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NEWS 84
China’s growth continues apace; Helsinki tramway extension contract awarded; Odesa gets new trams; Los Angeles completes Gold Line extension.
NEW TRAMWAYS FOR 2025 88
Mike Taplin shares his annual round-up of tramway openings we can expect for the year ahead. Will it be a bumper one..?
Łódź: POLAN d ’ S P i ONEER 94
Andrew Thompson visits Poland ’ s vast legacy system which has seen modernisation spanning 30 years: now it can start to look to the future.
ALTERNAT i VE POWER 98
Richard Foster looks at some of the evolving methods of powering public transport, which we could start to see creeping into the realm of LRT in the coming years.
ZW i CKAU
A small German system is set to receive its most significant updates in over 20 years: Andrew Thompson finds out about the changes.
SYSTEMS FACTF i LE : CA di Z 105
Neil Pulling explores Spain’s most southerly light rail operation, which is also the country ’s only tram-train system connected to the main line network.
WORL d W id E REV i EW 111
Berlin orders more Flexity trams; Liège to open new tramway; Firenze (Florence) opens new extension; Passenger service to start on new Tunisian line.
CLASS i C TRAMS: CHEMN i TZ
Mike Russell visits a museum full of relics from a bygone industrial age in this German city.
New light rail openings rarely take place on time
Politicians, planners, financiers and builders of new transport systems are amongst the world’s worst timekeepers. It is not uncommon for projects to fall years beyond schedule, and sometimes never happen at all.
Michael Taplin’s expert analysis in this issue of TAUT reveals that only three of the 12 new tramways due to open in 2024 made it over the finishing line, so congratulations are due to Duijingyan (China), Parramatta (Australia) and Re
a (Romania) for hitting their date targets. Looking forward, we can hopefully now expect a bumper crop of inaugurations in the coming months.
The reasons for delays are many and varied, but as Michael points out, the continued desire to drive forward with untried technology clearly does not help. Nothing seems to work straight out of the box nowadays, be it signalling and communications, or the trams themselves. The wholesale debugging needed to guarantee safety and reliability means that time slippage is now almost routine.
A glance at the global map reveals that Europe, traditionally the leader for new systems, seems to be cooling off a little, especially in France and Germany, but this is not the case in the US, where expansion continues at its furious pace... unless President Trump decides to interfere, as he has in so many other spheres of life.
New schemes are wonderful of course, but let’s not overlook the vast swathes of finance being made available for extensions to the world’s current 400-plus operations, which have already demonstrated their importance in creating economic growth, regeneration and social well-being. Maintenance and renewal is an industry in itself.
And then there’s China. It goes off the end of the scale in every respect, with 47 cities now served by more than 10 000km (6000 miles) of rapid transit. That’s going some.
Matt Johnston, Editor
116
COVER: A Cadiz-bound Trambahía CAF Urbos tram-train in Chiclana de la Frontera on 12 November 2024. Neil Pulling
MARCH 2025 Vol. 88 No. 1047 www.tautonline.com
EDITORIAL
Editor – Matt Johnston matt@mainspring.co.uk
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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.
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Shenzen and Shanghai among latest to expand systems
China now boasts over 10 000km (6000 miles) of metro in 47 cities. More than 550km (342 miles) of new line were opened in the last three months of 2024, with 350km (217 miles) opening in December alone.
The country’s first metro opened in Beijing in 1969 but it took until 1984 before a second (Tianjin) was built. Today, Beijing has the world’s largest metro network, covering 879km (546 miles) with 522 stations.
One of the highlights of recent openings is the city of Shenzhen. Not only did its 6.36km (fourmile) Metro Line 13 open on 28 December but extensions to four existing lines also opened on the same day (see panel). The system is now the sixth-largest in the world, covering more than 580km (360 miles) of line.
Another highlight was the 68.6km (43-mile) orbital
Shanghai Airport Link Line from Hongqiao Airport T2 (interchange with metro lines 2, 10 and 17) to Pudong Airport T1/2 (Interchange with metro line 2) via Jinghong Road (interchange with metro line 15).
Panel 1 also shows that the openings continued well into 2025. Current planning directives mean that 11 more cities in China have the potential to build new metros.
It’s not just new metro systems that have opened in China: the 37.5km (23-mile) new Bitong Line commuter railway opened in Chongqing on 2 January, linking Bishan and an interchange with metro line 1 and Tongliangxi. Meanwhile, the first phase of new-build commuter line S1 opened in Guiyang on 28 December. This initial phase comprised 30.3km (19 miles) of railway and 13 stations.
Hong Kong operator MTR has carried out night-time tests with a Chinese-built hydrogen-powered tram on
the Tuen Mun system. No passengers were carried due to the incompatibility between ‘high-floor’ infrastructure and
the low-floor tram. The trial attracted the attention of some politicians who hailed it as a ‘green’
initiative. At present, mixed operation of hydrogen-powered and electrically-powered vehicles is prohibited.
Swedish engineering consultancy firm Sweco has won a framework contract to provide design and engineering services for the expansion of the tram network in the Finnish capital, Helsinki. Sweco is to use its expertise for schemes including the proposed Vihdintie and Viikki – Malmi lines.
The 10.5km (6.5-mile) Vihdintie line is to run from Kannelmäki to Erottaja in the city centre. Meanwhile, the Viikki – Malmi Light Rail scheme is to comprise 8km (five miles) of new track from Kumpula Campus to Malmi, where it is to divide: one spur would connect to Malmi Hospital and the other would terminate in the suburb of Jakomäk.
Sweco has been joined by fellow Swedish company Skanska as the main contractor for the EUR252m replacement for the 80-year-old Koskela tram depot. The new 41 000m 2 facility is to host up to 50 trams and is due for completion in the second
ABOVE:
quarter of 2029.
This comes as a EUR100m expansion of Ruskeasuo depot is completed, creating space to temporarily accommodate the trams from the existing Koskela depot.
Helsinki’s Metropolitan Area Transport has seven new lines in its programme, which
The first of Göteborg (Gothenburg)’s new Superspårvagnen (Supertrams), 602 and 603, entered passenger service on line 11 on 19 January. The Alstom/Kiepe M34 class trams are 45m long and are the longest to operate in the Swedish coastal city.
The order was placed in September 2021 and all 60 should enter service by summer 2027. The single-ended, fivesection, 12-axle trams are built
at the former Bombardier factory in Bautzen, Germany, with Kiepe Electric supplying drive and electrical systems. Powered by eight 120kW motors, the M34s are essentially an extended version of the 40 33m M33s delivered in 2020-23. Each M34 can carry up to 319 passengers (111 seated).
BELOW: Göteborg 603, one of the first of the city’s M34 trams to enter service, passes Eketrägatan. G. Zettermark
January’s changeable weather played havoc with LRT systems across the British Isles. Following sub-zero temperatures, two storms came in quick succession at the end of the month. Storm Éowyn on 24-25 January brought 183km/h (118mph) winds to Ireland and 217km/h (135mph) winds to Scotland, and caused the most disruption.
Most public transport services in Scotland were suspended. St Enoch station on the Glasgow Subway was flooded, while power outages meant that the Inner Circle was still not operating on the morning of 26 January. Edinburgh Trams also suspended services on 24 January, with ‘sweeper trams’ in action to remove debris. Services resumed on 25 January.
will add over 40km (25 miles) to the network. These include the 10km (six-mile) Crown Bridges line, which is to connect island suburbs to the mainland via three new bridges. Other planned routes include the Vantaa line, running 19km (12 miles) from Helsinki airport to Mellunmäki metro station.
Dublin Luas suspended services for most of 24 January due to fallen trees, downed power lines and level crossing faults. Services resumed later that evening.
Manchester’s Metrolink faced ‘significant disruption’ after overhead wires were damaged at Deansgate-Castlefield. Tyne and Wear Metro services were disrupted for four hours while engineers removed a tree.
The European Investment Bank has agreed to loan the Ukrainian city of Odesa (Odessa) EUR10.6m to purchase eight more Tatra-Yug K1T low-floor trams. These are to join the 13 already in service.
This is part of EU-backed funding for public transport across the country under the Ukraine Solidarity Urgent Response Package.
The rest of the EUR17.3m funding package will pay for new buses and trolleybuses in Kyiv,
Mykolaiv and Ivan-Franvisk. The initiative is part of a larger Ukraine Urban Public Transport Project, which aims to align the country’s transport systems with EU standards, while aiding recovery and resilience during the war with Russia.
Tatra-Jug is a Ukrainian manufacturer founded in 1993 to assemble Tatra T6 trams under licence. The K1T is a 100% low-floor, three-section 32m articulated tram.
The Groupe Porteur JV consortium has been awarded a CAD114m (EUR76m) contract to prepare technical studies for a new network in the Canadian capital. TramGO is a 24km (15-mile) tramway that will link the western suburb of Gatineau with downtown Ottawa via the city centre.
TramGO plans to provide two lines: a north axis and a south axis. They will converge to cross the Ottawa River on Portage Bridge. The line will then access Ottawa city centre either via a level crossing over the main Wellington Street thoroughfare or a tunnel under neighbouring Sparks Street. It is to feature 37 stops.
The consortium comprises Systra, French infrastructure group Egis and local company EXP. railway handover
Brazil’s Ministry of Transport has kickstarted the construction of a light rail line through Campina Grande. It agreed to transfer 15.5km (9.6 miles) of the closed metregauge Transnordestina railway to the city council. Construction of the BRL170m (EUR27.8m) line could start mid2025. The north-south route is to have ten stops and serve key city institutions such as the university, hospital, and the city’s airport.
Mayor Bruno Cunha Lima said: “We are now taking the first step towards offering an efficient and modern solution for mobility in our city.”
b akerloo upgrade starts Transport for London has started feasibility work on the proposed upgrade to the Bakerloo Line.
The project on the UK capital’s ‘Tube’ is to be split into two phases: replacing the 36 1972 Stock trains (Phase 1) and installing new signalling systems (Phase 2).
While funding for Phase 1 of the GBP1.9bn (EUR2.3bn) scheme has yet to be secured, TfL has undertaken a detailed laser gauging scan of the entire Bakerloo Line and is identifying what servicing facilities can be re-used or reconfigured as well as finding suitable locations for potential new stabling and servicing facilities.
Collision in strasbourg
Two trams, 2011 and 3043, collided in Strasbourg’s underground Gare Centrale station at 15.15 on 11 January, leaving 68 passengers injured. Investigations into the cause of the incident are ongoing but eye-witness reports suggest that a previously stationary tram reversed down a slope, hitting another stationary tram.
Services on the French city’s Lines A and D were suspended between Rotonde and Homme de Fer to permit removal of the trams and to clear the station area. Both lines were expected to resume normal operation in early February. An inquiry has been launched.
ABOVE: HeiterBlick-built 215 reaches Würzburg
When HeiterBlick won the contract for 18 new trams for the Bavarian city of Würzburg, it had to design and build a new product. The Leipzig company had previously only constructed high-floor Stadtbahn cars for systems such as that in Bielefeld and Hannover.
Production may have slipped behind schedule (the original planned delivery date was mid2023) but the first car, 215, was
Polish rolling stock builder PESA has revealed an impression of the third iteration of its Swing and Twist trams. Prototypes could appear in 2027.
Both Swing 3.0 and Twist 3.0 will feature a low floor throughout – without the ramps and high-floor areas of their predecessors, the first of which was built in 2009. They will have an energy storage system to permit up to 3km (1.9 miles) to
delivered on the night of 17-18 December. It is expected to enter passenger service in late autumn.
The Würzburg system boasts some idiosyncrasies: a minimum curve radius of 17.5m and a maximum gradient of 9.1%. This requires a tailor-made product, with all axles powered.
HeiterBlick has built a 36m-long, 2.4m-wide singleended articulated car. Electrical equipment is supplied by the Austrian branch of Voith.
BELOW: An impression of the new generation of PESA trams. PESA
The tram accommodates up to 214 passengers (74 seated), with four wheelchair spaces. It also boasts air-conditioning.
Although it is a 100% low-floor design, there are steps up to the seats over the bogies. This is a five-section vehicle and each end section has only one door. There is a separate cab door for the driver.
Most of the 20 LHB GT-N, dating from 1995-96, are to be withdrawn.
be run without overhead wires, and also boast an anti-collision system that uses radar and camera technology. The new vehicles will also be lighter and quieter than previous trams.
PESA has proposed a 40m long
3.0. This would have six rotating bogies and comprise five sections – four long plus one short. The Polish cities of Kraków and Gda ń sk are currently tendering for new trams similar to this specification.
Glendora – Pomona line could open this year
The 14.5km (9.1-mile) extension of Los Angeles Metro’s Gold Line from Glendora to Pomona was handed over by contractors Kiewit-Parsons on 3 January. LA Metro will now start the commissioning process, testing track, power, train control and safety equipment. Driver training will follow. This could be completed during the summer, although LA Metro has not confirmed an opening date.
The line includes four new stations, 19 bridges, 21 level crossings, 109 miles of decorative sound and retaining walls, and 14km (nine miles) of relocated freight track. The total project cost is estimated at USD1.5bn (EUR1.4bn), with funding from the LA County Measure M halfcent sales tax and a USD300m (EUR288m) grant from the California State Transportation Authority.
Known as the ‘Foothill Extension’, this is part of the 38.3km (23.8-mile) Pasadena – Montclair project, for which ground was broken in July 2020. It is due for completion in 2030 and uses the trackbed of the former Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe railway.
Habib F. Balian, CEO of the Foothill Extension Construction Authority, said: “The KiewitParsons Joint Venture did an outstanding job on the project.
Over the last five years, crews put in more than 2.6m work hours and maintained an excellent safety record throughout.”
The Los Angeles Gold Line presently runs from Pasadena to East Los Angeles via the downtown Regional Connector subway which opened in 2020. About six million passengers per year are carried using KinkiSharyo P3010 vehicles. The first part of the Gold Line opened in July 2003.
The first of the Oregon city of Portland’s Type 6 light rail vehicles entered service on 16 January, more than two years after the first was delivered by Siemens. Cars 603 and 605 began work on the Blue Line, becoming the first new LRVs to run on the Metropolitan Area Express for nearly ten years.
All 30 Type 6 cars have been completed, but 11 have been in store at the Siemens factory for months, owing to insufficient yard space in Portland. This should be eased now that withdrawal of the original Bombardier/TriMet Type 1 vehicles has resumed.
The Type 6 is a doubleended, three-section LRV on three bogies. It is 29.5m long
and 2.64m wide. As with the Siemens-built Type 5s, the Type 6 features enhanced information displays, LED door indicators, improved temperature controls,
predictive maintenance sensors and enhanced security cameras. However, the Type 6 is not able to couple to any other vehicles of TriMet’s MAX fleet.
Demolition of the collapsed Carolabrücke in Dresden was halted on 9 January when a World War Two bomb was uncovered. Experts defused it but the 1km (0.6-mile) cordon around the bridge’s remains
caused disruption for the four hours it was in place.
The bridge collapsed on 11 September (TAUT 1043).
Prof Steffen Marx from the Institute of Concrete Structures at Technical University Dresden has led the inquiry into the incident. His initial findings suggest that the steel used in the bridge had already started to corrode while it was being built in the 1970s. The whole structure will need to be replaced.
The disruption that emergency repairs to the Gateshead Highway flyover brought to the UK’s Tyne and Wear Metro has led to operator Nexus postponing its annual fare increases. Issues with a pillar on the road bridge effectively shut the Metro tunnels that pass underneath it (TAUT 1046) for ten days. This compounded disruption caused by the reduced timetables implemented while the transition between the old Metrocars and new Stadler Class 555s takes place. Fare prices were due to increase from 1 April. However, the changes have now been postponed until 1 July.
