first new line in
West Yorkshire has its say
Nearly 5000 residents of Leeds and Bradford have responded to the public consultation on the potential initial routes for West Yorkshire Mass Transit (UK).
West Yorkshire Combined Authority is to announce the preferred scheme later this year, with detailed plans appearing in 2026.
Known as L1, the route between St James’s Hospital and Leeds city centre came top. It would link the First Direct Arena, Leeds Beckett University, Millennium Square, East Parade and Infirmary Street, City Square and Leeds City station.
There was also a choice of a ‘south Leeds route’. Line L6 - via Holbeck, Elland Road stadium, Beeston Ring Road and White Rose shopping centre topped preferences.
Firenze) and runs along Viale Lavagnini to Piazza della Liberta before diverging in two different directions. It runs inbound along Via Cavour to Piazza San Marco, returning along Via La Mira and Via la Marmora. It is expected that 800 passengers/day will use the new stops.
The extension was built by a consortium of CMB, Hitachi Rail, Alstom, MERMEC and Com. Net under a concession covering the line’s design and construction, the supply of trams, and management of all Firenze tramway lines.
T2 is set to be extended
across the River Arno to Bagno a Ripoli, where a new depot will be constructed. Hitachi Rail Italia is supplying 16 new trams,
Routes unveiled for Mongolia tramway
Mongolia’s capital Ulaanbaatar is to build a two-line tram system, according to the Mongolian National News Agency. Project Director B. Anu-Ujin reportedly announced the routes on 23 January.
The first line will run from the Nisekh Roundabout, along Yarmag Road and over the Peace Bridge, ending at Sukhbaatar Square. Opened in 1963, the 379m Peace Bridge crosses the centre of the city. It was deemed unsafe in the early 2000s but was restored with financial aid from China. Design work on this line is due to be completed in April, with a tender for construction issued in June. It is hoped that it will open in 2030.
A second line, further behind in development, is to run from
Sydney metro mock-up unveiled
Sukhbaatar Square to Zunjin.
B. Anu-Ujin said: “This project can be implemented relatively quickly while ensuring road safety and passenger comfort. Each tram can carry 150-300 passengers. Travelling by tram from Yarmag to Sukhbaatar Square is estimated to take 2030 minutes. As a result, traffic congestion on Yarmag Road could be reduced by 27.5%.”
Meanwhile, construction of Ulaanbaatar’s 17.7km (11-mile) metro is due to start in September (TAUT 1037). The east-west line, which is expected to cost EUR1.2bn to build, is one of four infrastructure schemes designed to ease traffic congestion in the city. Along with the tram and metro, two road schemes are being developed.
Siemens Mobility has unveiled a full-scale mock-up of the new train for the Sydney Metro Western Sydney Airport project. Comprising one car, the mockup will enable stakeholders to evaluate and finalise the design, including lighting, passenger information displays, layout, materials and ergonomics.
Léon Soulier, CEO Turnkey Business Unit at Siemens Mobility, said: “The high-fidelity train mock-up for the Sydney Metro Western Sydney Airport project has arrived in Australia, marking another milestone. This
signalling and track location systems. Alstom is responsible for track construction, overhead electrification and lighting.
New tracks and trams for Silesia
Poland’s Tramwaje Ślą skie (Silesian Trams) has signed two new contracts, one for 50 low-floor trams and the other for reconstruction of track on B ę dzin’s Czeladzka Street.
The tram order, worth PLN777m (EUR186m), was placed with PESA and Modertrans. It is understood that PESA is to deliver 30 single-ended and ten double-ended Twists, and Modertrans is to supply ten doubled-ended Moderus Gammas in 2026. These are being funded by the EU’s Climate and Environment programme.
The reconstruction contract was signed with ZUE SA of Krakow on 27 January for the section between the tram roundabout near Katowice station and the viaduct over National Highway 86.
line will support 14 000 jobs during construction, fuelling growth for both New South Wales and the economy.”
Sydney Metro Western Sydney Airport is part of the wider Sydney Metro project. This will comprise 113km (70 miles) of track and 46 stations. The 23km (14-mile) line links St Mary’s to the new Western Sydney Airport and Bradfield city centre via Luddenham. Siemens’ 15-year turnkey contract includes 12 automated metro trains, which are due to be delivered before passenger service starts in 2026.
ABOVE: An AnsaldoBreda Sirio on the new line. Hitachi
ABOVE: The mock-up of a Sydney Western Metro carriage. Siemens
Stadler Tramlinks enter service in Milan
First low-floor Stadler vehicles start running after public unveiling
The first of 74 new Stadler Tramlink 100% low-floor trams entered service in the Italian city of Milano (Milan) on 20 February, having been unveiled to the public the previous day. They are initially being used on lines 7 and 31, and mark a EUR190m investment by operator ATM.
Tramlinks will not replace the 150 pre-war Ventotto trams, but rather the oldest six-axle articulated cars dating from 1955-60 and the first of the 1970s Jumbo eight-axle cars. The new vehicles will increase the proportion of low-floor trams in the fleet from 48% to 70%.
The three-section Stadler Tramlinks are 25.4m long and 2.4m wide, with a 350mm floor height and 66 seats. They are equipped with four 105kW motors; top speed is limited to 60km/h (37mph). A further 14
five-section 35m trams are also expected to join the fleet.
Milano has a 157km (98-mile) tramway network, with 17 lines operating out of five depots.
Interurban trams work outside the city boundary (over two lines from two depots) but services on these are currently suspended for a major rebuilding programme.
New trams for Alexandria
Signing of an EGP11.8bn (EUR224m) contract with HyundaiRotem for 30 65m trams is the latest milestone in the modernisation of the Raml tramway in Al-Iskandariya (Alexandria). Some 13.2km (8.2 miles) of infrastructure is also to be modernised, with stops re-positioned. This aims to raise the commercial speed on the Egyptian network from 11km/h (7mph) to 21km/h (13mph). Other developments include a 1km (0.6-mile) extension at the city end. Work is due to finish in 2027, using loans from the French Development Agency and the European Investment Bank.
Contracts for Porto
A consortium of Ayesa and Portuguese engineering company GRID has been awarded contracts for design and environmental studies for four metro lines that form the basis for
Porto
This scheme will add
miles) to the Porto Metro network, which stands at 73km (67 miles). The new lines are to link towns within the Porto Metropolitan Area: Gondomar, Trofa and Maia.
Phase 2 Brierley Hill construction underway
Construction has started on Phase 2 of the West Midlands Metro’s extension to Brierley Hill. UK Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander was in the Midlands on 6 February to witness the ground-breaking ceremony on the GBP295m (EUR357m) project.
The new line will link Flood Street in Dudley to Merry Hill
Shopping Centre. West Midlands Combined Authority said that it would call at “Cinder Bank, Pedmore Road and the Waterfront business park”. The scheme involves re-opening part of the former Oxford Worcester & Wolverhampton Railway route that closed in 1993, including the 150m Parkhead viaduct over the Dudley Canal.
Heidi Alexander said: “We’re turning the tide on poor transport connections in the West Midlands and delivering a transport system that people can rely on, raising living standards across the region.
“The extension of the West Midlands Metro will be transformational. I am delighted to officially mark the start of
work today as this Government gets on with supporting local jobs and business while empowering local leaders to deliver our Plan for Change.”
Rising costs forced the scheme to link Wednesbury to Brierley Hill to be divided into two phases. Phase 1, from Wednesbury to Dudley, is due to open later this year.
ABOVE: Milano (Milan) Stadler Tramlink 7701 on Line 31 on 20 February. C. Adorna
NEW tram ord E rs 2025
despite healthy order books, what most characterises 2025 appears to be a relative lack of growth. michael taplin rounds up the numbers for the rest of the year.
This annual review sets out orders for new trams that have yet to be delivered, or where delivery is in progress, and looks ahead in respect of future orders.
As we said last month in the review of new tramways due to open in 2025, delay seems to be the name of the game, for several different reasons. Manufacturers are behind on their delivery schedules, and progress with new systems is also slow. Perhaps the coincidence of these two trends is just as well, as otherwise completed systems might be without trams to run them, or depots would be full of trams with nowhere to run.
In overall terms there has been a small increase in the number of trams subject to definite orders, (5941 last year, to 6161 in 2025). Options saw a similarly small rise (2513 to 2605). Many orders contain options that permit more trams to be bought in the future, useful where future finance is uncertain.
In 2025 finance for tramway investment is clearly becoming harder to find, a situation that might get worse depending on international political developments. This is reflected in the fall in future orders from 1708 last year to 1573 in 2025 (with options up from 253 to 398).
We are now in the fourth year after the takeover of Bombardier by Alstom, and the two different products lines continue (Flexity inherited from Bombardier, and
Alstom’s Citadis). This is because the order book is quite healthy (up from 1654 to 1873, although nearly 100 of these are new centre sections rather than complete trams). New orders have come in from Göteborg (Gothenburg), Haifa – Nazareth, Le Mans and Nice, while Duisburg, Wien (Vienna) and Zürich have taken up some of their options.
There may be no more new French systems coming along (Annecy seems to have fallen by the wayside, but was relying on secondhand stock from Montpellier anyway), but expansion of existing systems is continuing, and the low-floor trams that we swooned about 25 years ago are becoming due for replacement. A long delay is evident on low-floor trams for Köln (Cologne), while those delivered to Frankfurt-am-Main had to be taken off the road due to issues with the standard of construction.
It seems that Alstom is now intending to rationalise its diverse production centres, though this will mostly affect main line railway stock.
In eastern Europe Astra Vagoane (Romania) has seen its order book much reduced, while Belkommunmash (Belarus) has seen a jump thanks to domestic orders. These can be fulfilled quickly in comparison to western manufacturers. The Turkish manufacturer Bozankaya can also turn out trams quickly at a good price, and marked up an order from Beograd (Belgrade) in the last year, as well as an earlier win in Napoli (Naples).
Spanish company CAF has delivered its first high-floor Stadtbahn car to Ruhrbahn in Essen, with Bonn and Hannover to follow with this new design, and will be a major supplier to Israel’s new tramways. It is also the preferred supplier to North American ‘downtown circulator’ lines, as well as being lined up to supply Boston’s Green Line replacement stock. However the overall order book has hardly moved compared to 2024.
The enigmatic Chinese supplier CRRC can switch tram production on and off as required for domestic customers, and has orders from Colombia (where the current state of emergency is delaying things) and Kazakhstan, although news of a European bank for Reconstruction & Development loan for the Pavlodar tramway (including 25 battery trams) must put this order at risk. However another Chinese company (QazTenha) has delivered new trams to another Kazakh city, Temirtau.
New this year is an entry for Japanese manufacturer Niigata Transys, which has won one of the rare domestic tram orders.
A re-appearance in our list is the Romanian manufacturer Electroputere, which won a legal battle to supply 40 new trams to București (Bucharest) despite having no product in its catalogue.
The niche German manufacturer HeiterBlick of Leipzig is delivering its first low-floor trams to the city of Würzburg and has orders from the Saxony group of tram
aBoVE: January 2025 saw the start of revenue service for new alstom Flexity trams in Gothenburg. Currently four trams have been delivered, part of a total order for 60 that is due to be completed in 2027. Alstom
undertakings for a similar car. In addition to delivering replacement Stadtbahn cars to Dortmund, the company is engaged in modernising the existing stock of this type.
Hitachi Rail Italia is delivering the latest version of the former AnsaldoBreda Sirio low-floor tram to Firenze (Florence) and Torino (Turin), with the former increasing its order during the year. However the company may not see trams as its major focus, with significant domestic orders for Bologna and Roma going to CAF.
Korean manufacturer HyundaiRotem lost a potential order with the postponement of the Asuncion tramway project, but garnered headlines by setting up to equip the new local system at Daejon with trams powered by hydrogen fuel cells. Often trailed as the power source of the future, hydrogen has had a rocky ride in the rail sector, so it will be interesting to see if Daejon can make it work in a city environment.
Croatian company KONČAR is building trams again for domestic customers and saw Zagreb increase its order. Elsewhere in eastern Europe, Polish manufacturers Modertrans and PESA battle it out for EUfinanced domestic orders (while trying to keep Bozankaya at bay). PESA went through a rough patch financially, but has been boosted by a large order for Jerusalem’s Blue line. It has just relaunched its product line with version 3 of the Swing and Twist. However, Modertrans seems to be winning the domestic battle, with a large order for Poznan and smaller numbers for other systems.
Pragoimex, the marketing company for a consortium of Czech manufacturing companies, keeps the evergreen Tatra T3 up to date with new bodies featuring a low-floor centre section, but sells its EVO1 and EVO2 designs domestically, including now for the Most – Litvinov tramway.
In Russia, the manufacturers PKTS, Uraltransmash and UKVZ churn out smartlooking low-floor trams for the domestic market, boosted by the discovery by Russian undertakings of the Private Public Partnership method of finance.
New trams are still being built in Ukraine, with European funding for an order from Tatra-Jug for Odesa. In Belarus, Belkommunmash has started building a 100% low-floor bogie tram designated T811, which has prompted the capital, Minsk, to order its first new trams for 12 years.
Germany’s giant Siemens has seen something of a slump in its order book, with large production runs for Bremen and San Francisco approaching their end. There is no need to look much further than the Swiss manufacturer Stadler for an explanation, with its TINA low-floor design proving popular, and jumping in to the US market with a high-floor design for Salt Lake City. We have still to see Siemens’ new high-floor Avenio in the flesh in Düsseldorf later this year – perhaps a response to CAF jumping into this market? Ulm is to extend its lowfloor Avenio with additional centre sections.
