October TAUT - digital issue-compressed

CONTENTS

NEWS

368

Fatal crash in Lisbon; Manchester UK’s Bee network plans expansion; Toronto goes ‘Canada first’ for new order.

LINKING UP RU h RBA h N

372

Neil Pulling looks at the transport offerings that link the neighbouring German towns of Essen and Mülheim an der Ruhr.

BRINGING BACK T h E TRA m IN KIEL

378

Ramboll expands on Kiel, Germany ’s plans to bring back the tramway – is their approach something we can learn from?

SI x T y y EARS ON T h E RAILS

UKTram marks Colin Robey’s 60 years in the industry.

381

ŠKODA TAmPERE DEPOT

Richard Foster finds out what the future could hold for smart depots.

382

LU x E m BOURG

385

What will Luxembourg ’s second-generation system need to take it into the next decade? Andrew Thompson finds out.

S y STE m S FACTFILE : ANTWERP

389

Neil Pulling visits Antwerp in Belgium, where a long history of light rail will only be strengthened in coming years.

WORLDWIDE REVIEW

New tender for Rotterdam metro trains; Snaefell Railway celebrates 130 years.

m AILB Ox

Thoughts about Liège, Washington and Florence’s LRT plans.

CLASSIC TRA m S: GOT h ENBURG

395

399

400

Mike Russell visits one of Northern Europe’s most impressive tramways in Sweden’s second city.

Money shouldn’t be the starting point

In Germany, developing a case for constructing a new tramway doesn’t start purely with asking how much it will cost. This discussion comes second to discussing the environment, the regeneration of urban areas, and improving the quality of life for residents. The economic benefits follow naturally, and winning people over becomes easier the more they understand the benefits. For example, trams may not run through their neighbourhoods at the outset, but increases in complementary bus services are certainly worth having.

In this issue, we look at the European way of thinking that is going into the revival of the tramway in Kiel, which discarded its trams in 1985 in common with many other towns in Western Germany. Now, the city is being suffocated by private car growth, and while the switch to electric cars is part-solving pollution issues, the traffic queues are as long as ever, and car parks jammed solid. Kiel’s strategy also satisfies one of the core tenets of decent public transport, in that while buses have their merits, trams really come into their own when a dense, high-capacity service is required. Of course, money still has to be found from somewhere, but as history has shown, there always seem to be ways and means.

The Global Light Rail Awards ceremony (being held in London on 1 October) has always also been about the opportunity to network with old colleagues and meet new ones. We look forward to congratulating all the winners in a future issue of TAUT

OCTOBER 2025 Vol. 88 No. 1054 www.tautonline.com

EDITORIAL

Editor – m att Johnston matt@mainspring.co.uk

Associ At E Editor – Tony Streeter tony.streeter@mainspring.co.uk

WorldW id E Editor – m ichael Taplin miketap@mainspring.co.uk

sEN ior c o N tributor s –howard Johnston , Neil Pulling WO rldW id E C ONT ribu TO r S r ichard Foster, Andrew Grahl, Andrew Moglestue, Herbert Pence, Mike russell, Nikolai s emyonov, Alain s enut, Andrew t hompson, Witold urbanowicz, bill Vigrass, t homas Wagner, Philip Webb.

Productio N – Lanna Blyth tel: +44 (0)1733 367604 production@mainspring.co.uk

d E si GN – Debbie Nolan A Dv ERTI s I ng

co MME rci A l M ANAGE r – Geoff Butler tel: +44 (0)1733 367610 geoff@mainspring.co.uk

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PRINT

Matt Johnston, Editor

As we go to press, we express our deepest condolences to everyone following the tragic Lisbon funicular incident. Our thoughts are with the victims, their loved ones, and everyone affected.

COVER: In use for driver training, De Lijn's 2024-built CAF Urbos 100 7449 passes through Antwerp’s Leopoldplaats on 8 April 2025. Neil Pulling

t he Manson Group l imited,

Neil Pulling 400

Mike r ussell

Neil Pulling

Bee Network growth

planned

Greater Manchester Combined Authority’s Bee Network Committee has committed GBP6m (EUR7m) of funding to develop six potential extensions to the UK’s Metrolink network. The money will be used to:

• Finalise the Strategic Outline Case for the East Didsbury

– Stockport line. It will also explore the potential for tramtrain connections to Hazel Grove, Tameside via Denton and Reddish, and Manchester Airport.