John Fenwick, Nexus’ Director of Finance and Resources, said: “Some fares do need to increase in order to help us address the challenges of higher operational costs which are increasing at 5.1% heading into 2025-26.
“In consultation with the North East Mayor, Kim McGuinness… holding back the changes recognises the exceptional disruption caused to customers at the end of 2024.”
Could Automatic Train Operation have been partially responsible for the fatal accident that occurred at Stratford Underground station (UK) on 26 December 2023? The Rail Accident Investigation Branch’s report suggests that Train Operators experience ‘underload’ under ATO operations.
“This can increase the likelihood of effects on performance such as reduced alertness or distraction”.
One of the RAIB’s two recommendations is that “London Underground should review the environmental, organisational and job factors related to operating trains in automatic train operation mode to understand how underload may affect Train Operators”.
Published in January, the report also recommends that London Underground Ltd “reduce the risk” of a person being struck by a train should they fall on to the track. It suggested consideration of “technology that can detect if a passenger is in a dangerous position and intervene or warn as is necessary to stop an approaching or departing train”.
After a disappointing 2024 for tramway openings, could 2025 be the year for a bumper crop of new lines? Michael Taplin shares his annual round-up of tramway openings expected for the year ahead.
Once again it is necessary to concede that over-optimism is still rampant in the field of new tramway construction.
A year ago I listed the following new tramways as likely to open in 2024 (potentially 12):
Austr AliA Parramatta
Belgium
CAnAdA �������������� Eglinton Crosstown and Finch West, Toronto, Mississauga
ChinA ��������������������� Delingha, Dujiangyan
romAniA Resita
south KoreA Busan
spAin Jaen (re-opening)
uK
South Wales Metro
usA Santa Ana (Orange County)
In the event, the continuing trend towards extended delays meant that just Duijingyan, Parramatta and Resita made it into passenger-carrying status, the lowest number for many years. It seems there is a desperate need for a new type of professional: project completion specialist, though one wonders if even such a superperson could make headway against the political/ institutional/financial/technical travails that cause delay after delay in so many schemes. ‘Can do’ seems to have been replaced by ‘not yet’ as the prevailing attitude.
Some of our readers will remember the days when a new tram arrived and was commissioned and carrying passengers two weeks later. These days it is often over a year between delivery and the first paying passengers boarding (the modern tram is equipped with several times the computing
power that was used in 1969 to land men on the moon, but the software that controls this power is often less developed for reliability).
So, the nine projects that did not achieve opening in 2024 are carried forward in the expectation they will open in 2025, and just København (Copenhagen) and Wonsan join the list to bring the total to 11:
Although electric trams (two systems) ran in the Walloon city of liège from 1893 to 1967, political leaders started to discuss a modern line in 2008. The regional government gave the go-ahead in 2011, but the bureaucratic details took several years to sort out due to compliance with EU tendering regulations. On 19 September 2018 the Wallonie transport agency awarded a 31-year PPP contract to the Tram’Ardent consortium formed by CAF, COLAS and DIF Capital Partners. Originally valued at EUR429m, the contract had to be boosted by EUR79m in order to keep the consortium on board during the COVID pandemic. The contract covers 11.7km (7.3 miles) of tramway, including 3km (1.9 miles) without overhead (the seven-section 45.4m double-ended CAF trams will use the OESS ultracapacitor system), 21 stops, 20 trams, a depot and two P+R sites. The east-west line links Sclession and Coronmeuse through the city centre with a 1.3km (0.8-mile) branch to Bressoux (site of the depot).
Originally the line was planned to be 19.1km (11.9 miles) from Seraing to Herstal, and it was hoped that the full length would form a second stage, but the election of a new Walloon government has seen the finance for the extensions at both ends withdrawn. The first tram was delivered in July 2022, but it was not until 10 October 2023 that the first test run outside the depot took place. By then it was clear that the planned opening date of 25 April 2024 could not be met. Passenger service was planned for October 2024, but it was not until 20 August that the first test tram arrived. Dummy operation was scheduled for 11 February and passenger service from 15 April.
ABOVE: In 2025 the west Midlands Metro (UK) should open its new line between wednesbury and Dudley – pictured, a tram crossing Parkhead viaduct in Dudley. Transport for West Midlands
There are some 425 tramways around the world and a good proportion of them are investing in extensions to their networks (though once again many are delayed from 2024). In the UK’s West Midlands we can expect to see trams running along the new line from Wednesbury to Dudley in 2025. There are no new French tramways at the moment, but established systems such as Aubagne, Montpellier and Strasbourg expect to open extensions in 2025. Luxembourg trams have reached Findel airport (completing the original authorised line, but more extensions are on the way). In the Netherlands Den Haag should finally open its line 19 from Delft to the Technical University (Technopolis).
German tramway extensions are not so prolific as in the past, and take longer to achieve, but the Düsseldorf Stadtbahn branch to Flughafen (airport) is expected to open in 2025. Jena trams will reach Himmelreich in December. Vienna trams on line 12 should reach Hillerstrasse, while Graz will open its city centre relief line. Bratislava trams have already run to the new terminus at Petrzalka (to meet an EU funding requirement) though regular service was delayed by a few weeks into 2025. Both Zagreb and Sarajevo are planning to inaugurate extensions before the end of 2025. In Italy Firenze trams will reach Piazza San Marco in the city centre, while Milano should open its Quartier Adriano extension. Israel will see Jerusalem extensions at each end of the existing line due to open. Across the Atlantic all eyes are on Seattle, whose light rail system is expanding at a rapid rate. The city is hoping to open another 19km (12 miles) in 2025, filling the gap between its isolated East Seattle line at South Bellevue and line 1 at Chinatown/International Quarter, also extending the East Seattle line from Redmond Technology to downtown Redmond. In Los Angeles the Glendora – Pomona Gold Line light rail extension will open in the first half of the year. In Canada, Ottawa’s Trillium diesel LRT line re-opened on 6 January in extended form.
ABOVE: Vienna’s new line 12 will link four districts across the city, connecting a further 250 000 residents, and should open within the next year. ZOOMVP Stadt Wien
toronto’s provincial agency Metrolinx is building two separate suburban tramlines, to standard-gauge rather than the strange 1495mm-gauge of the main city system of the TTC (though TTC will operate both). Eglinton Crosstown (line 5) is a CAD13bn (EUR8.7bn) 19km (12-mile) light rail line with 25 stops from Mount Dennis to Kennedy (feeding TTC metro lines 2 and 3).
Rolling stock is 76 Flexity Freedom from Alstom (formerly Bombardier) delivered from early 2019, with ATC on the 10km
(six-mile) tunnelled western section. It was planned to open for service in 2020, but the Crosslinx consortium building the line has fallen well behind schedule and although test running is taking place, there was eventually no certainty that opening could take place at the new date of June 2024. The contractor has a fragile relationship with the city council and TTC, while software problems persist with the LRVs. It is now hoped to start passenger service in July 2025. A 9.2km (5.7-mile) westward extension to Renforth is programmed for 2031.
Finch West (line 6) is a CAD2.5bn
mississauga in Ontario is building the 18km (11mile) Hurontario north-south surface light rail line linking the city with Brampton through a CAD5.6bn (EUR3.8bn) 30-year PPP contract with the Mobilinx consortium from provincial transit agency Metrolinx. Construction of the 19-stop line started in 2020, but the expectation that passengers would be carried towards the end of 2024 was not met. Rolling stock will be 28 Alstom Citadis Spirit of the same type as delivered to Finch West in Toronto; they will operate in coupled pairs so the station platforms are 90 metres long. There will be a 7.5-minute headway at peaks. There will be interchange with GO regional rail service at the southern terminus Port Credit. Upon opening in 2025, the line will be named the Hazel McCallion Line in honour of the former mayor of the city of Mississauga, who died in 2023 on her 102nd birthday.
(EUR1.3bn) 10.3km (6.4-mile) line from Humber College in Etobicoke to Finch West metro station. Alstom has delivered 18 Citadis Spirit for the line; these were part of an order for 61 placed in 2020, when it seemed Bombardier would have difficulty building Flexity Freedom in a timely manner. The balance is destined for another Metrolinx line, in Mississauga. The CAD2.5bn (EUR1.7bn) Finch West is being built by the Mosaic Transit Group and despite being due for completion in spring 2024 with passenger service in June, problems persist. It is expected to open in August 2025.
delingha is the capital of the Haixi Mongol Tibetan autonomous prefecture with a population of about 80 000. The city is built 2982m above sea level and is connected by rail with China using trains equipped with oxygen supply. A 14.4km (nine-mile) two-line tramway has been built and CRRC Qingdao Sifang has delivered 25 two-section 100% low-floor 168-passenger trams (under Škoda licence) featuring energy storage by supercapacitors and lithium-titanate batteries specially adapted for the high altitude power delivery. For charging, short sections of rigid catenary are installed at stops. After missing earlier deadlines, trial operation started in May 2020 but an April 2021 opening deadline passed amid financial disputes. There are now said to be safety problems identified with running trams at this altitude.
Wonsan is a port city on the east coast of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. Its population is believed to be about 330 000. In 2013, the city was designated a summer destination with resorts and entertainments. With the support of General Secretary and Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un, the 4km (2.5-mile) Kalma beach area to the north has been redeveloped with hotels and restaurants, and a new airport was built to fly in tourists. Work was still in progress when COVID hit in 2020, bringing progress to a halt, but restarted in 2023.
Wonsan city is served by trolleybuses, but in 2019 work started to build an 8.5km (5.3-mile) single-track metre-gauge tramway loop serving Kalma. Infrastructure work was completed in late 2020, and single-unit bogie trams, apparently modelled on the Czech EVO-1 design, were to be delivered by the Kim Jong Thae Locomotive Works. However, the effective closure of the resort area during the COVID pandemic seems to have meant the tramway has never carried passengers. Work to install the overhead restarted in 2023, and it was thought that summer 2024 would finally see the goal of carrying passengers achieved. The latest news from this secretive state is that the resort, and presumably the Wonsan-Kalma Coastal Tourist Area Tram, will open in June 2025.
A 4.7km (2.9-mile) tramway was built in the Andalucian city of Jaén in 2009-11 at a cost of EUR75m, but operated carrying passengers for just two weeks in May 2011 before a political and financial dispute between regional and city governments resulted in service being suspended. In December 2021 it was announced that EUR4.5m from the EU Next Generation Fund would be used to help finance a EUR5.2m contract aimed at getting the tram moving again in 2022, though this has now drifted to 2024. Test running finally started in late November 2024, with passenger service expected in early 2025. Five Alstom Citadis trams were delivered in 2011, and after 13 years of storage needed considerable work to make them operational again. The old city livery has been replaced by the colours of the Junta de Andalucia.
rIGHt: night-time testing of a Jaén tram in november 2024. the Alstom Citadis now carry the colours of the Junta de Andalucia. Diario Jaén
After being without tramways since the closure of the København system in 1972, Denmark has seen a tramway resurgence. The year 2025 will see the opening of the first stage of the capital ’ s 28km (17-mile) standard-gauge western orbital light rail line from Lundtofte to Ishøj via Lyngby, Herlev, Glostrup and Høje Taastrup, budgeted to cost DKK5.3bn (EUR710m). It broadly follows the Ring 3 motorway north to south and will provide interchange with the radial lines of the S-tog rapid transit system.
A total of 29 Siemens Avenio 36.9m low-floor trams are being delivered. The 2.65m wide cars will carry up to 260 passengers. The first was presented to the public at an open day on 29 September 2023. Test running outside the depot started on 14 August 2024.
The Ishøj – Rødovre Nord section is to open in September 2025, with Rødovre Nord – Lundtofte following in 2026. A five-minute peak headway is planned and ten million passengers/year are expected.
The first tramway in South Korea since the 1968 tramway closure in Busan, the 5.2km (3.2-mile) Oryukdo line is a catenary-free demonstration project linking Kyungsung University station on metro line 2 and Oryukdo Skywalk. The line is being developed by the Korea Railroad Research Institute and will feature Korean-built low-floor battery trams (recharged at stops) built by Dawonsys. Passenger service was expected to start in 2024. However, it seems this did not happen and no further news has been released.
Busan already has a four-line metro and the segregated 23.9km (14.9-mile) Gimhae LRT line, opened in 2011, with two-car trains from HyundaiRotem operating on 750V dc third rail.
The local railway network serving the Welsh capital Cardiff is being revamped by Transport for Wales for GBP1bn (EUR1.2bn) as south Wales metro, an integrated network of rail, bus, cycling and walking routes. The core Valley Lines, totalling 137km (85 miles) and linking Cardiff with Aberdare, Coryton, Merthyr Tydfil, Rhymney and Treherbert are being upgraded and electrified at 25kV ac with new stations.
A GBP100m (EUR120m) depot and control centre has been built at Taff Wells to provide space for new rolling stock built by Stadler: 36 class 398 Citylink tram-trains with the capability to run on street alignment tracks (in Cardiff Bay beyond the existing terminus to Porth Teigr) will run to Treherbert, Aberdare and Merthyr Tydfil; 24 class 756 Flirt tri-mode (diesel/electric/battery) three and four-car multiple units; and 35 four-car diesel-electric Flirt DMUs for heavy rail lines. Operator is KeolisAmey Wales. Service with the class 398 tram-trains was due to start in late May 2024, but a one-year delay seems to be the story. Meanwhile
The Orange County Streetcar is a 6.7km (4.15-mile) standard-gauge tramline running through the southern Californian city of Santa Ana. Construction on the project started in November 2018, linking the santa Ana Regional Transportation Center (Metrolink commuter rail service to Los Angeles) with downtown, running over former Pacific Electric interurban right-ofway (1905-1950) to Garden Grove (Harbor Transit Center). A new double-track bridge has been built across the Santa Ana river as the old PE single-track bridge was considered structurally unsound. An end-to-end trip will take 22 minutes, with ten stops in each direction. Service will be provided 06.00-23.00 (01.00 at weekends). Passengers will ride on eight Siemens S700 27.4m trams costing USD51.5m (EUR49.4m), with four required for a 15-minute service. However late delivery threatened the timely completion of the project. Estimated cost for the project is USD509m (EUR488m), with USD175m (EUR167.8m) coming from the federal government.
the units are linked to the planned Cardiff Crossrail scheme that will see as its first stage tram-trains from the Cardiff Bay branch running on a new street-based alignment to a terminus on the south side of Cardiff Central station.
though that was not achieved. It is almost certain that passenger service will start in August 2025.
Mike Taplin checks the order books of manufacturers around the world to bring us a summary of all the rolling stock orders placed and pending. A Slow de C l I ne I n A lex A ndRIA?
Neil Pulling visits the western German city of Cologne, where the light rail network has two formats with a wide reach and a long history of changes.
+ AI and automation: Questions about the future
+ Classic Trams: Pennsylvania Trolley Museum part one
+ The latest news and analysis, system and technical development
There was a promise of much to come when Mike Russell last visited this Egyptian city. Here he provides an update on a unique tramway.
A legacy network faced with the challenge of modernising its vast system over the past 30 years, Poland’s pioneer is now able to look to the future. Andrew Thompson reports.