Škoda of the Czech Republic has had a good year, with a series of low-floor ForCity Smart meeting customer’s specifications, including the world’s longest tram for Mannheim’s RNV. Škoda’s Transtech subsidiary is building cars for Finnish
aBoVE: the delivery of the first HeiterBlick low-floor tram to the German city of Würzburg. WVV
aBoVE: Bonn duewag tram 9468, dating from 1994, is one of 24 partly low-floor trams that will move to Poznan in Poland during 2025. H. Muller
aBoVE: Zagreb in Croatia has started to take delivery of a new batch of low-floor trams from local producer KoNČar S. Truba
aBoVE: the first modertrans Moderus Gamma from a new batch of 30 for the Polish city of Poznan. MPK
rIGHt: the first Citadis for the Israeli city of tel aviv in the finishing shop at alstom’s La rochelle factory. Alstom
rIGHt: torino 8018 is one of the Hitachi rail Italia Sirio trams being delivered to the northern Italian city. D. Quaglia
aBoVE: the Italian city of Bologna has chosen this livery for the CaF trams on its new system. Citta di Bologna
Rolling stock
TOTalS 6161 2605
TOTalS 6161 2605
at the Valencia factory. Stadler
undertakings, and now helping out with German orders from Brandenburg/Cottbus/ Frankfurt-an-der-Oder. A new design (52T ) for the Czech capital Praha (Prague) will be released this year.
Swiss company Stadler has once again enjoyed a good year, with orders up from 656 to 834 and options up from 511 to 551. The order book is heavily-bolstered by the joint order from Austrian and German undertakings for the VDV tram-train project that could see 504 cars delivered (246 firm orders so far). The first, for Saarbahn, should have been delivered in December 2024, but the floods that hit Valencia in October, whilst not impacting the Stadler plant directly, affected both the workforce and the subcontractors, putting the delivery programme back by two or three months.
Orders for the innovative TINA continue to come in, with Den Haag increasing its order before the first has even been delivered. Extra production capacity is needed to keep up, so these will be built at the former Solaris plant in Poland. Salt Lake City LRVs are a welcome addition to the US customer base, challenging Siemens’ local production base in California. The Danish city of Aarhus has ordered more cars of the Tango design.
Inflation continues to bump up the price of new trams, with a custom-built low-floor car (Würzburg) reaching EUR7.5m (including spare parts for 30 years). By contrast Škoda is delivering ‘standard’ low-floor trams for EUR2.65m each. KONČAR is charging Zagreb EUR2m/tram. Alstom’s latest delivery to Paris comes in at EUR3.5m/car. Göteborg is paying EUR3.1m for each of its 45m Alstom trams. The high-floor Stadler LRV for Salt Lake City comes out at USD6.45m/car.
Orders to look out for in the coming months include Grenoble and Le Havre in France, Mainz in Germany, and new systems at Tarragona in Spain, Uppsala in Sweden, and Turku and Vantaa in Finland. Warszawa needs a new fleet of trams.
Activity in the second-hand market continues to be limited, though Poznan’s decision to buy 24 low-floor trams from Bonn is noteworthy, and Salvador in Brazil is buying the 40 CAF cars delivered to Cuiabá. Other first-generation low-floor trams from Germany (Augsburg and Jena) are appearing in Zagreb and Łód ź. Swiss trams from Basel and Bern have been sent to Ukraine (Lviv and Vinnytsia). No buyer could be found for the Helsinki fleet of ADtranz low-floor trams and they have been scrapped.
Regio Emilia
aBoVE: the second stadler Tramlink for Germany’s saarbahn on the test track
on the Finch West line in toronto will not carry ttC livery, but rather reflect metrolinx ownership. D. Drum
Alex A ndri A :
Scope for ch A nge
Alexandria’s tramway situation has changed markedly since our 2023 report – and not in a positive way. Mike russell explains the current position, and considers other tramways across egypt.
The tramways in Alexandria currently exhibit an aura of managed decline. Since our previous report, based on a visit in October 2022, there has been a serious reduction in service frequencies necessarily requiring a lower output of tramcars on both the city (urban) system and the interurban Raml – El Nasr line.
Standard output on the Raml line now totals 18 out of a fleet of 42 Kinki Sharyo sets. None of the six double-deck tramcars was in service during a visit in November, apparently because all were undergoing annual inspection and renovation. It appears that for some reason this process is always concentrated in the same period each year (late October to December). On enquiry as to why this annual process could not be staggered throughout the year to ensure that only one double-deck car was withdrawn at a time and that most remained in service, it appeared that any alternative concept to ‘the standard’ had not been contemplated.
Car 601 is in daily service from midday until early evening. This reconditioned older car operates as part of the basic service, but at a premium fare of EGP8.50 (EUR0.16).
The premium fare is also levied for journeys on the Ukrainian-built Tatra-Yug articulated rolling stock, operated on routes 33 and 36. For the greater part of the day line 36 operates between San Stefano and the turning-circle at Ibrahim, with no through service over the urban Ras-el-Tin line, which
is now devoid of tram service in off-peak periods. Several extra cars were noted in service on the full length of line 36 in the afternoon peak period, with a service interval of every 15 minutes. Only during this period does the ritual of the change of current collector (described in our previous article) still take place at Place Zaghloul. A maximum of 13 out of the fleet of 15 Ukrainian cars is deployed on routes 33 and 36, all from Moharrem Bey depot.
The situation on the city routes is equally dire. Of a fleet of around 60 ex-København Düwag cars, only 25-30 are currently serviceable. A programme of rehabilitation of the lines of parked-up cars of this type has been underway since 2015, and the company now reckons to have up to five cars undergoing the rehabilitation process at any one time, with work on each taking around six months. This work takes place in the main depot at Karmouz. The majority of the cars are now in the green and off-white livery, with just a handful remaining in the former urban standard yellow livery.
Service intervals on the city network have been greatly widened, and very long gaps appear in the service. These are most noticeable at midday, when operation on all city routes is suspended for about one to two hours from 12.00, ostensibly for crew reliefs but in practice more probably to allow staff to take a refreshment break. Some of these breaks take place at a suitable terminal loop, such as Nuzha, but the majority occur by
running the trams into one of the depots at Karmouz or Moharrem Bey. This results in convoys of depot-bound trams on these routes shortly after midday and a similar out-muster in early afternoon.
None of the city routes now operates to anything approaching the high frequencies that were in force as recently as two years ago; Nuzha route is the most frequent, but the service is irregular owing to chaotic traffic conditions. The two most extreme examples are the Ras-el-Tin routes and that to Mex. Reduced operation around the Bay to Ras-el-Tin has already been mentioned. Cars for this route are supplied from Moharrem Bey depot, and as a result have a long section of depot-connection route between there and Ras-el-Tin terminus via Sidi el Menir, nominally served by line 6.
It has been suggested that to see this in operation it is necessary to rise early and witness the Ukrainian cars coming from the depot from about 05.40 to take up morning peak service. This is no longer necessary, and cars can now be seen forming up for the afternoon peak service on line 36 around the
ABoVe: A line-up of the three car types in use on the interurban line to el nasr. on the left is heritage car 601, a former passenger vehicle which passed through use as a works car before being resuscitated for heritage-type operation. Alongside is Kinki Sharyo car 173 and (on the right on the normal service tracks) one of the Ukrainian-built bogie cars. All images courtesy of Mike Russell.
Bay to Place Zaghloul. It appears that a very limited service, of either one or perhaps two cars, is operated on line 6 during daytime, linking Ras-el-Tin with Moharrem Bey.
The situation on the El Metras – Mex line is somewhat different. There is nominally an hourly service, arriving at El Metras at 06.05 and then at five minutes past each hour until 17.05, with gaps at 10.05 and 14.05. Cars wait at El Metras for 40 minutes before returning towards the city at 45 minutes past each hour.
A strange operation concerns the western extension of this line from El Metras to Mex. The appearance is given that all journeys now terminate at El Metras, leaving the section between there and Mex non-operational. This is incorrect, however, and there is in practice just one daily extended journey in the morning peak leaving El Metras at 07.00 to Mex, returning from there at 07.40. This extended journey carries important workers’ traffic and may be limited to operation on working days only.
A great majority of the city services are operated by the ex-København Düwag articulated cars. Of the fleet of 15 twin-sets of Kinki Sharyo Japanese-built stock (101-130, some rebuilt as 1101-1130) all but two sets are parked out of use at Moharrem Bey depot; the two sets still nominally available for traffic are 1107+1108 and 1125+1126.
Of the 15 Ganz twin-sets dating from 1986 (1201-1230), all housed at Moharrem Bey, seven sets are still available for service (1201+1202, 1205+1206, 1207+1208, 1211+1212, 1213+1214, 1225+1226, 1229+1230, with sets 1217+1218, 1221+1222 and 1223+1224 definitely out of service). They can be found in use on any of the city lines. Most are painted in a faded version of the standard green/off-white livery but at least one set has evidently been recently repainted and another features an overall advertising livery.
There has been no apparent progress in the much-vaunted reconstruction of the El Raml line in the two years since our last report, which is disappointing but probably typical given the administrative and financial issues that have to be addressed in Egypt. One hopes that progress will not be much further delayed, because the steep reduction in ridership and consequent increase in congestion since 2022 provide a worrying indicator of what lies in store if nothing is done to address the problems. It is apparently
intended to transfer responsibility for operation of the interurban line, once rebuilt, to a new company to be named Metro.
Berlin survivors
Some years ago an importer speculatively acquired a number of former Berlin Tatra KT4 and T6 cars in the expectation of making a sale to Alexandria for fleet renewal. This has turned out to be a vain hope, a preference being expressed for new-build Tatra-Yug cars from Ukraine, and the Berlin Tatras are now all parked on a parcel of land a few miles outside the city behind secure fencing alongside the main Cairo road. No information has been forthcoming on what the future may hold for these forlorn vehicles.
Royal gardens tramcars
Since February 2024, four of the exKøbenhavn Düwag articulated cars have been smartly refurbished and repainted in the more traditional yellow and white livery, and exhibited in the gardens of Montaza Palace.
lefT: Three members of the midday convoy returning to Karmouz depot on 19 november are visible in this image. düwags 893 and 851 are nearest the camera, with 828 lurking in the distant shadows.
East of Alexandria and overlooking the Mediterranean Sea, the palace was completed in 1932 and is now occupied by the President. The specific identities of the four cars have not been established.
Madinaty
There are no longer any street-running tramways in Cairo or its ‘garden city’ of Heliopolis. However, a new development has been built at Madinaty, a new city of residential, social and commercial buildings planned to house around 700 000 people, situated about 32km (20 miles) east of central Cairo south of the main Suez road. It is mainly accessible by private transport, though also by frequent bus services to and from Heliopolis, El Nasr and central Cairo.
This new out-of-town development attracts car-owning Cairenes. However, to facilitate their movement around the city’s shopping centre as well as provide an attraction in its own right, a new 1.7km (one-mile) metregauge tram line has been created. This is laid
as a single-track circular line for operation only in a clockwise direction, with nine stops in total. Service is advertised as operating daily 14.00-22.00, and there is no fixed timetable; minimal operation is every 40 minutes or thereabouts according to traffic requirements, with extra cars added at times of peak demand (weekends and evenings). A round-trip journey time is 20 minutes. Operation began on 18 February 2022.
The fleet consists of four newly-built double-deck open-top bogie tramcars with total seating for 59 passengers, built by Severn Lamb of Stratford-upon-Avon and Alcester in the UK. Fleet numbers are not carried but the cars are distinguished by livery: one each in red, yellow, dark blue and dark green overall. The cars are battery-powered.
A two-road depot is situated at what functions as a terminal loop, and the track is laid mainly within the paved area of the wide circular walkway and light roadway that surrounds the lake within the site.
A conductor is carried and souvenir tickets are issued to passengers in exchange for a flat fare (per single circuit journey or part journey) of EGP20 (EUR0.39).
Empain’s Basilica and Palace
The Belgian tramway ‘Baron’ Eduard Empain was the progenitor of urban tramways in Egypt. It is to him that credit is due for promoting electric tramways in and around Cairo, and particularly in the new residential district of Heliopolis. All such operation has now ceased, but Empain himself is laid to rest in an opulent basilica in the centre of Heliopolis. In the surrounding gardens of a separate Palace of the Baron, which Empain built for his stays in Egypt, is a former Cairo (CTA) four-wheel tramcar of the 1927 series built by La Brugeoise. The series was numbered 328-387 and this one carries Egyptian fleet numerals corresponding to 387, but it is uncertain whether this is the car’s authentic fleet number or just representative of its class. It is exhibited in a deep red and cream livery and stands near the public entrance to the gardens of the Palace.
Very close at hand, but in a compound on the opposite side of the main road, is another former tram of an older Belgianbuilt series. The second car comes from the Heliopolis fleet.
Unfortunately, the Empain archives were destroyed so it is impossible to provide too much detail. This car was built between 1908-14 by an unknown Belgian factory (believed to be Ragheno, which supplied most of the ‘urban’ stock of Heliopolis). Originally, it was a five-window motor car with open platforms. It was modernised in the late 1940s or early 1950s; the platforms were enclosed and a central entrance replaced one of the windows. Those cars were operated as coupled sets in order to offer sufficient capacity. They were numbered in the 250 series, but it is not known how many sets were rebuilt (presumably by the SEMCA, a local subsidiary of the Empain group). This one carries no external fleet numerals but appears to be an example of this series.
With thanks to Roland Dussart-Desart and Luc Koenot for additional information.