• Start work on the Strategic Outline Case for completion of the Metrolink Airport Line ‘Western Leg’. This would serve Wythenshawe Hospital and Davenport Green.

• Start the Strategic Outline Case for the extension to Salford Crescent and Salford Quays and out to Leigh, Wigan and Bolton.

• Start to shape business cases for extensions to Middleton, the Northern Gateway and Trafford Waters, Port Salford and the Western Gateway.

• Protect potential future routes to Glossop, Hadfield, Marple and Warrington.

• Start to develop plans for an underground system that would complement the proposed GBP90bn (EUR104bn) Liverpool – Manchester heavy rail line.

Škoda cars enter service in Cottbus

Bratislava opens southern tramway extension

Slovakian capital’s line 3 grows by 3.9km through Petržalka suburbs

Bratislava’s tramway system expanded by 3.9km (2.4 miles) on 27 July when the new line 3 extension opened. This runs through the southern suburb of Petržalka, connecting the temporary terminus of Jungmannova to Južné mesto. Line 3 now extends across the Slovakian capital, crossing the river Danube, to the northern suburb of Rač a.

The extension was financed largely by a EUR73m European Union grant. In order to meet the funding deadline, a first semi-public test run took place on 19 December 2024. Now the extension is fully complete and services run every 2.5 minutes at peak periods.

The Danube’s southern bank has grown rapidly since the 1960s and buses have been unable to cope with rush-hour movements. Plans for a metro were dropped in favour of an extension to the metre-gauge tram network, which dates back to 1895. Trams finally crossed the river in 2016; construction of the second stage started in 2021, but

completion was delayed by the need to deal with the removal of World War Two German pill boxes.

Mayor Matús Vallo said: “The launch of the new tram line to Petržalka is a big event, not only for local people but for our entire city. Everyone who has been following this project from the beginning knows that we had to deal with several problems. The Petržalka tram is now a reality

Cottbus’s new Škoda ForCity Plus 47T trams entered service on line 2 on 15 August. The German city’s seven new metre-gauge trams are part of a joint order with Brandenburg and Frankfurt an der Oder that was placed in 2021; Cottbus has exercised an option for 15 more.

Single-ended and airconditioned, these are the first new trams in Cottbus for 34 years. They will replace the

1980s Tatra KT6NF trams that were fitted with a low-floor centre section in 1993-94. They are also the city’s first 70% low-floor trams and can accommodate 158 passengers (67 seated). The chance has also been taken to restart the fleet number series as the first is now number 1.

Costing EUR2.68m each, the cars have been funded through the Brandenburg State Investment Bank (15%),

city council (45%), the state of Brandenburg (35%) and the federal government (5%).

Škoda Group West & North Region president Jan Christoph Harder said: “This contract brought together three cities with different technical requirements but a shared vision for modern, accessible transport. Meeting all those needs with one platform wasn’t easy, but it’s exactly the kind of challenge we’re here to solve.”

and, together with new public spaces, roads, pavements and cycle paths, will fundamentally improve the quality of life of the residents of our largest housing estate.”

Bratislava’s tram network now comprises five lines on 42km (26 miles) of tramway. The fleet encompasses 211 trams, of which 90 are Škoda low-floor trams. A further ten are due to be delivered in 2026.

Fatal crash in Lisbon

In the Portuguese capital Lisboa (Lisbon), car 1 of the 1885 cable-assisted 275m 17.7% gradient Gloria funicular was destroyed during a crash on 3 September that reportedly killed 16 including the brakeman, and injured others. It is reported that a cable snapped causing the car to run away. The descending car hit a building at the curve in the track. Service is suspended pending the results of the accident investigation by government agency GPIAAF and the other funiculars (Bica and Lavra and the Graça elevator) were suspended for safety checks.

A national day of mourning was declared.

The Glória funicular was opened using water power in 1885, and it was electrified inn 1914-15. The line was classified as a National Monument in 1997. A fuller story will appear in a future issue.