Located in central Poland, roughly 120km (75 miles) southwest of the capital Warsaw (Warszawa), the industrial city of Łód ź (pronounced ‘Woodge’ in English) is historically known as the ‘Manchester of Poland’, and as the 20th Century seat of the Polish film industry also earned the nickname of ‘Holly-Łód ź’. With a population of roughly 650 000 in the city and over a million in the wider conurbation, the administrative capital of the namesake Łódzkie voivodeship (province) has undergone significant urban renewal since the fall of the Iron Curtain and the end of communism in Poland in 1989. With the presence of universities and other institutions of higher education, contemporary Łód ź has a decidedly young and vibrant vibe.
The imprint of 21st Century modernisation is nowhere more noticeable than at the futuristic Łód ź Fabryczna railway station in the city centre, which opened in 2015 as an impressive glass and steel structure with a sweeping roof. Currently just in use as an underground terminus for trains to and from Warsaw, it will soon be the focal point of the city’s own version of Crossrail. A 2.7km (1.7-mile) Y-shaped tunnel that will link the current end of the line at Fabryczna with the overground main line further west at Łód ź Ż abieniec and Łód ź Kaliska stations has been under construction since summer 2019, and revenue services are currently scheduled to start in December 2026. Along the way, the new underground stations Łód ź Polesie and Łód ź Koziny will provide city centre access to rapid transit, as suburban trains operated by Łódzka Kolej Aglomeracyjna (ŁKA) and interregional trains from national operator Polregio will also call there.
Additionally, a second, 4.6km (2.9-mile) high-speed railway tunnel from Fabryczna to Retkinia in the southwest of the city is being prepared. Construction should start in late 2026, with an initial budget to the tune of
EUR660m. Once completed by 2032, the new alignment will be the longest railway tunnel in Poland and also serve Kaliska station, but from new underground platforms that are situated at an offset angle to the current north-south main line corridor that passes through Kaliska at surface level. The tunnel will significantly improve the accessibility of Łód ź by Intercity rail from other Polish cities and accelerate journey times, especially westward to Pozna ń and Wrocław.
Thanks to its geographic location in the very centre of the country, Łód ź is one of the places that stands to benefit the most from the current development of highspeed railways in Poland and the planned opening of the new major airport Centralny Port Komunikacyjny (CPK) by the end of this decade. In essence, CPK is designed to function as a major hub for both the Warsaw and Łód ź conurbations, conveniently located between both cities and linked using purpose-built high-speed railway lines that make access direct and easy, including for other population centres further afield. While the main line railway network in Łód ź is undergoing significant transformation and will contribute in the future to urban mass transit, modernisation of the vast light rail network also continues at pace. As of a decade ago, Łód ź still boasted the world’s largest metre-gauge tramway with a size of roughly 145km (90 miles), thanks to the combination of its dense, grid-like urban tram network combined with four interurban routes to Pabianice in the southwest, Lutomiersk via Konstantynów Łódzki in the west, Ozorków in the northwest, and Zgierz
in the north. This legacy system, which was originally developed in the early 20th Century to bring factory workers from the surrounding villages to the textile mills in the city centre, was at its zenith in the early 1970s, when the long interurban routes south to Rzgów and Tuszyn as well as northwest to Aleksandrów were still open. While the Tuszyn branch was closed in 1978, the lines to Aleksandrów and Rzgów lasted until 1991 and 1993 respectively.
The other interurban routes remained in regular use until the late 2010s, when infrastructure decay required urgent renewal and forced authorities to close the western interurban line 43 from the half-way point Konstantynów Łódzki to the terminus at Lutomiersk in February 2017. This was followed by the closure of the northern lines 45 to Zgierz and 46 to Ozorków in February 2018. By March 2019 the first section of line 43 to Konstantynów Łódzki also had to be shut down. Finally, in December 2019 the last interurban line 41 southwest to Pabianice was closed as well, leaving Łódz without a single overland line in running order.
Thanks to EU funding and government grants, about half of these interurban routes have since been overhauled and relaunched. By late 2021 reconditioning of the short branch to Zgierz Plac Kili ń skiego allowed the reintroduction of line 45. In July 2023 the modernisation of the major southwestern route to Pabianice was completed and services on line 41 restarted. A year later in July 2024, the 8.5km (5.3-mile) section from Łód ź Legionów to Konstantynów Łódzki was reopened as well, allowing the return
of line 43 services, albeit as a shortened and temporarily isolated operation, because both onward tram routes from Łód ź Legionów via Plac Hallera or Cmentarna to the city centre still remain closed due to the tunnel digging for the two Crossrail projects.
The western continuation of line 43 from Konstantynów Łódzki to Lutomiersk is currently a matter of political debate, while the reopening of the long northern line 46 beyond Zgierz to Ozorków seems unlikely in the medium-term, as funding has not been allocated and Ozorków has a faster connection to Łód ź by suburban rail. Hence for now, Łód ź has been able to modernise and safeguard about half of its interurban legacy lines.
To date the most recent addition to the urban tram network was the opening of the 4.5km (2.8-mile) extension from Augustów to Olechów in 2015 in the southeast of the city. This branch is served by lines 9 and 10. Currently another extension is in the planning phase and efforts are being made to secure funding for a 2km (1.2-mile) new route from the current Chojny Kurczaki terminus to the ICZMP hospital in the south of the city.
Another important infrastructure project nearing completion is the adaptation of the former interurban depot at Helenówek to the new central workshops of the municipal operator MPK. This facility in the north of the city is due for inauguration in the second half of 2025 and will then host 225 employees in various departments, both technical and administrative. It will complement the other large depot at Telefoniczna in the east.
ABoVe: The sleek, singleended Gamma lrVs from Polish producer Modertrans are the newest trams in Łódź. The 30 low-floor cars were delivered in 2023 and marked the first time Modertrans was able to supply this model for a metre-gauge network. only a few weeks after it entered revenue service, Gamma 2396 is seen passing old textile mills on 16 June 2023, while running southbound on Piotrkowska street with a line 11 service to Chocianowice.
leFT: The ubiquitous Konstal high-floor cars are still indispensable for municipal operator MPK, even after integration of the latest fleets of new and cascaded low-floor trams. Most of these Konstal 805Na were lightly modernised in the early 2000s, as can be seen from their rounded cabs. Here motor car 1814 stands with the consecutively numbered, nonpowered trailer 1815 at Zgierz Plac Kilińskiego, the northern terminus of the short interurban line 45 to the neighbouring commune of Zgierz.
leFT: Just a few days after reopening, the former Jena doubleended car 2491 is running through the streets of Konstantynów Łódzki on 11 July 2024 on the modernised interurban line 43, west of Łódź. As most of this line is single-track with just a few double-track passing loops, the alignment is placed in the middle of the road, to not impede automotive traffic on either side of the tramway.
Generally, the expansive urban grid has seen phased modernisation works take place throughout the past two decades, as a previous backlog of infrastructure renewal has been addressed on a rolling basis. Therefore visitors to Łódz will typically always find some part of the tram network out of use for several months or even several years at a time, as road works and track replacement are implemented.
One of the more recent milestones was the re-opening of the northern branch line to Doły for lines 1 and 6 in March 2024, where the new terminus is now only suitable for double-ended vehicles. That same month the centrally-located square Plac Wolności was reinaugurated and once again opened for tram services.
During a comprehensive two-year rebuild, this attractive public space was entirely redesigned and enhanced, the tracks at this important interchange gaining a new layout.
On the rolling stock front, the latest acquisition of MPK are 18 type GT6M pre-used low-floor cars from Jena, Germany. These were produced from 1995 to 2003 by the AEG/MAN and Adtranz consortium. As each vehicle has already accrued more than two million km (1.2m miles) in regular service in Jena, but the fleet is still in good working order, MPK Łód ź has been able to purchase these at a low price of just EUR30 000 per vehicle. In Jena these doubleended cars are being replaced by 24 new Stadler Tramlink, while in Łód ź they will still help to significantly raise the quota of barrier-free low-floor trams. While the first
To Konstantynów Łódzki
Kochanówka
Łódzka Kurak
Adelmówek Chelmy DEPOT
plac Kilińskiego (Zgierz)
Helenówek
Sikorskiego Przedwiośnie
Plac Pamięci Narodowej
Cmentarz Radogoszcz Brzoskwiniowa Świtezianki Pasieczna
Dw. Łódź Źabieniec
Konstantynowska –Zaj. Muzealna Brus
Konstantynów –Lódzki – Spółdzielcza
Gmanowskiego Pułaskiego Zdrowie Piotrowska
Retkinia
Łódzka – Widzew-Źdźary
Łaska –Wiejska Łaska –Mielczarskiego
Szarych – Szeregów
Rondo Lotników Lwowskich
Marysin Warszawska Doły
Telefoniczna Zajezdnia
N.B. Due to the scale and complexity of the system, not all stops have been included.
Please note that services are subject to frequent change.
Stoki
Widzew
Augustów Łódź Fabryczna Rokicińskarondo Inwalidów
Dw. Łódź Chojny Śląska Cmentarz Zarzew
Dw. Łódź Dąbrowa
Olechów
Paderewskiego –Karpacka
Łódzka – Mały Skręt Łódzka – Ksawerów
Łódzka –Teklin
Warszawska –Duźy Skręt
ABoVe: one of the most striking public transport structures in downtown Łódź is the elegant and lofty canopy of the main tram interchange at Piotrkowska Centrum. This facility opened in october 2015 and given the use of rainbow colours in the glazed roof, is referred to by locals as ‘Unicorn stable’. Here one of the 34 single-ended Pesa Swing lrVs departs the junction with an eastbound line 10B service to olechów.
ten GT6M were transferred from Jena to Łód ź between autumn 2023 and spring 2024, the second batch of eight is due for delivery in the first quarter of 2025. This cascade comes on the heels of 35 Duewag NF6D that MPK acquired from Bogestra in Germany from 2017-20. The main disadvantage of both the GT6M and NF6D as first generation low-floor trams is that they lack air-conditioning, and summers in Łód ź can get hot.
The latest factory-new cars in the MPK fleet are 30 single-ended Gamma LRVs from the Poznan-based producer Modertrans. This whole series was delivered in just nine months from March to December 2023. In summer 2024 MPK put out another tender for 15 single-ended low-floor cars, with an option for a further 15, for which Modertrans was the only bidder.
In contrast, in November 2023 the final eight vehicles of the semi-streamlined Duewag type GT8N trams were withdrawn. Originally from Mannheim and produced as GT6 from 1962-64, the vintage LRVs were modernised with a low-floor centre module in 1992, a refit which also added an extra bogie and led to their reclassification as type GT8N. The robust ex-Mannheim Duewags arrived in Łód ź in 2007 and 2008, with a few additional units arriving by way of Helsinki a few years later. During their final years in service, the articulated cars were mainly deployed on line 9 to Olechów. With the exception of car 166, which has been converted to a ‘party wagon’ replete with bar, none of the Duewags will remain in Łód ź as heritage vehicles. The oldest high-floor cars that now remain in service are the ubiquitous Konstal 805Na, most of which have been modernised with new cabs and updated interiors, but still offer no barrier-free access.
Generally, Łód ź is a prime example of a city faced with the challenges and opportunities of maintaining, modernising and improving a vast legacy network. After what has been a gradual process for more than the past three decades, the city is now starting to clear out its backlog of infrastructure renewal and can turn to future growth.
Łód ź has always been one of the pioneering Polish tramway cities, not solely due to the development of the remarkable interurban network during the first years of the 20th Century. When Poland didn’t exist as an independent nation state from the late 18th Century until the end of World War One in 1918 and was divided into territories that belonged either to the German, Austrian or Russian Empires, Łód ź was the first city in the Russian-controlled Polish territories to open an electric tramway in December 1898. That was ten years before Warsaw’s first electric trams ran in 1908. The driving force behind the development of such electric tramways came from the industrialists and factory owners, many of whom had originally come to Łód ź from nearby German Prussia in search of economic opportunities in widely underdeveloped and poorly managed Russian-controlled Congress Poland. The German industrialists and urban investors in traditionally multi-ethnic Łód ź also took the initiative to procure the necessary tramway technology from AEG in Berlin. The rest is 127 of years of history in the making.
ABoVe: As a former mill town, Łódź is one of the best cities in europe to study the imprint and landmarks of the industrial revolution from the 19th Century. A vast number of brick buildings and old textile mills have been preserved, renovated and repurposed. originally the tramway was built to bring workers to these places of employment. Here the Central Museum of Textiles is seen, a complex that developed from 1835-86. in the foreground on a northbound line 2B service is the former Bogestra type NF6D double-ended duewag, which has been repainted into the red and yellow livery of local operator MPK.
ABoVe: Plac Wolności, the city centre square, is an important urban space and tram interchange. From 2022 to spring 2024 it was comprehensively reconstructed and enhanced, with the tracks being moved to the north side of the square only, in order to create more free space for pedestrians. After the square’s reconstruction and reopening, Bombardier Cityrunner 1207 is seen on the new layout on 11 July 2024 with an eastbound line 15 service to Telefoniczna. Plac Wolności is currently served by tram lines 15, 17 and 45. The Cityrunners were the first low-floor lrVs in Łódź, when 15 were purchased in 2002.
“Łódź has always been one of the pioneering Polish tramway cities, not solely due to the development of the remarkable interurban network.”
ABoVe: one of the city’s most celebrated buildings is the palace of the industrialist izrael Poznański (18331900), which is also known as the ‘louvre of Łódź’. Built in an opulent French style and continuously developed and extended from 1877 to 1903, the ornate facility today hosts the municipal museum and indoor galleries. The palace was built directly next to Poznański’s textile mills, the renovated red brick buildings that can be seen to the rear and since 2006 have been open as the Manufaktura commerce and culture centre, one of the city’s most popular visitor attractions. The palace was one of the first buildings in Łódź to have electricity, and it is framed by the major north-south trunk route used by tram lines 2, 3, 6, 7, 11 and 19. on 12 July 2024, the Konstal tandem of 1822+1823 is seen passing the grade-listed landmark while running southbound.
ABoVe: A total of 18 former Bielefeld duewag M8C were cascaded to Łódz between 201423. originally these German trams date from 1982-83. They have been modernised by Modertrans in Poznań and retrofitted with low-floor centre modules. These double-ended cars are used on urban routes, as well as the interurban line 43 to Konstantynów Łódzki.
ABoVe: since July 2023, trams have once again been running on the south-western interurban route from Łódź to Pabianice, following the complete modernisation of line 41. on 12 July 2024, the lowfloor Pesa Tramicus 2853 is seen travelling westbound through the city centre of Pabianice, passing Zamek, a local castle. Ten of these single-ended, low-floor cars were delivered by Pesa in 2008.
the world is seeking ever-greener ways to power transportation over the coming near-decades, light rail included. richard foster looks at some of the new technologies we could see creeping through in the coming years.
The classic TV show Thunderbirds was made at a time of great technological advances, and advances in rocket and nuclear technology fuelled by the Cold War and the Space Race. It offered an enticing view of the future, a world of atomic powered airliners and – probably more relevant to TAUT – atomic powered monorails.
While we are still shy of the 2060s, the era depicted in Thunderbirds, we are at an interesting juncture when it comes to providing power for rail vehicles. The seeds for today’s climate emergency were arguably being sown at the time when Thunderbirds originally aired, but so was the
desire for ‘clean’ energy. New Magnox power stations were supplying electricity to the UK’s National Grid almost every year in the 1960s while rail electrification intensified, a flagship project being the installation of wires on the West Coast Main Line. Steam power –and its associated dirt and grime –was yesterday’s technology. This was largely due to legislation such as the Clean Air Act, which focused on reducing air pollution. Today, the global drive for clean transport is to reduce the effects of climate change, in particular reducing the amount of carbon in the atmosphere. An electrically-powered rail vehicle is the greenest form of public transport currently available and, here, light
rail has always been ahead of the curve. Blackpool kickstarted the UK’s electric tramway revolution in 1885, while the City & South London Railway recognised the benefits of electric power in underground railway tunnels in 1890 (the Mersey Railway following suit in 1903).