ABoVe: preserved tramcar 387 from cairo stands in the gardens surrounding the palace of Baron empain in heliopolis. it is one of the fleet of 60 cars built in 1927 by la Brugeoise, and which formed the series numbered 328-387.
ABoVe: düwag 848 at Moharrem Bey depot with Kinki Sharyo 1108 alongside and (left) a Ukrainianbuilt Tatra-Yug car awaiting works attention.
ABoVe: ex-København düwag car 809 in rather rundown shape, entering the reserved track section to Mex at el Metras turning-loop.
ABoVe: one of the trams on the single circular line in the Madinaty commercial complex. All trams were built by Severn lamb, and all are battery-operated.
ABoVe: The Kinki Sharyo cars, pictured here at Moharrem Bey depot, are currently all out of service.
ABoVe: Tatra KT4 and T6 cars were imported by a dealer some years ago in the expectation of making a sale for fleet renewal. The cars remain parked on land outside of Alexandria. This shot was taken in october 2022.
ABoVe: four of the ex-København düwag tramcars have been renovated and are exhibited in the grounds of the former royal palace at Montaza. The central pavilion is to be converted to a refreshment room.
ABoVe: The 15 Tatra-Yug cars are all based at Moharrem Bey depot and are to be found in operation on lines 33 and 36, linking ras-el-Tin with San Stefano. This is 707, returning from San Stefano towards the city.
ABoVe: ganz twinset 1202+1201 at rest on the terminal loop of line 6 at Moharrem Bey.
Profile
from inquisitive apprentice to industry leader: james hammet t ’s lrt journey
for james hammett, managing director of uKtram, apprenticeships provided the foundation for a lifelong career in light rail.
Now serving as Managing Director of UKTram, James reflects on the early days and the lifelong impact of hands-on learning and mentorship on his professional journey.
At 16, James began his career as an electrical engineering apprentice at Seaton Tramway.
Previously a volunteer at the tramway, James was immersed in history and modern engineering and quickly discovered the value of practical experience. “I didn’t think I would end up running the trade body for light rail in the UK,” James recalls, “But apprenticeships allow you to start at grassroots level and work your way to the top.”
on preparing the sector for the future. His journey from a curious apprentice at Seaton Tramway to a leading industry figure is a potent reminder of the transformative potential of apprenticeships.
Looking ahead, James is committed to ensuring that UKTram continues to support and nurture the next generation of engineers and transport professionals. Recently, delivering a ‘Tech Talk’ for Young Rail Professionals, James highlighted how the industry faces both exciting opportunities and challenges. The role of apprenticeships will be more crucial than ever.
“Textbooks can’t replace the insights gained from someone who’s been in the field, facing real challenges day in and day out.”
The fusion of on-the-job training with academic studies gave James a unique educational experience. While attending college to acquire theoretical knowledge, he spent his days working alongside seasoned professionals, tackling real engineering challenges. This dual approach allowed him to understand the principles behind electrical systems and apply them directly in the maintenance and operation of vintage trams.
One of the most valuable lessons James learned during his apprenticeship was the importance of asking questions. In an environment where practical knowledge was paramount, he found that no query was too small or insignificant.
“I always made sure to ask questions,” he explains, “Every conversation was a chance to learn something new, and that curiosity has stayed with me. I haven’t stopped asking questions!”
This approach deepened his technical expertise and also helped him build strong relationships with mentors and colleagues – relationships that have been instrumental in his rise within the industry.
As James progressed through his career, his passion for learning and his commitment to excellence led him into leadership roles. Over the years, he has seen firsthand how the benefits of an apprenticeship extend well beyond technical skills. His time at UKTram and previous work for Centro (now Transport for the West Midlands) led him to set up his own business, SMARTTRAMS, which specialises in light rail consultancy.
As the industry faces imminent workforce retirements, James is determined to ensure that critical knowledge is passed on to the next generation. Textbooks can’t replace the insights gained from someone who’s been in the field, facing real challenges day in and day out.
Across the UK, many leading figures in the light rail sector began their careers as apprentices. The cycle of learning and mentorship drives technological and operational excellence and builds a sense of community and shared purpose. “I had the privilege of mentoring two apprentices at Seaton Tramway,” he reflects. “Seeing them grow and succeed is incredibly rewarding.”
For James, apprenticeships reaffirm that starting at the grassroots level can lead to incredible career opportunities. Today, as the light rail industry continues to evolve with new technologies and expanding networks, James remains focused
James’s journey shows what is possible when passion meets opportunity, and builds a strong case around the power of hands-on learning and the importance of mentorship. For those considering a career in light rail or looking to further their skills, James’ experience is an inspiring reminder that the journey from apprentice to industry leader is within reach.
James Hammett. UKTram
dudley dasher on track and gaining momentum
Pre Metro’s Dasher project continues to build momentum, gaining support from key political figures, industry leaders, and local businesses. As a cost-effective and sustainable alternative to traditional transport solutions, the Dasher is emerging as a credible option for enhancing connectivity between Stourbridge and Brierley Hill, with aspirations to integrate with the West Midlands’ transport network.
A key development in 2025 has been the high-profile political engagement surrounding the project. In mid-January, West Midlands Mayor Richard Parker visited Stourbridge to experience the operational efficiency and sustainability of the existing Stourbridge Shuttle – one of the UK’s most reliable rail services. Accompanied by Stourbridge MP Cat Eccles, Mayor Parker witnessed the service’s 99.6% reliability rate and its cost-effective operation, which runs at just 50% of standard railway expenses.
During discussions with Pre Metro’s Operations Director, Steve Jasper, the mayor was presented with the case for the Stourbridge Dasher. The proposal aims to extend the town’s proven lightweight rail technology to connect Stourbridge with
Brierley Hill, offering a financially viable and swift-to-implement alternative to the West Midland Metro. The visit marked a critical step in ensuring the project remains on the region’s transport agenda.
Mayor Parker’s acknowledgment of the Shuttle’s success and the Dasher’s potential adds political weight to the campaign for better local rail connectivity. In response, Steve Jasper emphasised the need for action:
“We took the opportunity to showcase our industry-leading performance statistics and discuss our cost-effective plans for passenger services to Brierley Hill and Dudley. These plans could be implemented quickly and at a fraction of the cost of Metro extensions.”
The Dasher’s momentum is not just political – regional businesses and industry leaders have also expressed strong support for improved lightweight rail services. February saw Pre Metro host Black Country Chamber of Commerce CEO Sarah Moorhouse and public affairs consultant Jan Jennings, both of whom recognised the economic and logistical benefits of the project. With 83% of all Black Country journeys made by car, there is a need for more viable transport alternatives.
2024 Business Surveys conducted by Oakham Research also discovered key support among local businesses, arguing that the Dasher could significantly reduce road congestion, providing a cost-effective transport option for employees, and enhancing connectivity to retail, industrial, and leisure hubs. The proposed route would link with the regional rail network, enabling efficient movement of both people and goods.
Despite clear political and industry backing, securing funding remains a challenge. Pre Metro is actively seeking GBP30 million to make the Dasher a reality. The company’s proven approach to lightweight rail places it in a strong position to deliver an impactful transport solution.
With political figures, industry leaders, and businesses recognising the value of the Dasher, momentum continues to grow.
The challenge now lies in turning this widespread support into tangible commitments, ensuring that the Stourbridge Dasher is not just a visionary proposal, but a transformative reality for the Dudley’s transport landscape and a demonstrative example of next-generation Very Light Rail.
By Paul Rowen
The UK Department for Transport (which is responsible for transport in England and Wales), has just concluded a public consultation on integrated transport. With 11 regional roadshows and an online public consultation, people were given the opportunity to have their say on the future of local transport in their areas.
Light Rail Minister Simon Lightwood MP, speaking at the Manchester event, said: “We will empower local leaders to build a system that’s right for their need, connecting cars and buses, trams and trains, cycling and walking, into one joined-up system.”
This is happening at the same time as local government reorganisation brings together local authorities, with elected mayors having greater powers.
Just over 40 years ago, Christian Buisson heralded the start of the light rail renaissance in France with the opening of the Nantes light rail system. Using ex-railway alignments as well as street running routes, the infrastructure was designed to complement and enhance the urban environment. Many towns and cities in France swiftly copied Nantes, so much so that France now has twice as many light rail systems, second only to Germany in number.
It is said that the combination of elected mayors coupled with tax raising powers is the reason why France was able to develop
so many systems. Could the same be about to happen in the UK? Certainly the elected mayors of Greater Manchester and the West Midlands have shown what is possible.
In a report published in September 2023, the National Infrastructure Commission stated: “ England’s largest cities are congested and their public transport networks underperform relative to comparable European cities. Government investment in mass transit is required in the largest regional cities….”
Public Consultation in West Yorkshire on mass transit proposals for Leeds and Bradford
has recently highlighted the public’s support for light rail, just as trams in Edinburgh have proved very popular.
The Light Rail Transit Association believes that there should be at least five new light rail systems developed during the term of this parliament. On the ground, our campaigners are working in Leeds and Bradford, Cardiff and South Wales, Bath and Bristol, Coventry, on the KenEx Thames Crossing, and in Glasgow.
Further details of these and our other campaigns can be found on our website, Facebook and Instagram pages.
MEETINGS & EVENTS
refreshments. (TLRS)
Tuesday 1. Southampton 19.30, John Godfrey: Eastern European roundabout (trams and trains).
Junction Church (Former Railway Institute), Eastleigh, £3. (LRTA/SEG)
Thursday 3. Brentford 14.30. Roger Manley: Films of Wuppertal and other systems. London Museum of Water and Steam, Green Dragon Lane, Brentford TW8 0EN. Contact: thamesvalley@tlrs.info. £5 including
Wednesay 9. Sussex 19.40. John Parkin: British archive and current European Trolleybuses. Southwick Community Centre, Southwick, BN42 4TE. Contact: sussex@tlrs.info. £2 visitors. (TLRS)
Monday 14. Merseyside 19.45. Geoff
Senior: Around 250 MTMS images of town tram systems between the Rivers Irwell, Mersey & Ribble. Sefton Park Community Association, 3 Croxteth Drive, Liverpool L17 3AG
by the LRTA.
Contact: merseyside@tlrs.info. £4. (TLRS)
Monday 14. Leeds 19.30. AGM followed by Malcom Hindes: The Roundhay tram. Engine House, Middleton Railway, Moor Road, Leeds LS10 2JG. £1 (includes light refreshments). Contact: enquiries@lths.co.uk. (LRTA/LTHS)
Saturday 26. Taunton 14.00. Craig Ryan: Crich Gala 1999. West Monkton Village Hall, Monkton Heathfield, TA2 8NE. Contact: westofengland@tlrs.
info. £2 inc. light refreshments. (TLRS) Saturday 26. Nottingham 14.00. Modelling session. Beeston Scout Hut NG9 1GA. Contact: chairman@tlrs.info. (TLRS)
Saturday 26. Garstang 14.00. Models day including films.St Thomas New Church Hall, Church Street, Garstang PR3 1PA. Contact: archivist@tlrs.info. Small fee, light refreshments. (TLRS) Saturday 26. Coatbridge, 13.00. Scottish trams show and tell & talk. TBC. Contact: scotland@tlrs.info. (TLRS)
RIGHT The tramway in Nantes, France, recently celebrated its 40th anniversary. The system kickstarted something of a light rail revival in the country, with many towns and cities copying the model. thierry llansades, Flickr CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
TRAC k, P owe R AN d u TILITI es
Tim kendell, LRTA Technical director, explores the intertwined challenges of building a tramway.
The track is expected to be the longest-lasting asset of a tramway, and as such should receive considerable thought from the planning stage onwards.
The transport case will dictate the route, acknowledging the existing cityscape and allowing for future developments. The design and construction must take into account the existing topography and geology, as well as the legal requirements and any public and private rights that will be affected. Additionally, the design should ease maintenance and future renewal of the elements such as the rail and the moving parts in switches and crossings. Then there are the two elephants in the way: underground utilities and road vehicle loads.
That is the easy bit, as before you can start you need authority to do the work, buy land, and affect public and private rights. This authority, often referred to as ‘Powers’ is gained in the UK usually through an Order under the Transport and Works Act (1992) (TWAO) or through a Development Consent Order. The process is described in some detail in UKTram’s Route Map for Sponsors of New Tramways. To put it plainly though, the TWAO process and Inquiry enables the sponsor of a new tramway to justify to the public the benefit of the tramway despite the disruption during construction. It also gives those affected and any opposers the opportunity to put their case against the proposals.
When granted, a TWAO gives the sponsor powers over people’s land, rights and for
ongoing nuisance, all of which are essential to build and operate a tramway.
One important consideration that will feature early in the consultation process will be the statutory utilities – the bane of every project, and one which is potentially expensive. Two matters must be remembered: firstly, they are in the road legally, and providers are under an obligation to supply their service to their customers. This means that anybody wanting to affect their plant, the pipes or cables, should realise that the
“Leaving utilities in place must be a commercial risk-based decision.”
utility companies have the law on their side when negotiating the impact that the tramway will have. If you make maintenance and emergency access more difficult, then they will want compensation. Any solutions that affect the tramway’s obligation to operate may lead to compensation for the customers and concessionaires. This means that leaving utilities in place must be a commercial risk-based decision.
When it comes to who should pay for utility diversions, then if the promoter pays the costs will filter through to the traveller. If the utility pays, then its users pay, i.e. the wider public. The public will pay one way or another.