It’s difficult, therefore, to discuss alternative forms of power for light rail when electricity has been key for 140 years. But there are alternative options, as we shall see.
One of the greenest railways in the UK is the 1158mm-gauge Lynton & Lynmouth Cliff Railway, a 263m water-balance funicular in North Devon that uses water diverted from a nearby river. Water combined with gravity results in a system that’s as carbon neutral as it’s possible to get. Unlike electricity.
Figures published by the United Nations in May 2024 said that, in 2022, electricity “generated by fossil fuels generated 40% of the total global carbon emissions” and that “fossil fuels account for 82% of the global energy mix”.
If the electricity comes from renewable sources – solar, wind, etc – then light rail’s green credentials are renewed. The good news
ABoVe: As well as being emission-free, onboard batteries also mean that overhead wires are not needed – removing one of the big costs of tramway construction. Advances in battery technology could therefore entice more local authorities to install tramways. the Kaohsiung system in taiwan, pictured at Cianjhen Star interchange, is the only network in the world that is fully wire-free, worked by a fleet of Alstom Citadis with onboard batteries. Howard Pulling
is that light rail systems are looking towards increasing their use of renewable energy.
For example, Jorge Maroto, Managing Director of Metro de Sevilla, explained in the last issue how solar panels have been added to its 21 stations in order to create a 1.3Mw solar park that can produce about 2m kilowatt hours of electricity each year – about 15% of the metro’s annual consumption. The remainder of its power comes from renewable sources, meaning that the system is officially carbon neutral.
Transport for London is following suit. TfL is the largest consumer of electricity in London. It uses approximately 1.6 Terawatt hours of electricity per year (the equivalent of 420 000 homes) and so, on 31 October, it opened the tendering process for the construction of solar farms capable of generating 64mW of electricity.
These farms might only supply 5% of the electricity that the Underground network consumes but they would supply direct to TfL, bypassing the National Grid (remember when London Transport had its own power stations?). To complement these solar farms, TfL would follow Metro de Sevilla’s path by obtaining the remainder of its electricity from renewable sources. This, the statement from TfL says, would happen by 2030, the same year that London Mayor Sadiq Khan hopes TfL will become carbon neutral.
Swiss company Sun-Ways has taken the solar farm concept to a new level: it is to lay 48 metre-wide panels between the rails on a 100m section of Transports publics Neuchâtelois’ heavy rail network near Neuchâtel in Switzerland. The speciallydesigned panels will be unfurled between the running lines this spring by a special wagon for a three-year trial.
Lubomila Jordanova, Co-Founder of Greentech Alliance, said that if just 10% of Europe’s 200 000km (124 274 miles) of railway were fitted with solar panels, it could generate enough power each year for 300 000 homes.
And that’s the issue with the Sun-Ways system: the power the panels generate can, so far, only be fed into the national grid. It is, the company says, too difficult to get the panels to supply the railway.
But can you get solar panels to power a rail vehicle? In New South Wales, Australia, a 600 Class railcar, one of 20 built in 1949-50, runs the 3km (1.9 miles) between Byron Bay and North Beach powered by sunlight.
Solar panels mounted in the roof of both cars feed batteries under the floor of one car. This is where the diesel engine once was. The other unit retains its diesel engine as an emergency backup. The Byron Bay Railroad Company claims that the train uses 23% of the electricity its solar panels generate.
The remaining electricity is fed to the local community. There are also panels mounted on the depot roof to help keep the train’s batteries topped up.
The battery is widely considered a vital weapon in the fight against climate change. Anyone who has had to constantly change batteries in a favourite children’s toy might question how ‘green’ a battery is. But the batteries used in electric vehicles, be they on rails or on the road, have one feature a battery-powered toy doesn’t, and that’s regenerative braking.
An electric motor, when it’s not drawing power, effectively becomes a generator. Regenerative braking takes the kinetic energy from a vehicle’s forward momentum and, using the motor, generates electricity when braking. Increasing the resistance in the motor slows you down but also generates more electricity, which is then fed back into the battery, topping up the charge levels.
The 381mm-gauge Bure Valley Railway in Norfolk is home to the UK’s first battery locomotive built to haul passengers on a statutory railway. Running light engine between the line’s Aylesham and Wroxham termini, regenerative braking kept the battery level full, which is why Managing Director Andrew Barnes said: “At point of use, it’s a
right: Most battery-powered trams have equipment mounted on the roof, as can clearly be seen in this view of CCrC-built guangzhou 007 – however, it’s not just the batteries that space needs to be found for onboard a tram, but cooling equipment and electrical converters. Howard Pulling
ABoVe: transport for London – which runs London’s underground – is the largest electricity consumer in the uK capital. to compensate, it has opened the tendering process for the construction of solar farms that will supply the network by 2030, with the remainder of its energy coming from renewable sources. Mike Fleming, Flickr/CC
BY-SA
2.0
ABoVe right: Alstom is building what will be the world’s longest battery-powered tramway in Alula, Saudi Arabia. the new trams will have historical overtones. Alstom
BeLow: hyundai rotem presented its hydrogen-powered car at this year’s innotrans event in Berlin. the company is to supply 34 hydrogen trams for the Line 2 tramway in the Korean city of Daejeon. Tony Streeter
zero emissions locomotive”. Obviously, when coupled to a train, it will need to be plugged into every so often in order to re-charge from the grid.
All the major builders of light rail rolling stock are developing new battery powered vehicles. Headlines from 2024 include Hitachi building battery trams for Firenze (Florence); the Stadler-built Class 398 tramtrains for South Wales Metro have batteries; Siemens is building light rail vehicles for St Louis in the US with onboard batteries, while Alstom is building what is, at 22.4km (14 miles), the world’s longest battery-powered tramway in AlUla, Saudi Arabia (TAUT 1035).
Going hand in hand with fitting batteries to light rail vehicles is the development of
fast-charging technology, so that batteries can be topped up at minimal inconvenience to operations.
Alstom offers an SRS system, whereby a shoe, mounted under the tram, drops to make contact with a charging strip mounted between the rails. It can top up a battery in 20 seconds or what Alstom calls “normal dwell time”.
In the UK, train operator Great Western Railway is trialling its Fast Charge technology in west London. The train’s batteries are charged from lineside batteries. While the train, a Class 230 converted from ex-London Underground D Stock, is charged in minutes, the lineside batteries can be charged in a more leisurely manner, ensuring that they’re full for when the train arrives.
As well as being emission-free at point of use, having batteries on board your tram means that you don’t need overhead wires. This is not only a boon when a tramway has to run through historically-sensitive parts of towns and cities, but also removes one of the huge costs involved in tramway construction. Advances in battery technology could entice more local authorities to go with tram power, thus helping achieve modal shift away from private cars.
The issue with batteries, particularly when it comes to trams, is where to put them.
Most battery powered trams have them mounted on the roof – and it’s not just the battery but the cooling equipment and the electrical converter. This could weigh anything up to 1.7 tonnes.
Battery size dictates range. Batteries have been crammed into every available space within the Bure Valley Railway’s locomotive so that it can undertake a 29km (18-mile) round-trip.
CAF claimed a similar distance on its battery technology during trials, but this drained the battery from 95% to 10%. Hitachi Rail claims that its battery technology offers a “range increase of up to 5km [three miles]”. That’s because, unlike a battery locomotive, a tram also has to carry people, and the need to offer low-floor access means that the space for batteries is limited.
The jury is still out on how ‘green’ battery technology is. Lithium-ion batteries are the most efficient, unlike the lead acid batteries you might be more familiar with on the shelves of your local motor car shop. Mining precious metals such as lithium, cobalt and nickel is damaging the local environment in some of the world’s most environmentallysensitive areas. Mining these precious metals also consumes vast amounts of energy – and water. It also takes two million tonnes of water to produce one tonne of lithium, which
is enough for 100 electric cars. Stats published in 2021 revealed that 8.8 tonnes of CO2 is released making an electric car, compared to the 5.6 tonnes released when making one with a petrol engine.
The alternative to the battery is the superor ultracapacitor. As with a battery, it ‘stores’ electricity but it doesn’t use precious metals in its construction. Instead, a capacitor uses a sophisticated, charcoal-like material – active carbon – that can be made from bamboo or coconut husks.
Chinese manufacturer CRRC built one of the first solely supercapacitor-powered trams in 2020. It takes just 30 seconds to charge the tram, which works the 1.8km (one-mile) line at Kunming Changshui International Airport.
Supercapacitors offer the same benefits as batteries in terms of the lack of overhead wires. However, their biggest issue is that they do not offer the same range as a battery. That said, Alstom, Siemens, and CAF are developing hybrid capacitor/battery systems.
One issue unites batteries and capacitors, and that’s the fact that they will need recharging from the grid – and we’ve already explored how electricity production is not always as green as it should be. There appears to be no getting away from the form of power that has dominated light rail since the 1880s.
Or is there?
The memorandum of understanding that Hyundai and Škoda signed on 20 September (TAUT 1044) raised the profile of hydrogen as a potential source of power.
Ken Ramírez, Hyundai’s Executive Vice President and Head of Global Commercial Vehicle and Hydrogen Business, said: “Together with Škoda Group, we strive to lead
the rapidly-growing hydrogen businesses by creating positive synergies between our fuel cell technology and Škoda Group’s mobility products and projects.”
Hydrogen can be used in two ways. It can be used in a combustion engine, in much the same way as petrol or diesel. What comes out of the exhaust is water vapour.
What Hyundai has pioneered is the fuel cell. Mixing compressed hydrogen with oxygen across an electrode film results in electricity (to power the vehicle’s electric motor) and water.
The Korean manufacturer has not only been developing a hydrogen car – the Nexo –but its rolling stock arm, Hyundai Rotem, has been developing hydrogen-powered trains and trams. TAUT 1042 reported that it is supplying 34 hydrogen-powered trams to the new 38.8m (24-mile) Line 2 tramway in the Korean city of Daejeon. As with batteries, the equipment will be roof-mounted: each tram is to boast six tanks and four fuel cells.
Hyundai claims that a fuel cell train “can produce clean air at 107.6kg for an hour of operation… 1000 hydrogen fuel cell trams can purify fine dust emitted from 4000 diesel cars while running. It is the same carbon reduction effect as 20 000 trees.”
Daejeon is, at the time of writing, one of the few lines in the world to rely on hydrogen power. The news of the Hyundai-Škoda partnership came in the same issue that also announced that the world’s first hydrogen tramway, the 6.5km (four-mile) Gaoming demonstration tramline in the Chinese city of Foshan, has ceased operation.
The issue with hydrogen is that, despite it being one of the universe’s most abundant elements, it’s expensive and consumes huge amounts of energy to manufacture. The fuel cells also require precious metals, such as platinum and iridium.
Some of the early tramways used steam power, before electricity became the norm around the turn of the 20th Century. But is there scope for steam power in the 21st?
Swiss organisation DLM has proved that a locomotive burning light oil, with modern thermally-efficient technology, can produce a machine that produces little exhaust. It’s not exhaust free, of course, but it’s a world away from the smoke belching locomotives of old.
UK firm Steamology is taking modern steam to another level. It plans to fit a Class 60 locomotive with 20 steam generators and four steam turbines. But this will burn hydrogen, not oil or coal, and Steamology plans to use renewable energy to create the hydrogen – using electrolysis – the locomotive needs. Work is underway to create the 21st Century steam engine, although whether the technology can be translated to light rail remains to be seen.
Of course, using new technology to generate steam is not new. When nuclearpowered ocean-going vessels were developed in the 1950s, the idea formed that small nuclear reactors powering steam turbines could be applied to other modes of transport. Apparently, it was only the USSR that really pushed to develop the nuclear-powered train. How it got on developing a rail vehicle carrying such a volatile power plant has not been recorded!
With the UK Met Office announcing over the new year that 2024 has been the warmest year ever, the need to find alternative power sources for fossil fuel is as great as it ever has been. Whether any of these will appear on our light rail systems remains to be seen. At the moment, we have to be thankful that we are currently using the greenest, most environmentally-friendly power form currently available.
This small German system is set to receive its most significant infrastructure updates in 20 years, which will reconnect and revitalise the network. Andrew Thompson explores.
With a population of about 88 000, Zwickau is one of the smaller cities in eastern Germany to feature a compact tram system. The metre-gauge network first opened in 1894, and is currently 19.6km (12.2 miles) long. Located 95km (59 miles) southwest of Dresden and 70km (43.5 miles) south of Leipzig, Zwickau is one of six cities in Saxony with a light rail service. At the same time, it is also the only city in Germany that has
main line diesel multiple units running on the tram network over a short section of dual-gauge track. This unique feature was launched in 1999. Using a standard-gauge branch line from Zwickau Hbf, the DMUs first run on a former industrial line for about 1.5km (0.9 miles), before connecting with the tram system at the interface point at Stadthalle. From there they continue on a 1.2km (0.7-mile) shared dual-gauge alignment with the tramway as far as the city centre interchange at Zentrum.
ABOVE: The interchange at Zwickau Zentrum is the city centre terminus of the standard gauge DMUs. Here RegioShuttle 650 073 is ready to repart with a regional service to Adorf (Vogtland).
In Germany, this system is known as the Zwickauer Modell, and is different from the other tram-train operations in Karlsruhe, Chemnitz or Saarbrücken.
The journey time from Zwickau Zentrum to Zwickau Hbf is about eight minutes. Services are currently operated by Länderbahn, a former Arriva subsidiary, which was sold to the Italian state railways (FS) conglomerate in 2011.
The RegioSprinter or RegioShuttle diesel railcars then continue on the main line beyond Zwickau Hbf to various regional destinations. These DMUs were specifically designed for use on Zwickau’s streets, and are also certified according to tramway regulations.
The timetable frequency from Zwickau Zentrum to Zwickau Hbf varies throughout the day, but generally during peak hours it is half-hourly and during off-peak times runs every hour.
At present, the DMU service is the only light rail link to Zwickau Hbf, as in December
LEFT: In a symbolic image, the Tatra KT4D articulated car 947 is seen at dusk at the
terminus on 3 December 2016. The sun later set on this section of the municipal network, when it was closed in December 2019 due to the poor physical condition of the infrastructure. Now there are plans to re-open and realign the spur to the main station by 2027 at the earliest.
2019 the 1.4km (0.9-mile) branch of tram lines 5 and 7 – from the Georgenplatz junction to the terminus Hauptbahnhof on the station forecourt – was ‘temporarily’ closed due to the poor condition of tracks. Tram services have not resumed since then, with the bus replacement having become semi-permanent.
After years of planning in order to rectify this shortcoming and once again upgrade the tram system, Zwickau city officials finally approved an infrastructure investment package in late November 2023. It seeks to invest EUR64m by 2030 in order to once again serve the main railway station with trams and also improve other parts of the tram network. Aside from completely redesigning and enhancing the station forecourt, with altered track geometry, the scheme also includes the construction of a 500m new connector between the tramway corridors on Bahnhofstrasse and Werdaustrasse further north. This would allow a re-routing of tram line 4 to first run down Bahnhofstrasse, serve the station and then use the new connector to link up with its regular route at Kopernikusstrasse, en route to the western hospital terminus at Städtisches Klinikum. According to current plans, construction work on the station forecourt could start as early as 2025, with the new track connector being built in 2027.
At the same time further enhancements are planned at Neumarkt central interchange where the current track alignment would be complemented by a new, double-track
RIGHT: Neumarkt is the centre point of Zwickau's X-shaped tram network. With the planned addition of a south to west curve, the major intersection at Neumarkt is due to be upgraded to a Grand Union Junction.
On 5 October 2022, car 905 passes the junction with a westbound line 3 service.
south to west curve. This would create a Grand Union Junction at Neumarkt, making it possible for trams to directly connect the important city centre stops at Stadthalle, Hauptmarkt, Neumarkt, Georgenplatz and Hauptbahnhof for the first time. These works are also tentatively scheduled for 2027. In a last phase, road works would take place to rebuild and accelerate the line 4 western tram branch between Fritscheplatz and Paulusstrasse in 2029.
These network additions will be the most significant infrastructure enhancements for more than two decades – the Zwickau tramway was last expanded in 2005 with the long branch line south to Neuplanitz.
“After years of planning in order to rectify this shortcoming and upgrade the tram system, Zwickau officialy finally approved an investment package in late 2023.”
On the rolling stock front, Zwickau is part of the broader consortium of cities in Saxony that placed a large joint order with HeiterBlick and Kiepe Electric in December 2021. Together with the public transport operators in Leipzig and Görlitz, Zwickau’s municipal company SVZ will initially receive six NGTZ low-floor cars by 2026, with options for more valid until 2030. These LRVs will be 30m long with space for 176 passengers, including 60 seated. They will start the replacement process of the 19 Tatra KT4D high-floor cars dating from 1987-90 and complement the current fleet of 12 type GT6M low-floor cars from 1993.
The team responsible for commissioning the Cadiz Bay tram-train railway opted for a wireless remote monitoring system to ensure that track stability and geometry met the requirements of the project.
Attractions of the system were the ease and speed of installation of precise, robust sensors, and the virtually real-time reporting that provided engineers with continuous data relating to the performance of the new railway under early-life train loading.
Senceive technology is used on railways around the world to monitor movement and behaviour of track, structures and geotechnical assets. For the Cadiz Bay TramBahia Project, triaxial tiltmeters were installed on track sleepers, measuring changes in cant (crosslevel), twist and longitudinal settlement.
The smart wireless system uses the Senceive FlatMesh™ platform to relay data from sensor nodes to cellular gateways that communicate using the local mobile phone network.
Remote users can access data via an online portal and receive e-mail and SMS alerts if pre-set movement thresholds are breached.
When measuring structural movement, Senceive tilt sensors provide a level of precision that is comparable to laser-based
topographical surveys and do so without needing to visit a site in order to get almost constant sampling. For this project, the wireless system was used in tandem with data from track measurement trolley and classic topographical surveys, which provided a level of redundancy in the dataset.
Where whole-life asset management is needed, the tilt sensors can operate for more than a decade with 30-minute sampling.
A further advantage is the speed and simplicity of use. At Cadiz the system was installed in a single day, and was providing
data from a 100m length of the route within a few hours. The monitoring programme focused on a section where the track support transitioned from normal foundation layers to a concrete bridge structure.
Senceive wireless sensors are small and robust enough for tram and transit applications, even at urban sites accessed by the public and used by other modes of transport. The sensor nodes are powered by long life batteries and the cellular gateways by a solar panel, so there is no need for fixed comms or power supply infrastructure.
The Spanish mainland’s most southerly light rail operation is also the country’s only tram-train service using the principal main line network.
P ortugA l
SPAIN
The city of Cadiz (Spanish: Cádiz) is in the Andalusia (Andalucía) autonomous community, with Cadiz province being the most southerly on the Spanish mainland. It is about 490km (306 miles) southwest of Madrid. The Atlantic coast setting with a natural harbour influenced its origins as a Phoenician trading settlement. This supports a claim for it being Europe’s oldest city in continuous occupation, long before becoming a gateway for imperial ventures in the Americas. Spain’s later decline as an international power degraded the fortunes of Cadiz. Apparent in the city’s layout and surviving fortifications, it was militarily significant and attack-prone across the centuries.
Cadiz city has a declining population with about 113 000
ABOVE: CAF Urbos tram-train 801.006 on Calle Real in the centre of San Fernando on 12 November 2024. As in Chiclana de la Frontera at the other end of the interurban section, the immediate surroundings were transformed by the light rail project.
residents in 2023, although the population density is high. Urbanisation has been constrained by location, with the ancient city sited on a near-circular peninsular and with land used for spacehungry activities like docks and shipyards. A rectangular isthmus extending from central Cadiz has later developments which end at a causeway-like connection fringed by beaches and the inner bay.
A parallel main road and railway here takes this route to the south east. More direct road connections from Cadiz to the north via Puerto Real came with the José León de Carranza bridge in 1969 and, closer to the city centre, in 2015 by the Puente de la Constitución de 1812.
Cadiz had city tram services from 1906 until 1963, with an inter-urban link to San Fernando
and neighbouring Carraca between 1912 and 1954. The operating company of these services eventually passed to the Transportes Generales Comes group, now the area’s main bus operator. The full title of the light rail operation launched on 26 October 2022 is Tranvía Metropolitano de la Bahía de Cádiz (TTBC), which accurately represents it not being cityspecific and relating to wider coverage. This is mainly in the towns of San Fernando and Chiclana de la Frontera (often just Chiclana – ‘de la Frontera’ recalls an historic boundary between warring Spanish and Moorish forces). TTBC is more conveniently branded as Trambahía and is a co-operation between the national railway operator Renfe, the rail infrastructure body ADIF and the Andalusian government. Consorcio de Transportes Bahia de Cadiz coordinates the public transport
All services use bi-directional dual-system CAF stock classified in the Urbos range, designated Serie 801 by renfe. t he seven delivered are 801.001-801.007: three more have been ordered. Although run as single units on t rambahía, they can run
in multiple and are authorised for use across the broad-gauge network. Maximum speed is 100km/h (62mph), capacity 146 standing and 92 sitting. t hey have three sections and are 38.5 metres long; the centre section is all high-floor and has no exterior doors.
o uter sections both have two doors on each side, one for level boarding on the light rail sections. Doors at a higher level for ADIF platforms have extending flaps to handle platform edge clearances. t he lower doors are marked as only opening in San
Fernando and Chiclana. l ifts within the outer sections enable entry and exit irrespective of the platform level used. t he livery includes the green and white of Andalusia Community, plus representations of features around the Bay of Cadiz.
BELOW: With no public access except by rail, Río Arillo station is an interchange between Trambahía and Renfe Cercanías trains.
LEFT: 801.002 ascends the viaduct ramp from Ardila, the stop at the western end of San Fernando’s street section.
RIGHT: The gradeseparated junction between Río Arillo and Ardila, with a Jerez-bound Renfe Class 464 Civia on the main line; tram-trains use the outer tracks.
LEFT: The western Trambahía terminus is Estación de Cádiz.
RIGHT: High-level doors are used at the station platforms; the lower doors are signed as operating at San Fernando and Chiclana platforms only.
network and fares structure covering seven municipalities.
The Trambahía project, which included remodelling of streets in San Fernando and Chiclana, dates from 2003. By the target opening year of 2012, some street track was already installed, but overall the infrastructure would take 16 years to complete. Also available far ahead of its eventual use, the first of the system’s light rail vehicles built by CAF at Irún began main line testing in northern Spain during 2012. Financial conditions and other delays in the multi-agency project would see a decade elapse before services began. Unlike tram-train operations such as Mulhouse and Karlsruhe that connected heavy rail with extant tramways, Trambahía required new urban tracks for running beyond the national network, here the Iberian 1668mm gauge. The 24km (15 miles) of Trambahía route has about 19% in the Cadiz built-up area and around 10km (6.3 miles) of main line running. The western Trambahía terminus is Estación de C ádiz, an ADIF-operated structure opened in 2002. Due to having a site cut back from a predecessor dating from 1905 – that building remains awaiting
alternative use – the newer station is further from the city centre. Not one used by Trambahía, one platform is without barriers. This forms part of an accessible walkway giving access to the regional bus station, which adjoins the station’s northern side. Main line trains using Cadiz are currently all Renfe operations: Cercanías (commuter) line C1, regional Media Distancia and, as used on Madrid services, Alvia high-speed variablegauge TALGO sets.
Operated under contract by Renfe, Trambahía uses ADIF tracks between Cadiz and R ío Arillo station, which was created under the project. Of the six main line stations used by Trambahía, three became sub-surface following a project completed in 2002 to create valuable surface space in urban Cadiz. Track sharing with trains is on the mainly two-track alignment ending just west of R ío Arillo. From here the main line curves across the north of San Fernando and then around the bay towards Jerez de la Frontera. R ío Arillo station has track on both sides of the two island platforms. The outer pair connect with ramps for the 500-metre long gradeseparated junction that connects with street track in San Fernando.
With no public access other than by rail, R ío Arillo serves as an interchange between trains and tram-trains, respectively using the central and outer tracks. It also hosts tram-train driver changes. Signs at the station mark the boundary of responsibility
“trambahía required new urban tracks for running beyond the national network.”
Opened: 2022
l ines: 1
Depots: 1
approx. weekday hours: 06.00-23.00
l ine frequency: Variations
Gauge: 1668mm
Power: 750V dc and 3kV dc overhead supply
fleet: 7
area transport body: https://cmtbc.es
Operator: renfe www.renfe.com
s ervice information: t rambahía https://trambahia.es
c ivic and tourist information: https://institucional.cadiz.es
area tourist information: www.andalucia.org
San Fernando has some interlaced rather than single track for confined space.
BELOW: Some street track areas have restrictions on other traffic and, as at Plaza Del Rey in San Fernando, some platforms are integrated with pavements.
and systems between ADIF and TTBC. The transition between 3000V and 750V, which is completed on the move, is just east of the platforms. From the Cadiz direction, Ardila is the first of the 15 stops on the light rail section. Unusual for the system, it has secure cycle storage and free parking spaces for registered users.
Trambahía services are integrated with Cercanías C1 between Cadiz and Jerez de la Frontera, some of which extend to that city’s airport. The handling of main line trains on the Cadiz approaches influence Trambahía service arrangements. Some run between Chiclana’s Pelagatos terminus and Cadiz (taking 60 minutes), with others from Pelagatos turning back from R ío Arillo without joining the main line (43 minutes). Trips to/from Cadiz for points east of San Fernando may
thus be wholly by a tram-train or may partly include a Renfe train with a change at R ío Arillo. Contrary to some early plans, all Trambahía services are designated as T1, irrespective of termini. Scheduled intervals are not regular and thus printed timetables and realtime displays warrant attention for those unfamiliar with the system.
San Fernando has two Cercanías stations on the northern edge, whereas Trambahía curves through the town’s commercial and civic centre. Places with limited space between buildings see some use of single and interlaced/gauntlet track, plus restrictions on private vehicle use. Between outer installations on raised dedicated alignments, the track’s presence at street level is emphasised by artificial grass surrounds. Beyond Venta de Vargas
LEFT: Pelagatos terminus adjoins the system’s maintenance and storage compound.
LEFT: A short extension beyond the present terminus past the passenger dock area would take Trambahía closer to the city centre.
BELOW LEFT:
Some town tracks have slightly raised dedicated space. As here at Marquesado, La Chiclana has decorative paving, whereas San Fernando features artificial grass.
stop a watery and largely uninhabited area is crossed by the A48 road, bordered on the seaward side by Trambahía. On this 6.7km (4.2 miles) of ballasted inter-urban route, speeds contrast markedly with the understandably cautious progress through the towns.
Open to the marshes including salt pans on one side, both Tres Caminos and Pinar De Los Franceses seem geared to patronage from nearby retail and industrial estates. By Marquesado, Chiclana’s buildings fully border the tracks which feature decorative paved surrounds. Chiclana has a total of 1.44km (0.9 miles) of single track. This includes the Nuestra Señora de los Remedios stop above the Iró river. This infrastructure was substantially complete six years before services began. More single-track sections follow towards the terminus where the Pelagatos name is that of the nearby industrial estate.
The system’s maintenance, storage, administration and control functions are in a compound just beyond the Pelagatos platforms. Almost two million journeys were recorded for Trambahia during 2023. Extensions considered include extending west from Cadiz station to nearer the city centre at Plaza de España. A more ambitious scheme would enable a shortcut to obviate the long transit around the bay. This would take Trambahia over the Puente de la Constitución de 1812, with the bridge having been designed for adding tracks in space currently used by buses.
local travel: t wo ticketing types are available for t rambahia, each having their respective cards, both of which activate validators and barriers. t he non-personal version of ‘ renfe y t ú’ costs E ur0.50 at stations; any loaded value can also be used for their main line services. t he Consorcio de t ransportes de la Bahía de Cádiz counterpart (E ur 1.50) has cross-mode coverage, thus usable for t rambahia, buses and ferries. Analysis of t rambahia’s first year showed 79% of passenger journeys being by the renfe card. t he Consorcio fare basis is the number of Saltos (Jumps) accumulated per journey, these ranging from E ur0.46 to E ur 1.13. t his is calculated automatically when using the vending machines at all stops/stations. renfe ticketing has zones 1-3 at E ur 1.80/2.00/2.60. t here are no day tickets. (Prices as January 2025)
What is there to see? Although there are service and tour buses in Cadiz, the city centre and coastal circuit is seen at its best by foot. t he seafront cathedral and other historic buildings clustered around a maze of streets contribute to Cadiz being a worthy destination. With quays virtually in the city centre, cruise liners can rapidly disgorge crowds into a very small area. Sunsets can be striking, notably as a backdrop to the Castillo de San Sebastian fortress and causeway. Mercado Central combines a market role with counters specialising in local food and drink. Picturesque sherry-producing Jerez de al Frontera and El Puerto de Santa Maria can easily be reached on the C1 service, which can be combined with the Barco (ferry) B-042 for a round-trip: the Cadiz ferry terminus pedestrian entrance is opposite the imposing Aduana (customs) building. Cadiz by rail from Seville Santa Justa is about 90 minutes by renfe Alvia, with Media Distancia trains taking around 20 minutes more.
METROTENERIFE, in JV with GPO (TYLin Group), was awarded the contract for the commissioning, pre-operation and supervision of the initial operation of the tram-train of Bahía de Cádiz in 2016.
From 2016-23, METROTENERIFE worked in coordination with the Junta de Andalucia and RENFE to put this unique railway system in service. The services provided included the development of the standards, regulations and certifications for the operation of the service; training of the operator’s staff; development, implementation and monitoring of the testing of systems and service simulation; and the supervision of the first six months of commercial service.
The knowledge transfer in the project was remarkable and will allow the Junta de Andalucia to optimise the system during the O&M stage.
METROTENERIFE’s staff assisted them in many particular areas, for example, reviewing the layout of the workshop from the point of view of an operator to very specialised training to O&M staff.
The results of the technical assistance are outstanding, evidenced by the high ridership achieved after only a few months following the start of service: one million passengers in the first five and half months.
METROTENERIFE assigned a highly-specialised team to the project: O&M experts, driver trainers, OCC operator trainers, engineers, maintenance specialists, etc. The whole team agree that to have participated in this project has been a highly enriching professional experience, allowing them not only to put in practice the knowledge acquired in the operation of METROTENERIFE, but gaining additional experience working with a tram-train system.