However, betterment is a valid matter for negotiation during the consultations. That then leads to the actual track itself. The alignment should be designed to give a smooth ride at the appropriate speed of operation within the bounds of the topography and cityscape. The actual design must consider the variety of loads and the ground conditions to ensure that the track alignment can be maintained. The main load on the track is rarely the actual tram, but more likely heavy commercial and public transport road vehicles. The addition of a steel rail in the road tends to provide a load path directly down to its foot before the usual load spreading can start. This all leads to a stiffer and deeper carriageway construction than would be necessary for a normal roadway.
There are many types of tramway construction used around the world, but seemingly the most common these days is to embed bi-block sleepers in low-carbon concrete sitting on a reinforced bearing slab. This ensures that the track gauge is maintained and the rail is held in place, but can be replaced with minimal disruption to the tramway. Other competent options include setting the rails in a grooved concrete slab, the more solid option of casting the rail foot in the concrete slab used in Dublin, as well as several precast track slab designs which could speed track laying. However, those thinking that removing the cast unit is easy should remember that the chances of returning the slab and rail to its original alignment with proper support is low.
Track construction underway at Birmingham, UK’s Centenary Square. Tim Kendell
BATT e Ry TRA ms IN B IR m INGHA m
In 1885 Birmingham Corporation owned a standard-gauge horse tramway that ran from Suffolk Street along the Bristol Road to Bournbrook, the outer end being owned by the Birmingham Central Tramways Co (BCT). This latter company obtained the lease of the horse tramway, but it had to be re-gauged and a new form of power found.
It was converted to 3ft 6in (1067mm) gauge, but what method of traction? The company had a large network of steam trams, but they would not find favour on the Bristol Road because of emissions. Something more modern than horses was wanted. The company had a cable tramway and the corporation liked that idea, but such lines needed heavier traffic than was carried on the line in question. Electricity was coming to the fore but it was a bit experimental, and again the cost of building a line with a conduit as at Blackpool was prohibitive.
So in June 1888 Alfred Dickinson, consultant engineer to the BCT and General Manager of the nearby South Staffordshire & Birmingham District & Steam Tramway Co went to Bruxelles to see the accumulator cars that had been introduced in that city. He was impressed and came home eager to get on with the project.
By September 1888, an odd little battery locomotive looking very much like a steam tram had been designed and built by Dickinson and Thomas Parker; it was equipped with Julien accumulators. Being purely experimental it was tested late at night on 1 October, hauling a double deck cable car. To all intents and purposes the experiment was a success.
mike Ballinger explores the origins of Birmingham’s original battery trams.
Twelve double-deck bogie cars were acquired for the line opening on 24 July 1890. The depot was situated at Dawlish Road, along with the power station and office. At the depot the central tracks had two hydraulic elevators each side of the tracks. These elevators had eight shelves, four of which were capable of storing enough accumulators for 16 cars. Used accumulators were slid out onto an empty shelf where they immediately started recharging, being replaced by fresh accumulators off another shelf. It seems that the company had confidence that the system would be
“By September 1888, an odd little battery locomotive looking very much like a steam tram had been designed and built... Being purely experimental, it was tested late at night.”
successful and that battery electric operation would be extended to other routes currently worked by steam.
Mechanically the system was not a success, with several reasons for breakdowns. Passengers complained of the smell from the fumes, as well as damage to their clothing from acid. Financially it was not lucrative, operating costs rising to the equivalent of 6.5p per car mile, whilst a nearby overhead electric line only cost 1.7p. It seems it only made a profit in one year.
Re-equipping the cars with Epstein accumulators gave a brief period of improvement, but things were soon as bad as before, although the system was carrying over one million passengers per annum.
Two experimental four-wheel cars were supplied in 1892, but sadly photographs exist of only one of them. They did enter service for a period of just over a year, probably to see if smaller cars might be more economical, but were not successful.
The company and its successor, the City of Birmingham Tramways Co, attempted on a number of occasions to get permission to convert the line to conventional overhead wire operation, but it was not until 1900 that the city council allowed conversion. The new operation, again designed by Dickinson –now a consulting engineer – opened on the 14 of May 1901 and lasted until 1952.
The accumulator cars at Bruxelles did not last very long either!
The information in this short article has been extracted from a paper prepared by the Late LRTL/LRTA member J S Webb. The full paper is contained in the J S Webb collection in the archives of the National Tramway Museum at Crich.
LeFT: Batteries are not new to Birmingham, with their use continuing through to the city’s modern fleet. Here, west midlands metro car 17 runs along the edgbaston extension on 4 February 2023. tr_nt. Flickr/CC BY-NC 2.0
ABoVe: open-top double-deck car 104 built by Falcon stands outside the depot in dawlish Road, Bournbrook, in 1891. The advertisement for Van Houten’s Cocoa must have annoyed nearby Birmingham businessmen George and Richard Cadbury. Mike Ballinger’s collection
RI s ING s TAR s AN d
TH e LRTA
In an earlier issue we revealed plans, along with UKTram, to support the industry’s ‘rising stars’ and encourage young people to consider a career in light rail. This is not new, and the Association has worked with several young people who have worked or campaigned for light rail. Below we take a look at a pair who
Paul Rowen looks at how the LRTA has helped to encourage rising stars of past years.
have been nominated by the Association at the annual Light Rail Awards.
Dr Anna Chang
Dr Anna Chang (pictured left) is a British educator and engineer specialising in sustainable transport solutions. After graduation, she held positions in British international companies as their Southeast Asia representative, focusing on market development.
In 2018 she pursued a PhD at Loughborough University, concentrating on energy and transport solutions for sustainable cities. After engaging with the LRTA and industry professionals at the UK Light Rail Conference, she decided to focus her research on light rail
Dr Chang explored solutions for retrofitting batteries onto existing trams. Using a hypothetical extension of the Nottingham tramway as a case study, she examined the power and recharging requirements, addressing electrical and spatial constraints. Her involvement in the Bath Trams Campaign earned her a Rising Star commendation at the 2019 Global Light Rail Awards ceremony.
In 2020, she was a runner-up in the IEEE Electric Transportation Design Competition,
for the Slip-Coach Return Potential Smart Car Attachment Train.
She earned her PhD in 2021.
Dr. Chang currently resides in Hong Kong and is a school consultant.
She retains her interest in light rail and is currently developing technology to enable wheelchair users to board metro trains without staff assistance, promoting social inclusion.
Sam
Flynn
Sam is a campaigner in the Fylde area who set up Trams for Lytham and St Annes. Through a very active social media presence he persuaded local politicians and transport decision makers to look at reopening the Poulton to Fleetwood line for light rail and converting the St Annes line. This culminated in a very successful one-day conference in 2020, after which the government included the scheme in its Reopening our Railways initiative.
Sam was also responsible for setting up our Tramforward page on Facebook.
He was nominated for a Rising Star Award in 2020.
This year ’s Global Light Rail Awards will be held on 1 October at the Bloomsbury Ballroom.
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ABoVe: dr Anna Chang was presented with a Highly Commended in the category in 2019. TAUT
Pl A ns f O r A BETTE r
Br Auns C h WEI g
With its most recent extensions coming up to 20 years old, Braunschweig’s tram network is due an update. Andrew Thompson summarises this mid-size city’s history and looks at new proposals to extend the system’s routes.
Located in northern Germany, 70km (43.5 miles) east of Hannover and 230km (143 miles) west of Berlin, the city of Braunschweig (Brunswick) has a population of 252 000 and a light rail system that first opened in 1879 as a horse tramway. Electrification was implemented at the turn of the century in 1897, and by 1909 the network had already grown to a size of roughly 30km (18.6 miles). Shortly before the outbreak of World War Two, the tramway reached an extent of 36.2km (22.5 miles), but this would shrink again in the post-war years. During the wave of closures in the 1950s and 1960s, the Braunschweig network lost numerous branches, and it was only the construction of the new railway station between 1957-60 that prevented the closure of the entire system. That fortunate circumstance was due to the fact that the city had committed itself to a permanent light rail link to the main station in an earlier contract from 1938. Partial closures continued until 1969, when only 12km (7.5 miles) of track remained.
A policy U-turn came during the 1970s, when the international oil crisis and growing residential districts on the periphery of the
city centre required a re-think. After four new extensions were built between 1970-78, the revival and repurposing of the tramway was successfully implemented. Particularly noteworthy is the 1970s civil engineering of the southern trunk route, which is used by both lines 1 and 2. From Bürgerpark near Hauptbahnhof to the southern divergence of lines 1 and 2 at Sachsendamm, the right of way was built without any road intersections and designed for a higher running speed of 60km/h (37mph). Along the way, between the cloverleaf highway junction near Richmondweg and Sachsendamm, the tram tracks are built into the middle strip of the A36 motorway – making for an unusual sight, yet an optimal use of space.
The growth and development of the system continued in the 1980s, with the short central branch of line 4 to Inselwall being opened in 1987 and the southwestern extension of line 5 to Broitzem Turmstrasse in 1989. A decade later, the northern extension from Rühme to Wenden Heideblick was inaugurated. Otherwise, the focus during the 1990s was placed on the modernisation of rolling stock, with the procurement of first generation low-floor cars in 1992 when 12 type GT6S were ordered from the
ABOVE: Braunschweig’s foremost landmark is the palace, the former residence of the Dukes of Brunswick. A first building was begun in 1718, but this burnt down in 1830 and was succeeded by an even grander replacement by 1841. During World War Two, the Stadtschloss once again suffered significant damage, but was not dismantled until 1960. In 2004 the decision was made to build from scratch a replica of the palace according to the plans from the 1830s. While the exterior is faithful to the 19th Century design, the interior is now a cultural and commercial centre. This third incarnation of the Schloss was inaugurated in 2007. Incidentally, the pictured Tramino 1459 has a large image of the palace on it, as part of its advertising vinyls for a car dealership.
consortium of MAN and AEG. These LRVs were delivered by 1995, with the product platform later being taken over by Adtranz and then Bombardier.
Follow-up orders for more low-floor trams to replace classic Duewag articulated cars were placed with Alstom in the early 2000s for 12 type NGT8D. These entered revenue service in 2007 and were augmented by an even larger series of 18 Solaris Tramino, which arrived in 2014-15. In order to replace the remaining LHB high-floor vehicles from the late 1970s and early 1980s, a second series of seven Tramino was procured. Following Stadler’s acquisition of Solaris’ tram business, these were no longer produced in Poland, but instead at Stadler’s German plant in Berlin-Pankow.
Braunschweig
With the additional seven Tramino entering revenue service between August 2019 and May 2020, the municipal operator BSVG has been able to operate a barrier-free tram fleet, with just a few LHB cars remaining as reserves or for operational purposes.
The most recent extensions to the Braunschweig network are almost two decades old, dating from 2005 and 2006. These were the 500m link between Hauptbahnhof, Heinrich-Büssing-Ring and Bürgerpark for use by lines 1 and 2; and the 3.2km (two-mile) southern branch of line 1 from Sachsendamm to Stöckheim Salzdahlumer Weg.
Over the same time period, plans were being developed for an ambitious regional tram-train scheme known as ‘RegioStadtBahn’. Inspired by the Karlsruhe model, concepts were drawn up to lay out dual-gauge tracks through the streets of Braunschweig, complementing the unusual local tram gauge of 1100mm with 1435mm in order to permit dual-purpose vehicles to run from the standard-gauge DB network onto the urban tramway. Eventually the scope and scale of the scheme grew too complex and costly, with successive cost:benefit evaluations resulting in diminished expectedvalue-for-money. After 12 years, the plug was pulled on the RegioStadtBahn project in 2010.
“Inspired by the Karlsruhe model, concepts were drawn up for an ambitious regional tram-train scheme: ‘RegioStadtBahn’.”
BElOW: sporting the newest livery and corporate logo of municipal operator BsVg, a solaris Tramino is on the approach
Rühme Carl Miele Str. Lincolnsiedlung
Hansestraße Ost Nordhoffstr.
Schmalbachstr.
Stadion
Gesundheitsamt
Nibelungenplatz Burgundenplatz Siegfriedstr. Ottenroder Straße Schützenplatz
Ludwigstr. Hamburger Str. Mühlenpfordtstr. Kaiserstr. Inselwall
Volkmarode Grenzweg
Querumer Str. Messeweg Petzvalstraße Moorhüttenweg
Bindestr. Mozartstr. Bahnhof Gliesmarode
Radeklint Hagenmarkt Rathaus Theaterwall Botanischer Garten Gliesmaroder Str.
Friedrich Wilhelm Str. Friedrich Wilhelm Platz Europaplatz
Am Jödebrunnen
Asterplatz
Rheinring
Saalestr. Weststadt Weserstraße
Broitzem Turmstraße
Cyriaksring Luisenstr.
Emsstr.
Donauknoten
Leisewitzstr. 6 Bürgerpark Jahnplatz
Am Queckenberg Am Lehmanger
Richmondweg
An der Rothenburg
Kruckweg
Museum Str. Am Magnitor Leonhardplatz Marienstift
7 8 Ackerstr. Hauptfriedhof
Helmstedter Straße
Heinrich Büssing Ring
HEH Kliniken Erfurtplatz
Sachsendamm Militschstr. Trakehnenstr.
Stöckheimer Markt
rIghT: The tall spires of st. Catherine’s Church frame the major tramway junction near hagenmarkt, where lines 1 and 2 continue north, line 4 branches off to the left to Inselwall and line 3 turns right to Volkmarode. In this scene from 4 August 2024, the short branch to Inselwall was closed, as the track infrastructure was being renewed and the terminus platforms made barrier-free, during a months-long engineering block in summer and autumn 2024.
lEfT: All regular trams in Braunschweig are single-ended. here, the city’s first low-floor type GT6S 9551 is seen passing through the old town with a southbound line 2 service. It will call next at the John f Kennedy Platz station.