METROTENERIFE is an LRT operator constituted in 2001 in Spain. Based on its own experience, the company provides services related to O&M: consultancy, testing and commissioning, service simulations, trainings, shadow operation, audit, etc. Its portfolio includes the development of many urban and interurban rail projects in Europe, America, Africa and Middle East.
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Consultancy services in Operation and Maintenance. Experience on 4 continents
The ticketing system that works via a smartphone without need of physical infraestructure
Sistema de billetaje a través de smartphone y sin necesidad de infraestructura física
Sistema Avanzado de Asistencia a la Conducción diseñado para supervisar la conducción y evitar accidentes por exceso de velocidad
Advanced Driver Assistance System designed to monitor operations and to avoid accidents due to overspeeding
Diseñado y patentado por:
Sistema de enchaquetado diseñado para mejorar el mantenimiento de la plataforma ferroviaria
Chambered system designed to improve the maintenance of the railway track
STERN & HAFFERL. Former Lambach – Haag 1989 dual-voltage ET25 units 103 and 104, currently stored at Eferding, have been sold to Roma-nia. EB WIEN (Vienna). Metro line U2 reopened between Schottentor and Karlsplatz from 6 December. This section has been rebuilt over the last three years. TR
MINSK. The 4.1km (2.5-mile) metro line 3 extension from Koval’skaya Sloboda to Slutskiy Gostinets opened on 30 December. A five-minute peak headway is provided. transphoto.org
ANTWERPEN (Antwerp).
Use of PCCs on line 7 on Mondays-Saturdays continued into 2025. Use of double-ended ex-Gent PCCs on line 12 has also continued; the appearance of double-ended CAF low-floor trams here was short-lived.
Temporary suspension of trams to Linkeroever from 9 March means that lines 3, 5, 9 and 15 are to be replaced by two new ones: 25 (Boechout – Harmonie – CS –Sportpaleis – P+R Merksem); and 26 (Wijnegem – Sportpaleis – CS – Berchem – Silsburg). T-2000 BRUXELLES (Brussels). Further to TAUT 1046’s report, line 93 is cut back to De Trooz. Line 62 terminates at Liedts and line 10 is diverted via Liedts. Line 92 terminates at Louise.
Articulated PCCs 7812 and 7821 have been scrapped. T-2000 LIÈGE. The new tramway will open to passengers from 15 April. However, wide scale celebrations are to take place on 10 May with events at each stop. T-2000 OOSTENDE (Ostend). Gent (Ghent) 6338 entered service on 29 December, freeing up a CAF car for driver training.
Tram 6129 has been equipped with a camera-based collision avoidance system. T-2000
BRASÍLIA. A loan of BRL444.5m (EUR72.4m) has been approved to finance a 3.6km (2.2-mile) section of the Orange Line metro from Samambaia to the Olympic Centre. This will require 15 new trains. IRJ
TORONTO. Scarborough North Councillor Jamaal Myers has named 1 June as the earliest date for Eglinton Crosstown Line 5 to open. Finch West (Line 6) could follow in August. D. Drum
MENGZI. Reports have emerged that the 13.3km (8.3-mile) tramway ceased running in July 2024. It opened in 2020 but passenger numbers had reportedly dropped to 300 per day. BS
BOGOTÁ. Roughly 50% of the new 24km (15-mile) metro line had been completed in January, including 1km (0.6 miles) of elevated structure. It is not expected to open until 2028. RGI
ZAGREB. The funicular closed from 20 January for reconstruction work. It is not expected to reopen until March 2026. transphoto.org
BRNO. Former Praha (Prague) Tatra T6s 1221/2/5-8 were sent to Kharkiv in Ukraine in December. Pragoimax EVO-2 trams 1853/54 entered service in December, with 1855-60 expected this year. BS OLOMOUC. The first new EVO-1 tram was delivered on 19 December. BS
PLZE Ň . Škoda 40T 399 was delivered on 13 January; 400-406 will follow in early 2025.
Articulated trams 312/314 and Tatra T3s 256/65 were withdrawn on 31 December. F. Vanásek PRAHA (Prague). Planning permission has been given for two new tram lines, serving Pocernická and Olsanská – Habrová, to be completed in 2027.
T3R.PLF 8765-66 (rebuilt T3 trams 8211/02) entered service in December.
The 150th anniversary of the city’s trams is to be celebrated with special events on 20-21 September. BS
LE MANS. Buses are replacing line T2 trams between Saint Martin and Espal until 2 March while platforms are lengthened. The tramway is to close from 15 July to 15 August for the work to be completed. lineoz.net MARSEILLE. No trams are to run between Canebière and Castellane from 10 February to 8 April while the terminus is rebuilt. Line T3 is withdrawn but extra services are planned for T2 (Canebière – Arenc). BS MONTPELLIER. Line 1 (Odysseum – Gare TGV) is to open on 18 October, followed by T5 (Clapiers – Lavérune) on 20 December.
Passenger numbers rose by 33% in 2024, to 110m, thanks to free services for residents. DS
NICE. Line 3 now operates from St-Isidore to Port Lympia. Line B has been introduced to link Aeroport and CADAM/Centre Administratif. sky-scrapercity PARIS. Metro line 14’s station, Villejuif – Gustav Roussy, was opened on 18 January.
The zonal tariff system on Metro, RER, SNCF and tram lines T11-13 was replaced by a EUR2.50 flat fare from 1 January, although travel to and from the airports costs EUR13. There is a flat EUR2 fare on bus and other tram routes. A Navigo-Jour day ticket costs EUR12 and covers all transport modes, airport travel excepted. lineoz.net
AUGSBURG. The three rear sections of damaged Combino 827 have been mated to the front two of similarly damaged 835. The combined unit is now 835. Problems with braking system software prevented the new Stadler Tramlinks entering service in January. BS BERLIN. A further 45 51m Flexity Berlin trams have been ordered from Alstom, bringing the total order to 65. There is an option for a further 52. DS BONN. The tram subway was closed 27 December-5 January for asbestos removal.
Škoda 41Ts 2251-53 and 2351-03 are now in use on line 61.
The 24 Duewag R1.1 low-floor trams that are now redundant have been sold to MPK Pozna ń for EUR2.23m. TP BRANDENBURG. Another four Škoda 48T trams have been ordered, from the outstanding option for eight. BS BREMEN. Czech manufacturer DTVS has delivered a 162t grand union rail junction to the junction of Bennigsenstrasse and Hastedter
Heerstrasse. This replaces a triangular junction and will allow for the expansion of the tramway network to Julius-Brecht-Allee. RGI DORTMUND. HeiterBlick delivered Vamos B6D Stadtbahn car 386 in December. Coupled Vamos B6D pairs now run on U49. BS DRESDEN. Line 4 has resumed running between Radebeul and Weinböhla after 15 months of infrastructure work. BS DUISBURG. The last Alstom GT8ND trams delivered in 2024 were 2025-27.
B80C 4700-series Stadtbahn cars have been fitted with train control soft-ware for operation on line D. BS DÜSSELDORF. A 185 00m 2 area of the former Mannesmann tube works in Rath has been acquired for a new tram depot. It is to be served by an extension of line 707. All but two of the 52 HF6 Stadtbahn cars were in service by the end of December.
Withdrawn Duewag GT8S trams 3101 and 3201 are to be preserved. FRANKFURT AM MAIN. Alstom T trams remained out of service throughout January, while negotiations take place for rectification work.
Operator VGF considered acquiring Göteborg’s withdrawn M29 trams, but these were found to be too wide. fr.de FRANKFURT (ODER).
Inspection of the Thälmann bridge has revealed a crack in the concrete. Lines 2 and 5, which cross Ernst-Thälmann-Strasse, were curtailed at the city centre triangle from 19 De-cember. BS GOTHA. A contract was signed with Stadler for four doubleended TINA low-floor trams on 18 December. BS HALLE. The second 45m Stadler TINA, 852, arrived on 11 January. Low-floor tram 621 has been
scrapped. It was stored after being involved in an accident in August 2022. DS HANNOVER . An option has been exercised for 17 more 4000-series Stadtbahn cars from HeiterBlick. DS JENA. Stadler delivered fivesection Tramlink vehicles 852 and 853 in December.
Accident-damaged 614 was sent to Łód ź on 20 December. BS KARLSRUHE. The Turmbergbahn funicular, which opened in 1888, ran for the last time on 29 December. However, Karlsruhe municipal council approved its rebuilding and extension on 21 January. DS KASSEL. Line 7 started running to Mattenberg from 13 January. One N8C high-floor Stadtbahn-N car remains in use on this service.
Accident damaged 605 has been sent to IFTEC Leipzig for repair. BS KIEL. Schleswig-Holstein has made EUR700 000 available for the proposed 36km (22-mile) tramway. The state will finance 15% of the construction costs. The latest estimate for completion is 2034. BS KREFELD. The rebuilt Hbf terminus for lines 044 and U70/76 opened on 11 December –after a reconstruction that took just shy of 13 years.
Philadelphiastrasse closed for reconstruction from 4 November, with line 044 diverted. BS LEIPZIG. Lützschena reversing triangle was used for the last time on 3 January. BS NÜRNBERG. The rebuilt Scheurlstrasse reopened for line 7 trams on 15 December. RHEIN-RUHR. Verkehrsverbund Rhein-Ruhr (VRR) became a majority shareholder in the Regiobahn train operator from 1 January, with other local authorities taking a 25% interest. BS RUHRBAHN. The last Stadtbahn-M trams are working
peak extras on line 107, but are to be withdrawn this year.
NF4 1973 arrived in Mülheim on 20 December.
Steeler Strasse in Essen will be closed for renovation from 11 July. Lines 103 and 109 are to be curtailed to Essen Hbf, while replacement buses run to Steele. Work will last until 2030. BS SAARBRÜCKEN. Pioneer Stadler LRV 2001 was sent to the Velim test track in the Czech Republic in October. The second off the production line has been sent to the climate chamber in Wien. BS WOLTERSDORF. A pair of Moderus Gamma low-floor bogie trams entered service on 25 January, while 44 was delivered on 20 January. Sister tram 43 has returned to the factory after a vandal attack. SRS, DS
BUDAPEST . Line 2’s infrastructure is to be made suitable for operation by CAF low-floor trams by the end of 2026. iho.hu
DELHI. The Magenta Line metro was extended by 2km (1.2 miles) from Janakpuri West to Krishna Park on 5 January. The RapidX commuter rail line was extended by 13km (eight miles) from Sahibabad to New Ashok Nagar and a metro interchange on the same date. urbanrail.net
DUBLIN. A pair of additional trams are to run on the Red and Green lines during on weekdays from June, along with extra services at weekends. Additional drivers are to be recruited.
MANX ELECTRIC RAILWAY. Winter Saloon 19 moved under its own power following overhaul on 16 January. It last worked in 2022
and is due to return to service later this year.
Winter Saloon 22 has been repainted. Also in the paint shops are 1899-built Open Crossbench trailer 48 and 1930 Open Crossbench trailer 41.
Overhaul of Winter Saloon 20 continues; exterior panelling has been removed and new wooden frame pieces installed.
Open Crossbench 32 was used on 22 January to help move rails from Derby Castle to Onchan Head, allowing the little used crossover there to be removed. Car 32 became the last MER car to use the crossover.
FIRENZE (Florence). The 1.8km (1.1-mile) extension of line T2 from Fortezza to San Marco opened on 25 January. urbanrail.net
MILANO (Milan). Stadler Tramlink low-floor trams entered service on 15 January.
The last 4600-series articulated car, 4611, has been preserved after withdrawal on 17 December. transphoto.org
ROMA (Rome). A review of plans for metro line D has recommended a 30.5km (19-mile) line from Nomentana/Grande Raccordo Anulare to Via di Vigna Murata via Piazza Venezia and Stazione Trastevere. The estimated cost is EUR9bn; 70 trains will be required. skyscrapercity TRIESTE. Passenger services were to resume on the 5.2km (3.2-mile) Opicina tramway on 1 February. It has been closed for 8.5 years. commune.trieste.it
PENANG. Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim attended a groundbreaking ceremony for the 29.5km (18-mile) metro linking George Town city centre to Seberang Perai on 5 January. Completion of the 1435mm-gauge, electrified thirdrail system is set for 2031. IRJ
MEXICO CITY. All nine of Xochimilco Light Rail’s CRRCbuilt LRVs had entered service by December. Also in service are 12 Bombardier LRVs (029-040), three of which (33/35-36) have been refurbished by Ferrovías del Bajío, in San Luis Potosí. The 12 Concarril LRVs built in 1991/92 have been withdrawn.
The state government is developing plans for an eight-line 220km (137-mile) rapid transit system around the city border, to be known as Metromex. Options being considered include light rail, metro and bus rapid transit.
S. J. Morgan, RGI
AMSTERDAM. A maximum daily charge of EUR10 on the tap-on tap-off contactless card system came into effect on 1 January, the same day as a nationwide 3% fare increase. Combino 2128, set on fire by rioters, is being repaired at the Central Rail Workshops. OR DEN HAAG (The Hague). Peak service 10 came into effect on 6 January. It duplicates line 1 from Scheveningen-Noord to Lorentzplein and then runs via line 16 to Vrederust. It operates Mondays-Thursdays 07.30-08.30 and 15.30-17.30. OR
The long-planned reorganisation of Rotterdam’s tram network took effect from 6 January (TAUT 1039). The Dutch system is now arranged: Line 1: Vlaardingen Holy –De Esch; Line 2: Charlois –Keizerswaard; Line 3: Centraal Station – Beverwaard; Line 4: Heemradsplein – Molenlaan; Line 5: Centraal Station – Carnisselande; Line 6: Kleiweg – Heemradsplein; Line 7: Marconiplein –Woudestein; Line 8: Spangen –Schiebroek; Line 11: Woudhoek – De Esch. Trams no longer run
to Willemsplein, Vasteland and between Zaagmolenstraat and Benthuizerstraat. However, the overhead wires on these sections will remain for the time being.
CHONGJIN. A new bogie tram produced by the Chongjin Bus Factory, based on the design of the Thongil-181 bus, entered service on 27 December. transphoto.org PYONGYANG. Tram line 2 was closed on 25 December to permit conversion to a trolleybus route. transphoto.org
CZ Ę STOCHOWA . There were no bidders for the proposed three new low-floor trams (TAUT 1046). TP GDA Ń SK. The Siennicki bridge was closed on safety grounds on 10 January. Services to Stogi and Przeróbka are suspended, probably for two years. Lines 8 and 9 are using a temporary terminus at Głęboka. TP
WROCŁAW. PESA delivered the last of 24 Twists , ordered in 2021, in early January; this batch will be followed by a further 16 from the option in the original order.
The city is consulting on two options for a new line to Psie Pole, a suburb to the north of the Stara Odra and Kanał Miejski. The estimated cost is PLN800m (EUR190m). TP
LISBOA (Lisbon). Line 28 resumed operation to Prazeres from 6 January, while line 25 now terminates at Cais do Sodré once again. BS PORTO. The annual parade of preserved trams is to take place on 3 May. M. J. Russell
MOSKVA(Moscow). Metro line 16 was extended from Tyutchevskaya to Novomoskovskaya on 28 December. urbanrail.net
SAMARA. PKTS delivered 71-931 Vityaz-M trams 970-972 at the end of December. transphoto.org
SANKT PETERBURG (Saint Petersburg). Metro line 4 was extended by 3.6km (2.2 miles) from Spasskaya to Gorny Institut on 27 December. urbanrail.net
YEKATERINBURG . PKTS 71-911EM Lvyonok 400 entered service on 24 January. transphoto.org
SAUDI ARABIA
MADRID. Alstom has been awarded a contract to install GoA4 automatic train operation equipment on the 23.5km (15-mile) metro line 6. RGI VALENCIA. Commuter rail services C1-C3 resumed operation from 22 December. The light rail line to Castelló will take six months to reinstate, after the floods of September/October (TAUT 1045). BS VITORIA-GASTEIZ. A further three CAF Urbos 44.2m, sevensection trams have been ordered at a cost of EUR20m. They are to be delivered in 2027. RGI
ŁÓDŹ . A decision on the tender for 30 new trams has been suspended, pending clarification of the government’s distribution of EU funding. The only bidder was Modertrans.