Heidberg Anklemstraße
Siekgraben
Siedlerstraße
Hohes Feld
Stöckholm Salzdahlumer Weg
NUMBERED STOPS
Alte Waage
Schloss 3. Georg Eckert Str. 4. John F Kennedy Platz
Kurt Schumacher Str. 6. Campestr. 7. Hauptbahnhof 8. Willy Brandt Pl.
Rautheim
to the main railway station.
rIghT: In addition to being the only city in germany with the unusual tramway gauge of 1100mm, Braunschweig is also the only german light rail system to feature the articulated Stadtbahnwagen with matching trailers from the local producer linkehoffman-Busch (lhB) in salzgitter. In 1996, lhB was taken over by Alstom. These high-floor cars from the 1970s and early 1980s have now been largely withdrawn, but some remain as reserves or for other operational purposes. On 21 October 2024, the tandem of articulated car 8157 and trailer 8175 is seen in the distinctive ‘Traminator’ livery at John f. Kennedy Platz during a driver training session.
Nevertheless, city officials now have more robust plans to complement the 1100mm-gauge tram network with new extensions in the coming years. These plans have been defined as ‘Zielnetz 2030’, with the proposed new routes marked as dotted lines on the map (page 135). Of these, the most advanced project is the 1.2km (0.7-mile) extension of line 3 further northeast to Volkmarode Nord. With several applications already submitted, construction work could start in 2026. For the 3.4km (2.1-mile) southeastern extension of line 4 via Lindenberg to Rautheim, there could be shovels in the ground by 2027. The other proposals are currently still at consultation phase.
As of 2025, the size of Braunschweig’s tram network is just under 40km (25 miles), with 81% of tracks on reserved formation. On average, the entire tram fleet performs 2.59 million service km per year, with the local operator BSVG carrying 33.8 million annual passengers.
All in all, Braunschweig is a perfect example of a mid-sized German city where clever planning and modern integration have made the tramway indispensable during the last half century.
“City officials now have more robust plans to complement the 1100mm-gauge tram network with new extensions.”
BElOW: Passing historical timber-framed buildings along the line 4 branch to helmstedter strasse, Tramino 1957 is seen near Museumstrasse. notice how these four-part vehicles have the pantograph mounted to the rear, instead of the front.
ABOVE: running on line 4, Alstom 0755 in special advertising livery is on the approach to the main city centre interchange at schloss.
TOP rIghT: On a typical autumn day in late October 2024, Alstom NGT8D 0754 is running along the branch of line 4 southeast towards helmstedter strasse, as it passes the city museum.
rIghT: The modern tram and bus interchange with platform canopy on the forecourt of Braunschweig hauptbahnhof.
systems factfile No.210
Germany’s fourth-biggest city has light rail at the core of its urban transport network, a system which has grown through ambitious and sometimes challenging projects.
Cologne Stadtbahn –Germany
Cologne GERMANY
Köln is also known internationally as Cologne, names relating to its origins as an ancient Roman settlement, Colonia Agrippina. Today’s city is on both sides of the Rhine, with the historic centre (Altstadt) and its landmark cathedral bordering the west (left) bank. The largest city in Nordrhein-Westfalen (NRW) state, Cologne had a population of just under 1.2 million in 2023. Extensive land, waterway and air infrastructure for passenger and freight reflects the city’s prominence within the Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan area. Cologne was growing rapidly by 1815 when it became part of Prussia. The 19th Century saw a seven-fold population increase, as well as a rapid but fragmented railway growth. Concentrating passenger services at the city’s heart brought about
one of Europe’s busiest through stations, Köln Hauptbahnhof (Hbf), a neighbour to the cathedral. Main lines radiating from the Hbf added stations in the area, supplemented by more locally focused railways and initially horse-powered tram lines. A municipal takeover of tram businesses in 1900 led to full electrification of the emerging system by 1907.
Mülheim am Rhein to the northeast had its own tram operations, which in stages became part of Cologne’s system after Mülheim was administratively absorbed in 1914. Other right bank railways were also added, but overall Cologne has substantially more light rail coverage west of the Rhine.
Today’s 12-line system, officially designated Stadtbahn, is run by public sector Kölner Verkehrs Betriebe (KVB), identifying 246km (154 miles) of route in 2023, 40km (25 miles) of this
ABOVE: The two KVB low-floor types at Neumarkt on 26 July 2024. This is one of the busiest stops on the eastwest axis. Measures to increase capacity are due. Neumarkt also has a surface return loop and underground platforms for high-floor lines.
underground. In January 2020, the city authority issued a new contract to KVB for 22.5 years. Also operating around 300 buses, KVB is a subsidiary of the city-owned services group, Stadtwerke Köln, as is the rail freight body HGK which has almost 100 route kilometres (62 miles). Some is used by KVB and its Bonn counterpart, SWB, for the jointly operated lines 16 and 18 over different routes between the cities. Respectively at 44km (27.5 miles) and 38km (23.8 miles), these are the longest KVB services.
In 1987 Cologne was a founder member of the Verkehrsverbund Rhein-Sieg (VRS) transport association which, in a now enlarged form, coordinates services and tariffs covering Cologne, Bonn and Leverkusen plus many smaller municipalities. With several stations around the city, some with Stadtbahn interchanges, Cologne’s DB-run
THE FLEET
Supplementing 112 Stadtbahn B and with the same main dimensions, KVB’s newest high-floor stock is the Bombardier Flexity Swift HF6 (5301-5329) with a capacity of 175, 64 seated. Developed as part of a joint contract with Düsseldorf’s Rheinbahn, they had a delayed service debut in 2022. Unlike the more numerous Rheinbahn counterpart, KVB HF6 have one driving cab per unit, thus like some Stadtbahn B can only be used as ‘back-to-back’ pairs. To replace some Stadtbahn B and provide extra capacity, KVB intends to buy new high-floor 30-metre vehicles that will allow ten-metre modules to be added for 70-metre formations on suitable lines. Relating to east-west axis planning, replacement of the K4000 fleet is due under a contract signed in 2020 with Alstom (successor to Bombardier) and Kiepe Electric. With options on both lengths, 62 60-metre (six section) and two 30-metre (three section) Citadis fully low-floor trams are to be assembled in Barcelona.
TOp lEfT: Heumarkt’s prolonged existence as a terminus was due to the landslip into tunnel workings towards Severinstraße for the line 5 extension that took place in March 2009. Dealing with munitions unearthed by construction has further affected the project.
lEfT: Stadtbahn stock rebuilt in the 2400 series leaves Sülzgürtel on the westerly route to Bonn, which became a light rail operation in 1986. There is a non-revenue connection here with the Gürtel line, which has a terminus at separate Sülzgürtel platforms.
BElOW: At the southern end of the Altstadt (Old Town), Heumarkt has surface low-floor lines and awaits transition from being a terminus to a through-stop for underground high-floor line 5.
Fuldaer Straße Sportpark Höhenberg Kalker Friedhof Merheim Flehbachstraße
Not all stops have been named due to space constraints. Temporary line arrangements have applied during the Mülheim Bridge works –see www.kvb.koeln
Subbelrather Straße / Gürtel
Bahnhof Deutz / LANXESS Arena Koelnmesse Stegerwaldsiedlung Waldecker Straße Buchheim Herler Straße Wichheimer Straße
Grünstraße Mülheim Wiener Platz
Bahnhof Mülheim Keupstraße Von Sparr Straße Mülheim Berliner Straße Im Weidenbruch Schlebusch Odenthaler Straße Leuchterstraße Am Emberg
Brück Mauspfad Lustheide Refrath Kippekausen Frankenforst Neuenweg Kölner Straße Im Hoppenkamp Bensberg
“important for cargo and leisure shipping, the Rhine has greatly influenced the area’s land transport.”
S-Bahn network has four lines. These include S11 and S6, which take different routes to Düsseldorf, with S19 using the Cologne Bonn Airport loop added in 2004. Regional trains serve some other stations that have nearby light rail including Köln West, a spot favoured by enthusiasts for viewing freight traffic on the western ring line.
Important for cargo and leisure shipping, the Rhine – about 350 metres wide near Cologne’s centre –has greatly influenced the area’s land transport. The distinctive multiarched Hohenzollernbrücke carries main line tracks between closelyspaced Hbf and Köln Messe/Deutz station on the eastern bank. Unlike Hohenzollernbrücke, the smaller predecessor (Dombrücke), which stood immediately to the south, also carried trams, as recalled by preserved street track on the former eastern ramp. Passing under the western approach of today’s bridge, the Cologne-Bonn KBE ‘Rheinuferbahn’ (riverbank) railway once ran along the left bank. In 1978 this was cut back to near the Ubierring stop, with services to Bonn replaced upon integration with light rail operations.
Three bridges with dedicated light rail space between road carriageways now connect operations across the Rhine. Deutzer Brücke and Severinsbrücke are both in the central area. The Mülheimer Brücke is around 4km (2.5 miles) north by river from Deutzer Brücke. Most rail freight is mainly routed via the upstream Südbrücke, which spans the former Rheinuferbahn alignment near Schönhauser Strasse stop. System diagrams closely represent the physical layout west of the Rhine.
network facts
Opened: 1877 (Electric from 1901)
lines: 12
Stops: 236
Depots: 3
approx. weekday hours: 04.30-00.30
Main line frequency: Ten minutes
Gauge: 1435mm
power: 750V dc, overhead supply
Fleet: 401
System operator: Kölner Verkehrs
Betriebe (www.kvb.koeln)
Transport association: Verkehrsverbund Rhein-Sieg (www.vrs.de)
Civic information: www.stadt-koeln.de
Tourist information: www.koelntourismus.de
ABOVE: At the end of a long tunnel on the inner Stadtbahn ring completed in 1987, the portal at Zülpicher platz is next to a surface tram crossroads.
ABOVE: Still a mainstay of light rail systems in western German cities, the Duewag Stadtbahn B entered Cologne fleet service in 1976. KVB’s 1995-built B80D 2301 is with 2219 at Barbarossaplatz on 26 July 2024.
There are radial routes from the centre, with two near-concentric arcs following roads which avoid the city’s core. Used by line 13, normally 16.2km (10.1 miles) long, the outer Gürtel (belt) includes an elevated section almost 6km (3.7 miles) long dating from 1974. This extends south from the Mülheimer Brücke ramp. Although ending at Sü lzg ü rtel, it is expected that the belt line will be extended to the Rhine near the present Bayenthalg ü rtel stop.
A sequence of roads making up the inner of the Kölner Ringe (Cologne Rings) has a tram tunnel in the north, emerging at Zü lpicher Platz, south of which there is surface running. With two formats, Stadtbahn uses low-floor trams on lines 1,7, 9,12 and 15, with high-floor stock on lines 3, 4, 5, 13, 16, 17 and 18. Unlike in nearby Düsseldorf (TAUT 1044, December 2024) where some complete lines are differentiated with U-prefixes, all Cologne lines have number-only designations. Here the ‘U’ distinction is generally used only on signs and maps to indicate the sub-surface stops. The main weekday frequency for each line is ten minutes, thereby bringing closely-spaced services on track hosting several lines. A less favourable aspect of this is congestion around intersections, especially where space is shared by other traffic, as near Aachener Strasse/Gürtel and
BElOW: Rare on the system, a traditional tramway setting remains between Zülpicher platz and Mauritiuskirche.
ABOVE: Introduced in 2022, KVB’s newest stock was in Bombardier’s Flexity Swift range. Type HF6 5318 is at Bahnhof Mülheim on a tunnel section opened in 1997. like some older KVB stock, paired formations are necessitated by HF6 having only one driver’s cab.
bridge works. Stub track (right) is normally used as a terminus for the line 13 orbital route.
ABOVE: A K5300 pair leaves Holweide Vischeringstrasse on the Thielenbruch line, at this point hosting modified services due to the Mülheim
ABOVE: Enabling more efficient supply of stock for the system’s northern end, Merkenich storage compound opened in 2005.
ABOVE: Highfloor K5000 stock at Bf Deutzer Messe-Arena, part of a right-bank public transport concentration including subsurface tram platforms, bus stops and the nearby regional and S-Bahn station, Köln Messe/ Deutz.
BElOW: Cologne’s transport has been greatly influenced by the Rhine. Hohenzollern Bridge (right) takes tracks to the main station near the cathedral. A predecessor bridge carried trams, with tracks still visible on the ramp near this viewpoint. The Rheinuferbahn railway ran on the far bank until 1978 when most of it was integrated with the light rail system.
ABOVE: Bi-directional B80D 2312 about to cross the boundary between HGK and KVB track (respectively under EBO and BOStrab regulation) near Heinrich lübke Ufer stop. paired vehicles are much more common across the system.
ABOVE: A 1975-built Stadtbahn B modified in 2013, Bonn SWB B80C-ZE 7578 is near Schönhauser Straße on the Rheinuferbahn alignment, which was redeployed for light rail in 1978.
the replacement featuring a bolder rendering of Cologne’s city colours.
at Barbarossaplatz. The two-format distinction emerged following tunnels being built to segregate trams from other road traffic. The three such sections added between 1968 and 1970 were in the central area; by 1974 outer additions took in-tunnel route to 20.4km (12.8 miles).
To operate the intended but unrealised regional Stadtbahn network, high-floor light rail vehicles were introduced in Cologne and some other NRW cities. Variants of Duewag’s Stadtbahn B became the dominant type, a condition remaining over half a century after their debut. This stock was designed for compatibility with the extant tram infrastructure, including the fitting of folding steps. This equipment became irrelevant where high platforms were introduced to give level access.
High-floor Bombardier K5100 (51015159) were introduced in 2002, with the similar K5200 (5201-5215) series received 2010-11. The 2400 series (2401-2428) are substantial rebuilds of the mid-1980s Stadtbahn B 2100 series. Upgrading, which included air conditioning and wholly-new interiors, was made viable by the construction standards of the donor stock. The project was completed between 2011 and 2021 at KVB’s Weidenpesch works, with each vehicle expected to see another 25 years in service.
Duewag GT6 and GT8, which began operations in the early 1960s, were the system’s principal vehicles until partial low-floor, bi-directional trams were introduced in 1995. Developed for Cologne, the Bombardier K4000 eventually amounted to 124 examples numbered 4000-4124. Another Flexity Swift model, K4500 (4501-4569) followed in 2005. Usually operated in pairs of the same type, both are about 29 metres long, with two main and short intermediate sections. As with K4000 becoming the equipment for London Tramlink’s original CR4000
operations from 2000, the K5100 set the pattern for the current 147-strong Manchester Metrolink M5000 fleet. The core East-West axis operated by trams is by KVB’s own verdict (translated) ‘hopelessly overcrowded during peak hours’. Currently hosting lines 1, 7 and 9 between Deutzer Brücke and Neumarkt, its frequencies are regarded as being at the limit. With such changes ruled out for increasing capacity, the aim is to replace the current 60-metre paired trams with new stock in 60-metre plus 30-metre formations. All but three of the 37 stops on the 26.5km (16.6-mile) line 1 would need remodelling to handle the 90-metre lengths. Political decisions are awaited on associated measures to increase capacity. The main debate has been whether to maintain surface running or to put tracks below ground; having both also has support. Citing improved journey times, fewer accidents and re-use of surface space, the operator favours a tunnel incorporating a Rhine crossing. It summarises the issue: ‘The expansion of the east-west axis is one of the largest and most urgent transport projects of the city of Cologne and the KVB’
As part of the north-south Stadtbahn project, construction of 4km (2.5-mile) twin-bore tunnels began in 2006. Connected to the north beneath the Altstadt to join at already-rebuilt Breslauer Platz/ Hbf, Heumarkt’s deep level platforms opened in December 2013. Further south the project remained halted by the March 2009 building collapse at Waidmarkt on Severinstrasse, with investigations identifying landslips into the workings. Development beyond Waidmarkt continued, including 270 metres from the southern portal to the surface Marktstrasse stop, although services are yet to start south of Heumarkt. The next stage will be 2.1km (1.3 miles) of surface running beyond Marktstrasse.
ABOVE: A 2010 view of the dedicated alignment near Boltensternstrasse. Trailing 2303 carries a then-outgoing KVB livery, with the older 2201 having gained
This will have four stops including line 5’s southern Arnoldshöhe terminus, with services due to start in spring 2028. Progress has also been affected by dealing with unexploded bombs, legacies of over 250 World War Two raids on Cologne. A shorter-term problem for existing services stemmed from an overhaul of the Mülheim bridge. Reaching a project stage where track became unavailable, KVB implemented changes including bus substitution and shortening lines 13 and 18. When bridge work not directly related to rail infrastructure revealed unexpected structural conditions, the KVB changes that had been expected to last four months from April 2024 had to continue into 2025.
Including the Weidenpesch site opened in 1923 and now with more storage, there are three active depots in Cologne, none directly passed by revenue tracks. West depot adjoins the KVB headquarters, which is near the Aachener Straße-Gü rtel intersection. The newest site, Merheim, is off line 1 east of the Rhine. Outside Cologne, the Wesseling facility is beside HGK tracks used by line 16. Dispersed storage areas assist stock movements, as near Rheinenergie Stadion which can hold trams for stadium events. Opened in 2005, Merkenich is on the system’s northern extreme at the end of an extension from a line added in 1967 to serve the Ford automotive factories.
lEfT: With KölnTriangle tower in the background, a K4000 pair with a line 1 service heads into the tunnel section east of Deutzer freiheit.
ABOVE: Replacing the 1929-1944 tram carrying bridge, the Mülheimer Brücke opened in 1951 had road tracks replaced with dedicated space in the mid-1970s. Triggered by a general overhaul here, temporary Stadtbahn arrangements in spring 2024 ran beyond schedule into 2025.
“Variants of Duewag’s Stadtbahn B type became the dominant type, half a century after their debut.”
ESSENT i AL FACTS
local travel: Staffed KVB customer centres include Dom/Hbf, Neumarkt and Chlodwigplatz. Multi-lingual ticket machines at stops and aboard vehicles. Except for the Kurzstrecke (short trip) version, the zone-based VRS tickets are valid for Stadtbahn buses, S-Bahn and regional trains. Zone 1b applies to Cologne: single tickets from EUR3.50 for 90 minutes; 24-hours from validation EUR8.50. Also available from tourist board outlets, the personal KölnCard range (from EUR9.00 for 24 hours) adds discounts for tourist attractions. For coverage across the state, for example to include Bonn and Düsseldorf, SchönerTagTicket NRW Single (day pass) at EUR38.60 (prices as at February 2025). What is there to see? Main tourist office opposite the west front of the cathedral, Germany’s most-visited single tourist attraction. The core tourism area including museums and Alter Markt square lies to the south, extending to Heumarkt and the Am Leystapel riverside gardens with piers for Rhine trips. Atmospheric brew houses of the distinctive local beer, Kölsch, include Päffgen near sub-surface Friesenplatz and Malzmühle, which is opposite Heumarkt stop. The KölnTriangle tower near Messe/Deutz station has a public observation deck ( https:// koelntrianglepanorama.de). Tram museum next to lines 3/18 Thielenbruch terminus (information: www.hsk.koeln). A KVB subsidiary operates the seasonal cross-Rhine cable car (www.koelner-seilbahn.de) from near line 18 Zoo/Flora.
ABOVE: The Aachener Straße-Gürtel southbound stop near a main road and light rail intersection. The junction for the depot, which adjoins the KVB headquarters, is underneath the K5000 vehicles.
Worldwide Review
AUSTRALIA
ADELAIDE. South Australia’s government has ended its contract with Keolis Downer to provide commuter rail services and has taken management in house. It intends to do the same with the city’s trams. RGI BRISBANE. Regular service on the so-called Brisbane Metro – a 21km (13-mile) bus service with segregated rights of way – started on 28 January, after nine years of planning and a price tag that rose to AUD1.55bn (EUR876m).
G. Sutherland CANBERRA. Work to build the tramway extension to Commonwealth Park started on 17 February, with completion expected in 2027. This is the first stage of the Woden extension (TAUT 1042). IRJ
GOLD COAST. The introduction of a Queensland-wide AUD0.50 (EUR0.29) public transport fare in September 2024 led to an increase in rail, bus and ferry passengers in its first six months. Statistics published in February reveal that G:Link increased its passenger count by 27.5%. The initiative has so far cost the Queensland government AUD181m (EUR107m).
G. Sutherland PERTH. Test running on the 17.5km (11-mile) Thornlie – Cockburn commuter rail line started on 20 January. This is the first east-west line across the city. IRJ
AUSTRIA
WIEN (Vienna). Alstom Flexity trams 400-401 were delivered in February. The 100th tram of this type entered service on 1 March.
WIEN – BADEN (WLB). Alstom Flexity trams up to 532 had been delivered by late February. tramwayforum.at
BELGIUM
LIÈGE. All 18 new CAF trams were out on test for the first time on 10 February. Two months of dummy operation started the day after.
BOSNIA & HERZEGOVINA
SARAJEVO. The tram branch to the railway station reopened on 25 February. It is served by line 1 to Baščaršija and line 4 to Ilidža. A. Kustura
BRAZIL
SÃO PAULO. Commuter rail line 9 was extended from Mendes-Vila Natal to Varginha on 27 January. urbanrail.net
CANADA
EDMONTON. Siemens, HyundaiRotem and CAF have
submitted bids in response to an order for 53 high-floor LRVs. A contract should be awarded before the end of the year.
Mass Transit MISSISSAUGA. Ontario’s newly elected provincial government has announced it is to build a 4km (2.5-mile) subway for the Brampton town centre extension of the Hazel McCallion light rail line. P. Webb MONTRÉAL . Private metro operator REM has said that opening of the North and West lines should take place in October. The airport branch should follow in 2027. The existing operation is likely to be shut down for up to two months before October to permit the integration of a through service to be carried out. J. May OTTAWA. Saturday services on the Trillium Line diesel light rail corridor started on 25 January. Sunday services were to have begun by the time this issue closed for press. CBC TORONTO. Toronto Transit Commission has awarded Gatekeeper Systems a contract to install camera enforcement technology that will identify motorists that pass stationary trams with their doors open. This is an offence in Ontario.
TTC’s fleet of historic trams ( Peter Witt 2766, PCCs 4500/49 and CLRVs 4001 and 4186) moved to the Halton County Radial Railway museum in January after it was decided not to fit them with pantographs to permit operation on the city system. S. Munro
CHINA
TAIYUAN. Metro line 1 opened on 22 February. The 28.7km (18-mile) and 24-station line links Helongwan and Wusu Airport Terminals 1 and 2. urtbanrail.net
COLOMBIA
BOGOTÁ. The 23.8km (17.8-mile) north-south metro line, under construction by Chinese interests, is expected to open in 2028.
China is also involved in the 39.6km (25-mile) Regiotram in the western suburbs, where two further lines are planned. However, no dates have been announced for when the lines will open. RGI
CROATIA
ZAGREB. Tram 2401, the first of 40 new KON Č AR versions, was presented to the media on 4 February. UTM
CZECH REPUBLIC
LIBEREC. The last pedalcontrolled Tatra T3 trams (74+72 and 73+75) have received workshop attention and remain in service.
Ex-Wien (Vienna) Type K twoaxle tram 2329 (built by Stauding in 1913) has arrived from the Mariazell museum in Austria for heritage tram duties. BS OLOMOUC. The first of nine new EVO-1 15.1m single-ended bogie trams entered passenger service in February. There are ten already in traffic. The new trams will replace the last Tatra high-floor cars and also the low-floor Astra trams that can no longer be provided with spares. TP PLZE Ň . T3 332 is being used as the test bed for a self-driving tram project in collaboration with Pragoimex and two universities.
M. Baxter PRAHA (Prague). Central Bohemia Regional Council and the city council have agreed on a 5.2km (3.2-mile) tramway extension from Kobylisy depot (lines 10 and 17) to the town of Zdiby, where a park-and-ride scheme is planned. The new line could open in 2027.
A new set of regulations has been approved by the city council, banning adverts on public transport that promote addictive substances, erotica and religion, violence or vulgar content. Surveys showed that 77% of residents supported the bans.
Alstom and a Siemens/Škoda consortium have submitted tenders for 69 new metro trains and new communications based train control (CBTC) systems for Lines C and D. Stadler has appealed against the conditions of the tender.
M. Baxter, TP
EGYPT
EL QAHIRA (Cairo). Spain’s government is funding a EUR1.4m feasibility study into a 19km (11.2-mile) extension of metro line 1 from El Marg to Shibin El-Qanater. IRJ
FRANCE
BESANÇON. Delivery of five new Alstom Citadis trams is
due to take place in SeptemberNovember. lineoz.net
CHAMONIX – MONTENVERS. The 1909 rack tramway has been transferred from the private Compagnie du Mont Blanc to the Département Haute-Savoie. EA LYON. The first rail weld for tram line T9 was made during a ceremony at Vaulx-en-Velin on 10 February.
PARIS. Public services on the 9.9km (6.2-mile) tram-train line T14 were inaugurated on 22 March. The Esbly – Crécy-laChapelle service is operated by Keolis/SNCF joint venture Stretto over SNCF tracks. The 15 Alstom tram-trains are used in a common pool with line T11. DS
GERMANY
BONN. Duewag 9460 became the first R1.1 tram to be sent to Poznań (TAUT 1047). It arrived at its new home on 31 January, followed by 9451 on 3 February. TP KÖLN (Cologne). A city council meeting on 30 January rejected the underground alternative for the east-west axis in favour of the surface option. DS MANNHEIM. The last former OEG GT8 trams (4098+4110) were withdrawn from passenger service after a special tour on 22 February. Tram 4082 remains for driver training.
Ex-Heidelberg 3269 has been repainted in SRS livery for transfer to Schöneiche. DS MÜNCHEN (Munich). Buses replaced line U3 from 17 February while the southern section of the U-Bahn is refurbished. Trains were to return on 9 March while U6 services were to be affected 10 March-30 May; U6 trains are to use U3 tracks to reach Fürstenried West.
The final day of A-class sets on the U-Bahn was 10 February. DS NAUMBURG. The heritage tramway has been given a fouryear, directly-awarded contract to provide service until 2029.