DOHA. Passenger services started on the Lusail tramway’s Turquoise Line on 6 January. This 800m loop links Downtown Lusail to Lusail QNB metro station and completes the initial 19km (12 miles) of the system. Construction of Grand Masjed station will follow. utrbanrail.net
TP
POZNA Ń . The first of 30 new Modertrans Moderus Gamma LF 04 AC BD 32m doubleended trams was delivered on 22 January. The EU provided 85% of the EUR60m purchase price. With 24 secondhand trams coming from Bonn, this will enable all remaining high-floor trams to be withdrawn. DS SZCZECIN. Modertrans has won a PLN63.7m (EUR15m) contract for four double-ended, 100% low-floor, three-section trams. There is an option for eight more. RGI WARSZAWA (Warsaw). A tender has been issued for the reconstruction of 1km (0.6 miles) of tramline on Marszałkowska. TP
CONSTAN Ț A. Reinstating the tramway in Re ș i ț a has inspired local politicians to start planning the same for Constanț a, where tramway operation ceased in 2008. BS
RUSSIA
KALININGRAD. Derailment of Corsair 711 on Festivalnaya on 20 December caused line 5 services to be suspended until 23 December. Ex-Halle Tatra T4D 525 has entered service on line 5; the Corsairs have been banned from this route. J. Carpenter
KRASNODAR. The first trial runs of new BKM T811 bogie trams 620-639 took place on 26 December. transphoto.org
RIYADH. The 39.8km (25-mile) east-west Orange Line from Jeddah Road to Khashm Al An opened on 5 January as planned (TAUT 1046). This was the final part of the sixline 162km (100-mile) metro system to open. urbanrail.net
SLOVAKIA
BRATISLAVA. A tender has been issued for up 60 double-ended, 49m trams, though a firm order for an initial ten is expected. Test runs on the extension at Petržalka took place on 18-19 December with K2G 7085 (carrying passengers) and 30T 7540. The extension cost EUR104.2m, largely supported by EU funding. A condition was that passengers had to be carried by 31 December. Regular services should start in the spring. TP Č IERNY BALOG. The Č iernohronská železnica operated ex-Waldenburgerbahn 12+112+113 in tourist service on 26/28/31 December and 4-5 January between Č ierny Balog, Sanske and Dobro č as well as on the branch to Vydrovo. The remaining ex-Swiss 750mmgauge trains, acquired in 2021, are stored at Hronec. An exhibition there reveals plans for regular electrified tourist operation. BS
BASEL (BVB). Buses replace line 3 services between Barfi and Burgfelden Grenze until 9 March, to permit infrastructure work to take place. DS BASEL (BLT). Tram 4213 became the last TINA delivered in December.
Withdrawn Be 4/8 202 was sent to Gotha on 26 November, followed by 236 on 6 January. Other Be 4/8s are to be sent to Lviv (Ukraine) in January and February. BS BERN. Stadler Tramlink 929 was delivered in December.
The remaining five Vevey-built Be 4/8s were to be withdrawn by 14 February. Apart from museum tram 735, they will be sent to Lviv. Kornhausbrücke is to close for renovation 17 February-16 November, affecting lines 3 and 9. Line 9 will operate in two halves: Wankdorf – Kur-saal and Wabern – Bern HB. Line 3 is to be replaced by buses. BS BERN – WORB (RBS). The last operational Be 4/10 89 undertook a farewell run for employees on 23 January; the rest had been withdrawn on 15 December. It will be restored as a Be 4/8. BS ZÜRICH. Alstom delivered Flexity 4072 at the end of December.
Be 4/6s 2050/53/59/96 were sent to Vinnitsya in Ukraine during the same month.
Be2/2 1208, the Christmas Märlitram and sponsored by Zürich department store Jelmoli, ran for the last time in 2024 on 24 December. Retailer Coop City will sponsor the tram for 2025. EA
BANGKOK. With bad air pollution in the period before 24 January, the government made public transport free for seven days to encourage people from their cars. Guardian
TUNIS. Testing on the new 12.2km (7.6-mile) line D commuter railway from Tunis Central to Gobáa started in late December. Passenger services were to start in late January. Line D shares 2.3km (1.4 miles) of infrastructure with line E, which opened in April 2023. IRJ
ESKI Ş EHIR. A 2.5km (1.6mile) tramway link from Otogar to Opera opened on 6 January. Line 36 uses the link, running from Otogar to Eski ş ehir Osmangazi Üniversitesi. urbanrail.net İ ZMIR. Bozankaya is to deliver 22 32.5m, five-section, 100% low-floor trams in 2026-27. railway.supply
HORLIVKA. Trams again started running beyond the depot to Kalinin from 26 December, following repair of war damage. BS
EDINBURGH. Edinburgh Trams attained 12 million passenger journeys in 2024, three million more than in 2023. June was the busiest month, when 1.2m journeys were made.
LONDON (DOCKLANDS).
Pontoon Dock station is to undergo a GBP44m (EUR53m) upgrade which will include installing six new escalators and building a new mezzanine area. The escalators are intended to free up lift space for the less-abled, thus providing step-free access to services. Plans to add toy steering wheels to trains have been dropped. They were trial-fitted to ten trains in January 2024.
LONDON (GENERAL). A year-long programme of events celebrating Transport for London’s 25th anniversary includes a photographic exhibition at the London Transport Museum in June and depot open days at Acton on 4-6 April. TfL came into being on 3 July 2000. It is inviting
members of the public to share their memories of the organisation by e-mailing TfL25Memories@tfl.gov.uk
TfL’s ‘Off-Peak Friday’ trial, which charged all fares on the Underground, Overground, Elizabeth Line and DLR at the off-peak rate between 8 March and 31 May 2024, failed to boost Friday passenger numbers. The trial cost GBP24m (EUR28.7m).
GREATER MANCHESTER.
Metrolink’s GBP147m (EUR176m) track replacement programme was to start at Weaste on 1 February. No trams were to run between Eccles and MediaCityUK until 25 February, with replacement buses operating instead. The works programme is to finish in 2027.
Bury Council plans to provide new pedestrian and cycle access to the east platform at Radcliffe. This would involve making alterations to Festival Gardens park, including removing trees and making new embankments.
NOTTINGHAM. Issues with sanding equipment were reportedly responsible for delays on the Nottingham Express Transit network on 23 January. Early morning services were affected. Cancellation of early morning tram services was a persistent problem throughout January; there were 66 cancellations in the month.
SHEFFIELD. The system was affected by two broken rails in January: on Park Grange Road on 11 January and on West Street on 9 January. The second incident was compounded by there not being enough buses available to operate the replacement BL1 service.
STOURBRIDGE. Pre Metro Operations was preparing to publish its Company Capability Document as this issue closed for press. It is set to explore opportunities for the Stourbridge Shuttle as well as promoting Very Light Rail.
TYNE & WEAR. Metro operator Nexus is to recruit eight new apprentices in 2025. A drop-in session for potential recruits was to take place on 12 February at the Nexus Learning Centre in South Shields.
WEST MIDLANDS. Services only ran between Wednesbury and Wolverhampton on 19 January, while engineers connected the new Dudley extension to the existing network. Tickets were accepted on local buses.
AUSTIN, TX. The Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the planned north-south light rail line was released for consultation on 10 January. J. May
BETHESDA – NEW CARROLLTON, MD. The 25.6km (16-mile) Purple Line is not expected to open until 2027. This had been due to open in 2022 at a cost of USD5.6bn (EUR5.4bn); the final cost is expected to be closer to USD10bn (EUR9.6bn).
Washington Post CHICAGO, IL. The Federal Transit Administration signed a full funding agreement on 10 January for USD1.97bn (EUR1.9m) to support the Red Line extension project. This 8.9km (5.5-mile) line from 95th Street to 130th Street is to be built in 2025-2030. J. May
FORT WORTH, TX. A USD25m (EUR24m) federal grant is available for the 3.4km (2.1-mile) extension of the TexRail commuter rail line to Near Southside station. DoT HONOLULU, HI. Hitachi Rail is suing the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation for USD325m (EUR313m), alleging mismanagement of the Skyline automated metro project resulting in financial losses for the company. RT&S HUDSON – BERGEN, NJ. An ACI-Herzog joint venture has been awarded a 15-year operating and maintenance contract for the light rail system, starting in September. ERA
NEW YORK, NY. Subway Lines A and S were closed south of Howard Beach from 17 January to permit infrastructure work. Shuttle buses are to run to Rockaway until May 2025.
into a museum. Some GBP50 000 (EUR60 000) has been raised to generate plans and prepare the Lottery bid.
Workshop tours are to run this year.
Brush Railcar 622, built in 1937, has been scrapped at Anchorsholme Academy. The costs of turning it into a classroom were considered prohibitive. The tiger-liveried vehicle last worked in 2009 and moved to the school in 2014.
BERLIN (DE). Preserved Tatra T6+B6 set 5117/5563 has been modified to operate under 750v DC. It returned to service at Christmas. A Reko set is now being similarly modified. BS
BRAUNSCHWEIG (DE). Restoration of Düwag six-axle car 41 has been completed. The 1973-built tram has run under its own power for the first time in 16 years. BS
DRESDEN (DE). Opening days for the tram museum are 1 March, 5-6 April, 7 June, 2 August, 8-9 November and 6 December 11.00-16.00. BS NEUCHÂTEL (CH). Areuse tram museum is to open 13.0017.00 on 13 April, 4 and 25 May, 31 August and 26 October. BS NÜRNBERG (DE). Two-axle tram 867 (built 1929) returned to Nürnberg (Nuremburg) from Kraków on 21 December. It has been modified to work on 750v DC; 1913-built tram 701 left for Poland the following day for the same modification. BS SWINDON (UK). The Science Museum Group has opened the GBP65m (EUR78m) Hawking Building at its site at Wroughton. The building features items from the Science Museum’s reserve collection, including Glasgow Corporation Tram 585.
ERA
Congestion tolls of USD9 (EUR8.66) per day for cars started in Manhattan on 5 January. The tolls come into effect south of 60th Street. Revenue will help pay to resolve accessibility issues at the two-thirds of Subway stations that are still not disabled-accessible.
PITTSBURGH, PA.
Infrastructure work has led to services being curtailed: buses replaced light rail from the city centre to First Avenue from 2 January to early February; the Steel Plaza to Gateway section is closed from early February to early March. Mass Transit SAN DIEGO, CA. The San Diego Association of Governments has completed a conceptual planning study for a metro linking Sorrento Mesa and the Mexican border at San Ysidro via the Mission Valley Campus of SDS university and Euclid Transit Center. SANDAG
BLACKPOOL (UK). Tramtown volunteers are working towards making a bid for National Heritage Lottery Fund money to turn the Rigby Road tram depot
Worldwide items for inclusion should be sent to Michael Taplin at Flat 8, Roxan Villa, 33 Landguard Manor Rd, Shanklin, Isle of Wight PO37 7HZ, UK. Please fax: +44 (0)1983 862810 or e-mail miketap@mainspring.co.uk UK and Ireland items, please e-mail uknews@lrta.org
Acknowledgements are due to Blickpunkt Straßenbahn (BS), commune.trieste.it, DoT, Drehscheibe (DS), Eisenbahn (EB), Eisenbahn Amateur (EA), ERA, fr.de, Guardian, iho.hu, International Railway Journal (IRJ), lineoz.net, Mass Transit, Op de Rails (OR), Railway Gazette International (RGI), SANDAG, sky-scrapercity, SRS, Today’s Railways (TR), railway.supply, RT&S, Tram-2000 (T-2000), transphoto. org, Transport Publiczny (TP), urbanrail.net and Washington Post.
Experience attractive cities, a wide variety of historic trams on exclusive charters, private depot visits and ‘rare track’ not in regular use on a relaxed holiday to remember, ideal for enthusiasts and their companion travellers.
Thursday 5th June to Friday 13th June 2025
This captivating new tour takes you through the historic cities and picturesque tramways of Saxony, offering a unique opportunity to ride privately chartered heritage vehicles from the early and mid20th century. The itinerary includes behind-the-scenes depot visits, scenic photo stops, rare track explorations, and guided sightseeing, all delivered with exceptional charm and style.
Monday 4th August to Tuesday 12th August 2025
This all-new tour invites you to explore the historic cities and charming tramways of Poland, featuring exclusive rides on privately chartered heritage vehicles from the early and mid-20th century. Highlights include behind-the-scenes depot visits, unique photo stops, and rare track sections not typically accessible on the regular services.
Situated in a city once dubbed the Manchester of Germany is a museum full of tramway relics from a lost age. Mike Russell considers the history of tramways in Chemnitz and reviews the collection. 1
Chemnitz is a principal city of the German Land of Saxony, but its former extensive manufacturing sector, exemplified by textile mills, has long been eclipsed. Decline set in during World War Two, when over 40% of the city centre was destroyed. Post-war reconstruction retained the established predominance of a tramway network laid to an unusual gauge.
The city’s tramway history began in 1879, when a concession was granted to William Roebuck of London to build and operate a line worked by horse-drawn tramcars on lightweight rail laid to 915mm (3ft) gauge. Operation, by the new District of Chemnitz Tramway Company, Limited (the title was changed in 1882 to Germanic form) started on 22 April 1880, and shortly afterwards a small depot was opened in Kappel. Much extended and rebuilt in 1908, this serves today as the Chemnitz Tramway Museum.
It was originally intended progressively to widen the track to metre-gauge. Electrification and expansion of the network started in December 1893 with the opening of a new route to the Altendorf district, with a new depot on land adjacent to the terminus. Further electrically-worked routes followed.
Animal traction ceased in 1899, by which time the limitations of the original gauge had become apparent. In 1917 it was decided to standardise on 925mm-gauge. On 1 January 1908 the undertaking was purchased by the municipality and operated as Strassenbahn der Stadt Chemnitz.
During the inter-war period the tramways began to be supplemented by motor bus routes; the last narrow-gauge extension was in April 1929 from Altendorf to Rottluff, bringing the network to its maximum of 42.16km (26.2 miles). The population declined during the war years, and post-war Chemnitz found itself in the Soviet sphere of influence, becoming part of the new German Democratic Republic in 1949.
On 10 May 1953 the burgers of the city awoke to discover that their home had been renamed Karl-Marx-Stadt, on the orders of their communist political masters in Berlin. The tramway now traded as VEB(K) Verkehrsbetriebe Karl-Marx-Stadt. Population decline continued slowly, a process that accelerated following the political changes of 1989. From June 1990, the city name Chemnitz was readopted.
The company had traditionally engaged in rolling stock replacement and development by purchasing tramcars from a variety of manufacturers; all were of similar outward
appearance but featured distinguishing details. Most were built in the 1920s/30s.
Finally it was decided to convert the entire tramway to 1435mm-gauge, including later extensions. By the late 1960s the 925mmgauge network had been reduced to seven lines, mostly cross-city. The first standardgauge line (Altchemnitz) opened on 8 May 1960; further changes followed slowly, leaving just the truncated Rottluff line (3) soldiering on until 6 November 1988. A final escorted parade of cars on 8 November closed 108 years of narrow-gauge operation.