An Alstom Citadis on the Turquoise Line of the Doha tramway, the latest to offer passenger service. The system will be complete when the Purple line runs towards the twin towers. P. Haseldine
The Burgenlandkreis local authority has said it would like to take over operation of the line from the enthusiast-based operating company. TR
NORDHAUSEN. A bus replacement service between Bhf and Nordbrand started on 17 February while track is relaid. This is to last until May. DS ROSTOCK. The first of 29 Stadler TINA trams was delivered to Hamburger Strasse depot on 18 February. It was unveiled to the media the following day. DS
WOLTERSDORF. A farewell for the Gotha trams was held on 1 March, when six cars worked a ten-minute headway. Gotha cars may still see limited service in future. DS
INDIA
Titagarh Firema is delivering 38 EMUs to Lazio region: 20 six-car trains are for the Lido di Ostia line and 18 four-car trains for the Viterbo line. romatoday.it, RGI
JAPAN
KYOTO. The first new KYOTRAM cars entered service on the 7.2km (4.5-mile) Arashiyama line on 29 February. The seven trams are designed by GK Design Research Institute Hiroshima and built in Keifuku Electric Railroad’s workshops. Japan Station TOKYO. Seibu Railway has placed an order with Mitsubishi for three rubber-tyred Automated Guideway Transit trains for use on the Yamaguchi Line. They are to replace its 40-year-old stock. RGI
LUXEMBOURG
PKTS started to deliver 71-911 Lyonok bogie trams in February. The 71 vehicles are being leased through Sber Leasing. N. Semyonov
IRELAND
TRAMiSANE
KOLKATA (Calcutta). Lines 5 and 25 were still operating at the end of February. Nonapukur workshops has converted tram 252-1 into a double-ended car as a prototype for use on the planned heritage line.
DUBLIN. Engineering firm Eglis has produced an outline design for the 4km (2.5-mile) Luas extension. The proposed route makes a connection with Green Line services at Broombridge. A new bridge and elevated section would take the line over the Royal Canal towards Tolka Valley Public Park before proceeding in the direction of the four new proposed stops, including the Charlestown terminus. The route would be largely segregated, with grassed track.
A new campaign has been launched that urges customers to keep spaces clean, noise levels down, and respect priority areas.
ISRAEL
JERUSALEM. Services were suspended for five days from 9 February to permit testing on the Red Line extensions to Neve Yaakov and Hadassah Ein Kerem Medical Center. Both lines were due to open on 21 February. However, this was subject to last minute postponement, to the evening of 27 February.
All public transport services were suspended on the evening of 20 February after a bomb attack on buses. D. Klepper
ITALY
ROMA (Rome). Evening closures expected to last six months started on metro line C on 7 January to permit work to take place on the extension from San Giovanni to Colosseo. This should open by the end of 2025.
LUXEMBOURG. The 3.9km (2.4-mile) tramway extension from LuxExpo to Findel Luxembourg Airport opened on 2 March. urbanrail.net
MEXICO
MEXICO CITY. Concarril light rail vehicle 018 – built 1990-91 – has gone on display at the STE Museum. This is located at the agency’s main depot, at the eastern terminus of trolleybus line 3. The collection also includes 1899-built Brill tram 0, PCC car 2434 and several trolleybuses.
S. J. Morgan
NETHERLANDS
AMSTERDAM. Following completion of infrastructure work at Houtmankade, the turning circle was to be brought back into use from 31 March, permitting the use of single-ended trams again. Line 5 returned to Staatsleidenbuurt and line 13 to Zoutkeetsgracht. Line 3 was cut back to Frederik Henndrikplantsoen. OR DEN HAAG (The Hague). The new line 10 operates MondayThursday only; extra services are scheduled on line 1 on Fridays. OR ROTTERDAM. Metro line A only ran between Binnenhof and Dijkzigt between 22 February and 2 March while points were renewed at Coolhaven. During this period, tram lines 4 and 6 ran to Marconiplein. OR
NEW ZEALAND
AUCKLAND. The first test train ran through the 3.5km (twomile) City Rail Link subway on 14 February. Passenger services are to start in 2026. CityRailLink
NIGERIA
LAGOS . The government has agreed to provide funding equivalent to USD97.2m (EUR92m) for the 68km (42-mile)
Green Line from Lekki to Ajah and interchange with the existing Blue Line at Marina. The line is likely to be designed and operated by Chinese firms.
NORWAY
OSLO. With the delivery of CAF trams 401-87, there are just 13 Duewag/Strømmen SL79 and three Ansaldo SL95 trams left in the fleet. OR
POLAND
BYDGOSZCZ. An option for six additional PESA low-floor trams has been exercised. They are to be delivered by the end of 2027. The order, placed in 2022, will permit withdrawal of the last high-floor Konstal trams. TP. SZCZECIN. The order for four double-ended Modertrans Moderus Gamma trams has been increased to 12 (TAUT 1046). TP WARSZAWA (Warsaw). A tender for up to 160 33m air-conditioned trams has been issued. Although the initial order will probably only cover 20 single-ended cars, the option includes 44 single-ended and 96 double-ended cars.
The city is to receive PLN1.1bn (EUR265m) in EU funding to complete metro line 2 and build tramway extensions. TP
ROMANIA
ARAD. The city and regional councils are bidding for EU funding to modernise the 20km (12.4-mile) Arad – Ghioroc interurban tramline. aradon.ro
RUSSIA
KALININGRAD. GorTrans has ordered RUR4.6m (EUR48 997) worth of new tram rail. Korsar trams were expected to return to line 5 after being fitted with equipment to prevent derailments. J. Carpenter SAMARA. A trio of 71-931 Vityaz-M articulated low-floor trams (970-972) entered service on line 3 from 25 January.
SANKT PETERBURG (Saint Petersburg). Ust-Katav delivered 71-638-02 Polaris low-floor articulated tram 5810 to Depot 5 for line 55. Three more will follow. transphoto.org
YAROSLAVL. UKVZ is to deliver 20 71-628 100% low-floor bogie trams in 2025 under a lease agreement with concessionaire Movista. Skyscrapercity
SERBIA
BEOGRAD (Belgrade). GSP has issued tenders for 100 low-floor two-section 17-20m trams, estimated to be worth RSD40.5bn (EUR346m). IRJ
SINGAPORE
MASS RAPID TRANSIT. Work is to start this year on the 4km (2.5km) underground extension of the Bukit Panjang – Sungei Kadutr Downtown Line. Completion is expected in 2035. straitstimes.com
SPAIN
BILBAO – SAN SEBASTIAN. The Euzkadi regional authority has taken responsibility for local rail services from RENFE, although RENFE Viajeros is contracted to operate trains until 2027. An order is to be placed for 25 new EMUs. RGI
SWITZERLAND
BASEL (BVB). A contract to refurbish articulation joints on 61 Flexity trams has been offered. bzbasel.ch BERN. The Canton has refused a credit of CHF4.6m (EUR4.9m) to re-lay the Brunnholf – Fischermättli tramline. The state of its track could lead to replacement by buses. Tramlink 929 arrived at the end of December. The last new double-ended tram, 930, followed in January. No date is known for the delivery of single-ended 901-7. EA ZÜRICH. Alstom has delivered the 70th Flexity 2 , which will
A Samarkand tram shortly before street reconstruction led to the network’s temporary closure. Kac
Worldwide Review
replace the older Tram 2000 type. An option for 18 Flexity 2s, part of the original framework agreement, is valid until December 2027.
Financial issues have added a two-year delay to construction of the 1.4km (0.9-mile) link between Brunnenhof and Affoltern. Line 11 should reach here in December 2031. EA
THAILAND
BANGKOK. A pair of orders have been placed with Siemens. Of these, one is for 32 three-car trains for the 35.9km (22-mile) Orange Line metro that is to open in 2028-30. The other is for 21 additional three-car trains for the 48km (30-mile) Blue Line. RGI
TUNISIA
TUNIS. RFR’s commuter rail line D to Gobâa opened on 25 January. RGI
TURKEY
Ş ANLIURFA. The city’s mayor has unveiled plans for a 15km (9.3-mile) LRT line from Eyyübiye to Karaköprü. Turkish engineering and consultancy business Ölçek Mühendislik is to undertake baseline map and geodetic network installation works along the proposed route. RGI
UKRAINE
DNIPRO. A EUR8.5m order for five 27m KT1T306 100% lowfloor trams has been placed with Tatra Jug, thanks to a loan from the European Investment Bank. The first of the air-conditioned cars, which are to accommodate 260 passengers (67 seated), are to be delivered later this year. TP LVIV. It is confirmed that 33 26m Schindler Be4/8 from Basel (BLT) are being delivered during 2025. These were originally earmarked for Beograd (Belgrade). DS VINNYTSIA. Up to 60 Tram-2000 cars that are being transferred from Zürich are to be equipped with lowfloor centre sections. These are
designed in Switzerland but will be built in Ukraine by Ukrtorhserwis for UAH1m (EUR22 881) each. TP
URUGUAY
MONTEVIDEO. Uruguay’s new government has confirmed its support for a 35km (22-mile) tram-train project. The USD500m (EUR475m) project will link the city with El Pinar. cs-dopravak
UNITED KINGDOM
EDINBURGH. The need to replace points at York Place forced Edinburgh Trams to close part of its network for three days from 14 February. Trams continued to run between Edinburgh Airport and West End, and Newhaven and Balfour Street.
GLASGOW. A Freedom of Information Request by The Scotsman has revealed that Strathclyde Partnership for Transport has spent approximately GBP120 000 (EUR 145 000) on improving the ride of its 17 new Stadler EMUs. New dampers have been fitted to the trains, which entered service last year, after complaints from passengers about noise and the ride.
GREATER MANCHESTER.
The Bee Network’s contactless ‘tap and go’ payment system is to go live across all bus routes from 23 March. The system is currently in use on Metrolink tram services. New annual bus and tram tickets were to go on sale on the same day. These are to complement existing annual tickets as well as seven-day or 28-day travelcards.
LONDON (DOCKLANDS).
Cutty Sark station is set to close for six months to allow escalator replacement. The station is the third-busiest on the Docklands network but is frequently affected by escalator failures. Work is expected to start after the London Marathon on 27 April.
LONDON (TRAMLINK). Services were disrupted during February when major track renewals
took place between Wellesley Road and East Croydon. Trams did not run between Reeves Corner and Sandilands, nor to Elmers End. Replacement buses operated instead.
NOTTINGHAM. Nottingham Express Transit is to close its shop in King’s Street on 25 March.
NET’s Service Delivery & Safety Director Sarah Turner says the move comes after studying ticket purchasing trends and listening to customer feedback. She added that money saved by the closure will be diverted into other initiatives. Staff will be transferred to a call centre.
SHEFFIELD. A four-week public consultation on whether dogs should be allowed on Supertram was to close on 3 March. Only assistance dogs are currently allowed on trams unless they are in a travelling cage. However, South Yorkshire’s Mayoral Combined Authority wants to know if changing the conditions of carriage on this matter would encourage more people to use the tramway.
TYNE & WEAR. Metrocar 4007 was taken away for scrap on 18 February – it is the 12th to be so treated. Class 555s 555008 and 555009 arrived by rail from Switzerland on 21 February. There are now three Class 555s in service – 555002/020/021. They work services from South Shields to St James as well as Airport to South Hylton.
Volunteers from Metro operator Nexus and contractor Kier Transportation spent three days renovating an activity room at Whitley Bay Big Local community hub. The venue is close to Whitley Bay Metro station, where Nexus and Kier are working on a GBP5.3m (EUR6.4m) project to rejuvenate its canopy. This is due to be completed this spring.
USA
ATLANTA, GA. The first of 56 Stadler CQ400 four-car metro
trains was unveiled to the public at Lindbergh Center station on 30 January. Passenger service is expected before the end of the year.
J. May
AUSTIN, TX. The Austin Transit partnership issued a Request for Information to design and build its 15-station light rail line on 4 February. Closing date was 19 March. Construction could start in 2027 with completion in 2033. Mass Transit BOSTON, MA. Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority was to start South Coast Rail commuter services to New Bedford and Fall River from 24 March.
Type 7 3615, dating from 1986, is being converted to a works car. Rollsign DENVER, CO. The Colorado Supreme Court has refused to hear a USD111m lawsuit from Denver Transit Partners against Denver Regional Transport District. This effectively ends litigation between the two organisations which has rumbled on since 2018.
J. May GENERAL. New Federal Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy has issued a memo to the Department of Transportation to concentrate its efforts on communities with higher than average birth and marriage rates. Political commentators have suggested that this could affect the Federal Transit Administration’s capital investment grant. Preference is also to be given to cities that co-operate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and do not enforce mask or vaccine requirements.
New York Daily News KANSAS CITY, MO. Testing on the 5.6km (3.5-mile) Kansas City Streetcar extension along Main Street to the University was in progress in January. Mass Transit NEW YORK, NY. The Trump administration is set to end the congestion charging programme, introduced in Manhattan on 5 January. Money raised from the
Th ex-Moskva Polish built Fokstrot trams are entering service in Ufa after transfer from the Russian capital. Tapok
Winter weather proves no hindrance for this LRV in the Canadian cities of Waterloo-Kitchener. K. Smirnov
charge was to be invested in the city’s public transport networks.
TP
PHILADELPHIA, PA. Rapid transit line PATCO carried 59 944 passengers on Superbowl day (9 February), an all-time record. J. W. Vigrass PITTSBURGH, PA. The Mount Washington transit tunnel was closed for eight months from 23 February for a USD28m (EUR26.5m) upgrade.
Red and Blue line LRT service is diverted ‘over the top’ via Warrington and Arlington avenues, while a temporary shuttle has been introduced between Station Square and Allegheny. Mass Transit SACRAMENTO, CA. A groundbreaking ceremony on the site of the Blue Line’s Dos Rios light rail station took place on 20 February. The USD43m (EUR41m) project is to open by the end of 2026.