Regular operations from Kappel depot ceased when it was replaced by new facilities at Altchemnitz. In 1995 the old depot became a tramway museum. Several surviving narrow-gauge cars received final overhauls at Altendorf in 1988-89 in anticipation of the move. Because the conversion programme was spread over such a long period, the policy had been to withdraw the cars in worst condition first, resulting in examples of many series surviving until the end.
Of the motor cars, 69 of 1919 is the oldest –one of ten built in 1915-20 in the company’s own works with three-bay bodywork and electrical equipment by local manufacturer Hermann Pöge. They were the first cars fitted with enclosed platforms. In 1951 it was fitted with track brakes and converted to a permanent driver training car, renumbered 1169 in 1958. It was rebuilt to a museum car with unvestibuled platforms in 1980 and numbered 69; it was then again rebuilt in 1995 as vintage car 169, to a similar condition as the Kassbergwagen (226-247) built in 1908.
Car 15 was one of 20 built in 1925 as replacements for the original electric cars of 1893-94. This was one of ten built by Carl Weyer & Cie. of Düsseldorf, initially fitted with single roof-mounted headlight. Renumbered 267 in 1938 it was transferred to works duties in 1976 and in 1988 retrieved for rebuilding as a museum car under its original number and to its late 1920s state.
One of several separate series of cars supplied in the late 1920s by various manufacturers is 332, built by Busch of Bautzen in 1928 as 232. These were the last of the large heavyweight cars. They too originally featured roof-mounted headlamps, relocated to the dash panel in 1938-56. After 1979 five were adapted for works car duties, but several remained in passenger service. A further 13 cars to the same specification were delivered by Busch in 1929, and 251 has been retained in the museum.
Delivered in 1928 as 203-207, five cars were built by Busch to slightly shorter dimensions. Withdrawals took place between 1979-88. All were renumbered by the addition of 100 to fleet numbers in 1975 and, in 1977, 306 was again renumbered to 316; this car represents the series in the museum.
Trailer cars are also included. Busch supplied ten large four-bay trailers in 1927 and eight survived until withdrawal in 1977-83. Trailer 552 was withdrawn and restored in 1993-94 as a tramway café. In the same period the car works at Werdau (Sächsische Waggonfabrik) built 25 large trailers, many of which survived. Of these, car 598 has joined the museum fleet.
The sole post-war narrow-gauge fleet additions were seven LOWA cars built in 1952 (four EB50 cars) by Waggonbau Werdau and three in 1955 (EB54 630-632) by Gotha. Several other trailers had much longer lives, such as Herbrand-built 751-61 from 1898-99, which were rebuilt in the tramway workshops out of motor cars; the seven not destroyed during World War Two survived until 1962-5. None of these trailers is in the museum.
A veteran that has survived is trailer 237, from 1899. Built by Herbrand of Köln it was originally a three-bay open-sided Sommerwagen, but within a short time it was found wholly unsuitable for operation in harsh Saxon winters, and in 1911 the whole batch (renumbered 248-257) was rebuilt with closed side panels. Withdrawn on delivery of modern trailer stock in 1928-29, this example saw around 70 years as a summerhouse. It was repatriated to Kappel in 2008 and remains in ‘as found’ condition.
A trio of works cars makes up the narrowgauge selection. Car 1035 is a purpose-built example of rail grinders built by Schörling of Hannover; it was in use from 1940 until 1983 and remains in virtually unaltered condition.
In 1917-18 the Chemnitz tramways bought 26 drop-sided ‘lorries’ for the transport of vegetables between the market and shops. After World War Two some were adapted to transport building materials, and uniquely 1054 (originally 354) was equipped with a rotating central turntable. This and 1053 (ex-353) are both exhibited in the museum. Works car 1331 is a sister to passenger car 332. It is displayed in its 1980s works car condition.
The museum is open Thursdays and Saturdays early April – late October and is reachable by light rail line 1 (Feldschlösschen stop). Adult admission is EUR4. In fine weather short rides are possible on unvestibuled car 169.
1. This is all that remains of the lower saloon of Herbrand trailer 237, built in 1899. It has clocked up a remarkable afterlife of 70 years, and was recovered in 2008 for possible eventual restoration.
2. Two further cars from the last delivery of heavyweight cars from Bautzen in 1928 survive in the museum. Retaining final passenger livery and condition is 332, shown here. Sister vehicle 331 was renumbered into the works fleet as 1331 and rebuilt with a side doorway to provide freight access to the saloon. These two cars both survived in the operational narrowgauge fleet until the end.
3. Car 15 was built in 1925 as a replacement for one of the original electric cars of 1893, and like other Chemnitz cars of this era, was originally fitted with a single roof-mounted headlamp. It survived in the works car fleet until the end of 925mm-gauge operation.
4. Cars such as 251 were the last long heavyweight tramcars built for Chemnitz, in this case by Busch of Bautzen in 1929. Many lasted in service until the narrow-gauge final closure in November 1988.
5. Built in 1919, car 169 has been through various instances of rebuilding in the course of a varied career. The unvestibuled platform is not original but the subject of a retro-fit to represent earlier generations of cars. A view taken of it in its earlier role as a dedicated driver training car appears to the right (6).
6. A view of driver training car, 1169, in one of its mid-life rebuilt forms with enclosed platforms, under way on 11 July 1974 along the central ring near the stop rather uninspiringly named Zentralhaltestelle. Mike Russell, 11 July 1974
7. A classic example of the products of the Schörling works is this fine railgrinder (1035) for narrow-gauge service, dating from 1940.
8. Illustrating the large fleet of open freight lorries built by the tramways for the conveyance of miscellaneous materials and market garden produce is car 1054.
All photography by Mike Russell on 16 September 2024 unless otherwise stated.
By Paul Rowen
At the recent council meeting held in Manchester, members discussed plans to put Tramway Review on sale in several hundred news outlets throughout the UK. Editor Martin Dibbs presented a report on future plans for the quarterly magazine, including increasing the size to 56 pages. A trial last year has shown the magazine sold well, and issues will be hitting the shelves in spring 2025.
Due to of continuing difficulties postBrexit, with the magazine being stopped and surcharged in several countries (Sweden and Austria being particularly badly hit),
It is with sadness that the Association learnt of the death of Baroness Jenny Randerson at the start of 2025. Jenny was Vice Chair of the All Party Light Rail group in the UK Parliament and an avid supporter of LRT. Jim Harkins, who provides the Secretariat for the All Party Group, described her as a stalwart who could always be relied on to attend meetings and speak out for light rail. A Liberal Democrat, Baroness Randerson was the party ’s spokesperson on transport in the House of Lords. Prior to her appointment in the House of Lords, she represented Cardiff Central in the Welsh Assembly – now Senedd – for 12 years from 1999-2011, and was a Minister in the 2000-2003 LabourLib-Dem administration in the Welsh
the council agreed to investigate getting the magazine printed and distributed within the EU. As the magazine is a member benefit, it should not be subject to customs charges. However it is hoped that by doing this, further problems will be eliminated.
Council members were also encouraged to share the LRTA’s Facebook page and encourage more members to read it. Produced by Mike Ballinger and James Willis, the site is intended to further our campaigning aims and share worldwide light rail news. Members will find the page on Facebook at: tramforward-lrta.
Assembly. During the Coalition government of 2010-15 she served as Parliamentary Undersecretary of State for Wales, and was the first Welsh Liberal to hold UK ministerial office since Gwilym Lloyd-George in 1945. A celebration of her life was held at the Wales Millennium Centre in February.
Tuesday 4. Southampton 19.30. John Laker: Tram and urban railway ciné library. Junction Church, Eastleigh, GBP3. (LRTA/SEG)
Thursday 6. Brentford 14.30, John Laker: London trams past and preserved. London Museum of Water and Steam, TW8 0EN. Contact: thamesvalley@tlrs.info GBP5 inc. refreshments. (TLRS)
Monday 10. Leeds 19.30. Mel Reuben: Blackpool heritage trams.
Engine House, Middleton Railway, LS10 2JG. GBP1 (inc. light refreshments). Contact: enquiries@lths.co.uk. (LRTA/LTHS)
Tuesday 11. Bristol 19.00. Lewis Leslie: City transport and the DownsThompson paradox – or why traffic improvement schemes often make congestion worse. Bristol Royal Infirmary Education Centre, Upper Maudlin Street, Bristol. www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/city-transportand-and-the-downs-thompsonparadox-tickets-1144789679749?aff= oddtdtcreator. Free. (WETA)
The council agreed to change the date of the AGM due to a clash with another event, which it was thought members might want to attend. The AGM will now be held on 4 October, with the AGM weekend held in Sheffield on 3-5 October.
The council also agreed that the third member activity would be in the Isle of Man on the weekend of 24-26 October, the last weekend of full running on the island.
Our first member day visit will be on Friday 21 March, and will be a visit to West Midlands Metro to look at its battery charging operation. Places are limited with full details and booking on the LRTA website. Members are asked to meet at Grand Central Station at 13.00, from where we will travel to the depot. Afterwards, members will have an opportunity to travel to the Wolverhampton extension. There will be a presentation on the technology prior to seeing its operation.
The council also discussed submitting a proposal to the House of Commons Transport Select Committee for an inquiry on planning transport infrastructure alongside major housing developments. With the UK government planning to build 1.5 million houses in the next five years, this was felt to be a pressing priority.
To mark the end of Jim Harkins’ stint on the Council, it was agreed that a contribution be made towards the cost of a painting of a Glasgow tram. Jim has now received the painting, a photo of which can be found on the Association’s website.
Compiled by the LRTA. For a full list of the year’s events and meeting places, including online meetings, visit www.lrta.org
Wednesday 12. Sussex 19.40. Tony Gwyther: Railways in present-day Paris. Southwick Community Centre, BN42 4TE. Contact: sussex@tlrs.info. GBP2. (SEG)
Saturday 15. Taunton 14.00. Paul Coles: Using technology in model making. West Monkton Village Hall, TA2 8NE. westofengland@tlrs.info GBP2 inc. light refreshments. (TLRS)
Tuesday 18. London 14.30. Roger Manley: Digitised cine films. The Model Railway Club, London, N1 9DA. GBP2. (LRTA)
Saturday 22. Coatbridge, 13.00. Scottish trams show and tell & talk TBC. Summerlee Museum, ML5 1QD. Contact: scotland@tlrs.info. (TLRS)
Saturday 29. Nottingham 14.00. David Hanger: Australia 2024. Beeston Scout Hut, NG9 1GA. Contact: chairman@tlrs.info. (TLRS)
Saturday 29. Garstang 14.00. Jim Saunders: European tram tours. St Thomas New Church Hall, Garstang PR3 1PA. Contact: archivist @tlrs.info. Small fee, light refreshments. (TLRS)
Order online from www.lrta.info/shop – or by post from:
LRTA Publications, 38 Wolseley Road, SALE, M33 7AU (Please provide telephone contact details and quote LRTA membership number if applicable)
Outside UK = Airmail to Europe (includes all of Russia) / Surface mail to rest of world; Airmail Zone 1 = outside Europe excluding Australia, New Zealand & USA; Airmail Zones 2/3 = Australia, New Zealand & USA
The popular annual review of developments in the low countries and the rest of Europe, covering all network and rolling stock changes with superb photographs. Extra section on trams in South America. Dutch text.
> A5 softback; 272 pages, 275 colour pictures.
£24.00 (UK addresses); £28.50 (outside UK); £32.00 (Airmail Z1);
£34.50 (Airmail Z2/3); LRTA members: £2.10 discount
The tram returned to Neder-Over-Heembeek in 2024 and this book takes us on the trail of the old line 47, which for 30 years connected the city centre to this district in the north of Brussels. French text.
> A4 softback; 100 pages, 79 black & white and three colour pictures, eight maps.
£19.50 (UK addresses); £24.00 (outside UK); £30.00 (Airmail Z1); £32.50 (Airmail Z2/3); LRTA members: £1.70 discount
This book celebrates the return to original condition of the 1931 experimental London County Council tram, telling its story from outline drawings through operation in London and Leeds, to display in the first British Transport Museum and a new life at Crich Tramway Village.
> A4 hardback; 224 pages, 330 colour and black & white pictures, four maps.
£38.50 (UK addresses); £49.50 (outside UK); £58.50 (Airmail Z1); £63.50 (Airmail Z 2/3); LRTA members: £3.50 discount
Tramway Review: A 70th Anniversary Retrospective
An interesting selection of tramway studies drawn from the articles published in the LRTA’s historical journal in its first 70 years.
> A5 softback; 144 pages, 71 black & white and seven colour pictures, three maps.
£16.50 (UK addresses); £24.00 (outside UK); £30.00 (Airmail Z1); £32.50 (Airmail Z2/3); LRTA members: £1.40 discount
Trams in Nederland
Een reis door de tijd in de Nederlandse Tramsteden
Records the current scene in Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague and Utrecht then looks back at the other tramways that once ran in The Netherlands. Includes the current tram museums. Dutch text.
> A5 softback; 160 pages, fully illustrated in colour and black & white.
£23.50 (UK addresses); £28.00 (outside UK); £32.00 (Airmail Z1); £34.50 (Airmail Z2/3); LRTA members: £2.00 discount
This fascinating book details all the UK tram schemes that failed to see the light of day.
> A4 softback; 192 pages; 116 colour and 119 black & white pictures; 117 maps.
£23.00 (UK); £30.00 (outside UK);
£37.50 (Airmail Z1);
£42.00 (Airmail Z2/3); LRTA members: £2.00 discount
Tells the story of a truly remarkable network in a region of Poland rich in mineral resources, which has survived the risk of closure and become an important player in the regional transport infrastructure.
> A4 softback, 240 pages, 300+ black & white and colour pictures plus large-scale folding track plan.
£38.50 (UK); £45.00 (outside UK); £49.50 (Airmail Z1); £55.00 (Airmail Z2/3); LRTA members: £3.50 discount
Published in 2017, substantially updating the full history released in 1970 and covering the further 40-plus years of change and development on the island.
> A4 softback; 216 pages, 500+ colour and black & white pictures; several maps, diagrams and scale drawings.
£31.50 (UK addresses); £39.50 (outside UK); £43.50 (Airmail Z1); £46.50 (AZ2/3); LRTA members: £2.75 discount
For further details of all these books go to our website.
TWO days of interactive debates... TWELVE hours of dedicated networking... ONE place to be
Join key decision-makers, professionals and industry experts as they gather for two days of debate centred upon how new technologies are driving progress in sustainable transport.
For 2025 we are taking the European Light Rail Congress to the historic and wonderful Spanish city of Malaga, home of the Metro de Malaga urban transport system. Celebrating its 10th anniversary of operation, the metro runs throughout the city across two lines providing modern and efficient public transport, with safety and the environment being key factors which contribute to improving the quality of life of the citizens of Malaga and the surrounding areas.
As an attendee, you will experience:
• Two days of presentations, panel debates and discussion from some of the sector’s most innovative and forward-thinking suppliers, manufacturers, and operators
• An expansive exhibition hall within the Barcelo Hotel - Malaga
• An evening networking reception for delegates to maximise their networking opportunities
• An exclusive behind the scenes depot tour hosted by Metro Malaga
• Convenient travel and accommodation to and from the venue With bespoke sponsorship and exhibition packages also available, there has never been a better time to place yourself at the very heart of European light rail.
Scan the QR code to register your details or to book for the event.
19-20
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