Mass Transit SALT LAKE CITY (UT). UTA has identified its preferred route for the Orange light rail line that will run for 4.5km (2.8 miles) from Salt Lake City International Airport to the University of Utah Research park. The agency anticipates ground-breaking in 2029 and completion in 2032. enr.com
SAN FRANCISCO, CA (Muni). Hitachi has won a ten-year contract to instal and maintain SelTrac communication and signalling on Muni’s 114km (71-mile) light rail system by 2032. Budget cuts implemented in early February led to single cars replacing coupled sets on weekend services on Lines M (Ocean View) and K (Ingleside). SF Chronicle SEATTLE, WA. Sound Transit Link Line 2 will be extended
from Redmond Technology to Downtown Redmond from 10 May. J. May
TYLER, TX. A joint venture of Herzog Contracting and Stacy & Witbeck has started a light rail feasibility study. Mass Transit
UZBEKISTAN
SAMARKAND. Tram operations on line 2 ceased on 18 January, followed by line 1 on 25 January. This is to permit reconstruction of the city’s streets, but no date for a resumption of service has been given. transphoto.org
MUSEUM NEWS
BEAMISH (UK). Haigh Rail has trialled a new rail welding robotic arm to build up weld on the museum’s tramway. The machine scans the rail before the arm starts work.
The tram depot has received new lighting and wiring. The inspection pit has been repainted. A new gantry is to be installed to allow access to tramcar roofs.
BRIGHTON (UK). A group of volunteers restoring Brighton Corporation Tramways car 53 has approached Brighton & Hove City Council with a proposal to run it on a new line in Stanmer park. The BCT network comprised 15.3km (9.5 miles) of 1067mmgauge line and operated 1901-39. Car 53 entered service in 1937.
COLUMBUS (US). Demolition of the Spaghetti Warehouse restaurant led to an operation to rescue the Birney tram that has been a feature inside. It is hoped to display it in a park on Livingston Avenue. Columbus Underground
DÖBELN (DE). Former Neuchâtel open trailer 133 has been acquired
TAUT explores the pioneering light rail vision in one of the world’s most ancient cities, which overcame its own unique and complex challenges.
+ EU Light Rail Congress report
for the horse tramway from Naumburg.
DS
CARLTON COLVILLE (UK). East Anglia Transport Museum has launched a campaign to recruit new volunteers. The museum needs to fill roles in various departments, from operations and engineering to working in the gardens and cafe.
CRICH (UK). The National Tramway Museum has won the Heritage Railway Association’s Diesel & Electric Locomotion award for the restoration of London County Council tramcar 1. The awards ceremony took place in February. The Seaton Tramway was Highly Commended for its restoration of Car 23.
Contractors have been repairing and repainting the museum’s bandstand (from Longford Park near Manchester) and the BowesLyon bridge. The work was due to be completed by the time the museum reopened on 15 March. The winter maintenance programme also involved the installation of new traction poles.
DUNFERMLINE (UK). A former Edinburgh tramcar body could carry passengers again later this year. The unidentified body is being modified by Lathalmond Railway Museum to fit on a former Royal Ordnance Factory bogie open wagon. It is hoped that it will enter service later this year, when the museum’s steam locomotive returns from overhaul.
GDANSK (PL). Bergmann two-axle tram 245 (built 1927) has been restored to near original condition, including applying Danzig livery. TP
MOUNT PLEASANT (US). Former Milano (Milan) Peter Witt
Sy STEMS fACT f ILE : PRAgUE
The Czech capital boats one of the world’s greatest tram systems. It is also the fastest growing light rail network in Europe, as Andrew Thompson finds.
+ Classic Trams: Pennsylvania Trolley Museum part two
1811, acquired by the Midwest Electric Railway, moved to the line in January after restoration at Gomaco. It now carries Milano yellow and cream livery. The car was on static display in St Louis from 2005 to 2014, to promote the Delmar Loop Trolley project. S. J. Morgan ROCKHILL FURNACE (US). The Trolley Museum has acquired the former York Railways Brill tram 162 (built 1924) and the body of Lewistown Brill 23 (built 1914) from a private collection in Middletown. J. May
CONTRIBUTORS
Worldwide items for inclusion should be sent to Michael Taplin at Flat 8, Roxan Villa, 33 Landguard Manor Rd, Shanklin, Isle of Wight PO37 6EA, UK. Fax: +44 (0)1983 862810 or e-mail miketap@mainspring.co.uk
UK and Ireland items are welcomed by the Home News Editor, John Symons, 17 Whitmore Avenue, Werrington, Stoke-on-Trent, ST9 0LW, UK. E-mail: uknews@lrta.org
Acknowledgements are due to: aradon.ro, Blickpunkt Straßenbahn (BS), bzbasel.ch, CBC, CityRailLink, cs-dopravak, Columbus Underground, Drehscheibe (DS), Eisenbahn Amateur (EA), enr.com, International Railway Journal (IRJ), Japan Station, lineoz. net, Mass Transit, New York Daily News, omatoday.it, Op de Rails (OR), Railway Gazette International (RGI), Rollsign, SF Chronicle, Skyscrapercity, straitstimes.com, Today’s Railways (TR), TRAMiSANE, tramwayforum. at, transphoto.org, Transport Publiczny (TP), urbanrail.net, and Urban Transport Magazine (UTM).
The French city's modern tram system opened as recently as 2012. Now a major extension with the construction of a third line by 2027 is planned, as TAUT reports.
+ The latest news and analysis, system and technical development MAY 2025 issue On sale 18 April
Classic Trams
PENNSYLVANIA TROLLEY MUSEUM
Just a few tramway museums around the world are in the ‘Premier Division’. Mike Russell begins a triumphant story of vision, patience and determination in an appreciation of the Pennsylvania Trolley Museum. 1 PART ONE
Asked to identify the top operational tramway museums in the world, a dispassionate observer is likely to cite Crich in the UK, the Danish tramway museum at Skjoldenaesholm and the Pennsylvania Trolley Museum (PTM) in the USA’s East Coast region. The latter has never previously featured in this column and now seems a good time to rectify a serious omission, for the museum is an outstanding example of the genre both in terms of scale and breadth of coverage.
If America can legitimately claim the title of father of the tramcar (‘streetcar’ in US parlance), the State of Pennsylvania can be acknowledged as a progenitor, with due deference to the claims of cities such as New Orleans or Richmond. Most Pennsylvanian tramcar systems have now closed, save for the proud exception of Philadelphia, and those who realised earlier than most the way the wind was blowing are to be congratulated for their foresight in initially preserving former Pittsburgh Railways trailer car B423 (minus truck) in 1940. Its shortlived survival awakened others to the real risk that streetcar lines, a phenomenon so influential in the development of American towns and cities, were in danger nationwide.
One of the most impressive streetcar networks was that of the Pittsburgh Railways (PRC). Its sprawling mass of lines served the steel mills and furnaces of the greater Pittsburgh area through constricted, hilly topography so typical of such areas.
After the end of World War Two, during which the tramways had served with great but largely unappreciated distinction, the pendulum was clearly swinging against railbound traction. In 1948 the PRC announced the first intended closure of lines serving mining districts; it was to herald a closure programme that would eliminate most lines.
So, those who cared about this aspect of American social history swung into action and in 1949 purchased another tramcar for preservation. Initial storage for the fleet was provided at the PRC’s Ingram depot, but the ultimate aim was to establish a site where the trams could receive permanent protection.
It was soon agreed that if a heritage collection were to be established it should be as part of a working museum, an unusual concept at that time.
A major catalyst was the announcement of the 1953 closure of the long interurban lines to Washington (Pa) and Charleroi. After a comprehensive search for a future museum site it was decided that a 2000ft (600m)
segment of this former interurban line would fit the bill; its advantages were almost level track and a nearby Pennsylvania Railroad branch useful for stock transfers.
Expansion and extension
Once an inventory of desirable rolling stock to be saved following the impending closure had been drawn up, the cars were transferred to the new museum site, effecting the last through movements from Pittsburgh over the recently-abandoned metals. Later the museum and site were renamed the Pennsylvania Trolley Museum (PTM). The first car barn (depot) was built in 1959-61, and in December 1962 the first vehicle moved under its own power.
During the 1950s and early 1960s the collection expanded and outgrew the depot accommodation. Pittsburgh, with its varied fleet of traditional bogie cars, was inevitably a major source and from Philadelphia came other examples from the pre-PCC era. Many cars in the Pittsburgh fleet had originated with independent operators subsumed by amalgamation, and this provided a rich source of material.
In 1964 the museum was re-formed following construction of a new depot building, for the first time built by outside contractors. It was decided to concentrate on cars from Pittsburgh and Philadelphia.
A major stage in development came in the late 1970s with erection of the Galbraith Car Shop, providing covered maintenance facilities; it was named after Thomas Galbraith, one of the PTM’s founding fathers, but much more was yet to come.
The first of what became several generous benefactions came from the Allegheny Foundation in 1980, financing Galbraith’s Car Shop. These have enabled the PTM to extend the running-line towards Arden Valley. That followed protracted negotiations in which it was agreed that tracks could be laid to cross National Highway 40 (North Main Street) and so progress to a new turning-circle at Arden Mines.
A right-of-way for a future Arden Valley extension was guaranteed in 1977. Later an extensive new circuit was laid on land adjacent to the former interurban tracks to and from Pittsburgh and a new Trolley Display Building was erected, which enabled the full collection to be housed undercover.
Occupied in 2004, the Trolley Display Building is a model of its kind. It covers 28,000sq ft (2600m 2) and features wide gangways and a concrete floor, as well as a generally light and airy atmosphere. In this
building are the large number of tramcars seldom brought out for operation.
Working policy
Although the museum’s policy is for as many cars as possible to be kept in working order and on-going restoration work is done on this basis, the rigours of daily operation can place strain on the wooden bodywork of centuryold streetcars and it is important not to overexert them. For this reason, only rugged cars are in regular operation, while several others only operate on special occasions.
In more recent years, the availability of the iconic PCC cars has increased as their operational numbers have dwindled on fullservice tramways. Several have arrived at the PTM, mainly from the extensive PRC roster of over 600 such cars. Examples from pre-war, wartime and post-war deliveries are included, with several Pittsburgh variations.
A special arrival, which has proved popular with the public, is one of the former series of 13-bench cross-bench cars built in around 1911 under licence from Brill for Brazil’s Rio de Janeiro tramways; cars of this type were still in operation until 1963. A consortium of American streetcar museums made a bulk purchase of 12 cars in 1963. PTM did not buy one initially, but a later opportunity arose when car 1758 (originally bought by the Magee Museum in Bloomsburg, with later intermediate ownerships by Atlantic City, Sarasota and Orlando), was offered for sale. Beautifully resplendent in its yellow livery, this car is a real crowd-pleaser. The remaining vehicles in the series were distributed to other museums and several of them are still in working order today.
Car 1758 is not typical of Pittsburgh’s pre-World War One fleet, but 15-bench cars of this design were operated in the area by the West Pennsylvania Railways.
In addition to the present-day passenger fleet of 33 cars, the PTM has amassed a collection of 13 works cars, some of which are of dauntingly enormous proportions. They include snow sweepers, track grinders, and general purpose cars. A selection of them can be seen on parade on special operating days.
An impressive event held in alternate years during June is the biennial ‘Trolley Festival’, during which almost all working cars are brought out for display and operation –including those normally kept confined.
The composition of the PTM fleet and its special operations will be the subject of the next part of this feature.
To be continued...
1. The spacious layout, airy atmosphere and wide aisles of the Trolley Display Building are a gift to photographers. This view shows Pittsburgh PCC car 1711, a St Louis Car Company product dating from 1949, seen on 4 July 2023.
2. The first visitor impression of the PTM is of a well-ordered and varied museum with a variety of exhibits on an imaginatively laid-out site. Here we see Pittsburgh Railways 4398 of 1917 on the left, with West Penn Railways 832 of 1929 alongside outside depot 1. To the right is the former Rio de Janeiro crossbench car 1758 of 1911, having found a secure home here for its future. 4 July 2023.
3. One of the most valuable works cars at the PTM is M210, a PRC product built in its Homewood Shops in 1940. It is seen here in the museum’s sunken workshop. Its primary use is as an overhead line car and it features a tower platform that swivels and can be hydraulically raised and lowered. 4 July 2023.
4. The Galbraith Building serves as the museum’s workshop. Here a former Pittsburgh PCC car is receiving a full overhaul and restoration. 7 June 2024.
5. A feature of the events during the Trolley Festival is night-time operation. Here are two contrasting PCC cars from the Pittsburgh Railways fleet, 1138 of 1937 and 1711 of 1949, posed for photographers at the Fairgrounds loop. 7 June 2024.
6. The PTM announces itself to visitors both in words and displays of three former Pittsburgh PCC cars. From left to right are 1138 of 1937, 1711 of 1949 and 4004 as rebuilt in 1988. 8 June 2024.
7. During the parades at the Trolley Festival, various cars are operated that are seldom seen. Representing the surviving Pennsylvania tramway is this coupled pair of former Philadelphia Suburban cars (14 and 24) built by the St Louis Car Company in 1949, which remained in service until 1982-83. 8 June 2024.
8. This impressive piece of snow-clearance equipment was supplied by the McGuireCummings Company to the Philadelphia Suburban lines in 1922. It remained in service with SEPTA (the current Philadelphia operator) until 1988. 8 June 2024.
All photography by Mike Russell on dates stated.
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Tramways and Light Railways of Barcelona, Mallorca and Valencia in Colour (1954-1980)
The first in a series of three books covering many of the tramways and electric light railways still operational in Spain in the mid-1950s. Barcelona was an absolute must for anyone interested in electric traction, with two track gauges, city and interurban operation, and a wealth of car types including double-deckers and PCCs acquired second-hand from the USA. To complement these were the delightful Tibidabo tram.
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The island of Mallorca had many gems, some of which still run today – but sadly the charming city trams in Palma have now all gone.
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