ABOVE: The new extension features extensive grass tracks. DPB

RIGHT: New tram 1 on the streets of Cottbus. J. Mallmann

New York’s first light rail scheme passes milestone

Design and engineering contract awarded for 22.4km rapid transit line

Work to design the first light rail line in New York City (US) –and its first wholly new rapid transit line since Line G opened in 1937 – has passed a major milestone: New York governor Kathy Hochul awarded a Jacobs/ HDR consortium the design and engineering contract for the 22.4km (14-mile) Interborough Express (IBX) line on 1 August.

IBX is to be a north-south line from Roosevelt Avenue in Queens that would curve through Brooklyn via Atlantic Avenue and terminate at Brooklyn Army Terminal at Red Hook. Total cost for the project is estimated at USD5.5bn (EUR4.7bn).

The project should be complete in the early 2030s, and could halve travel times for commuters, with 115 000 passengers/day expected. A five-minute peak headway will be offered and the planned end-to-end journey time is to be 32 minutes. There will be 19 stops, with 17 providing interchange with subway lines, 51 bus lines, and two Long Island Railroad lines.

Light rail was selected as the fastest option to meet the

passenger demand with 70% of projected passengers transferring within the MTA system. The suggestion is that the line will be built without overhead wires.

The state of New York is supporting the project with USD166m (EUR142m); USD2.75m (EUR2.4m) has been committed to the design phase.

“The Interborough Express will set a new standard for modern transit – economically efficient, environmentally conscious and designed around the passenger experience,” said Jacobs Executive Vice President Katus Watson.

“Through advanced service planning, [and] intuitive station design that reflects the character of each neighbourhood, we’re working with the MTA to deliver a community-centred system that keeps New Yorkers safe and connected to opportunities for growth.”

“The Interborough Express is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to leverage cuttingedge technology to improve mobility and quality of life for New Yorkers living in the two most populous boroughs,” added HDR Transportation President, Tom McLaughlin.

Ireland ‘committed’ to transport transformation including light rail

Ireland’s Transport Minister Darragh O’Brien has said that next five years will be “transformational” for the country’s public transport network. Minister O’Brien also confirmed that the government is “committed” to delivering Cork’s proposed Luas system as well as MetroLink, the 19km (12-mile) metro through Dublin’s northern suburbs.

The minister made his comments after opening the new EUR24m DART suburban railway station at Woodbrook on 10 August. He was speaking

on the back of the government’s updated National Development Plan that was published on 22 July. This committed an additional EUR24.3bn to transport projects, meaning the total public capital investment to 2035 is EUR275.4bn.

Seán Canney, Minister of State at the Department of Transport, said: “Transport is at the heart of a modern, connected Ireland and this review reflects that. Investment in transport plays a vital role in enhancing economic performance and

regional development. With significant investment in lowcarbon transport solutions, we are not only improving mobility, but also supporting our climate commitments.”

Minister O’Brien told the Irish Examiner : “Between now and the end of the decade… I believe that this period of time can be transformational for our public transport system, particularly our rail system right the way across the country.”

Public consultation on the preferred 18km (11-mile) route for Cork Luas closed on 9 June.

New light rail in Nigeria

Sa’idu Ahmad Alkali, Nigeria’s Minister of Transportation, has announced that the country’s Federal Government is to invest NGN100bn (EUR55.7m) in new light rail schemes in the cities of Kaduna (about 190km/120 miles north of the capital Abuja), and Kano (just over 230km/140 miles north east of Kaduna).

Details about each line and a timeline for construction have not been revealed. However, it is understood that a ground-breaking ceremony for Kaduna’s light rail system could take place as early as September. Nigerian news outlet This Day reported that Kaduna State Governor Uba Sani called the announcement a “game changer”, adding: “This is a transformative initiative by our administration.”

ABOVE: Impression of New York’s planned light rail line. MTA

BELOW: IMap showing the route of the IBX light rail lines. MTA

West Midlands testing

Trams reached Millennium Point, the temporary terminus of West Midland Metro’s Eastside extension (UK), during an overnight trial on 5-6 August. Midland Metro Alliance engineers have continued to undertake further night trials. Once satisfied, the new line will handed over to West Midlands Metro for driver training and timetable testing. Passenger services should start this autumn.

This is Phase 1 of the GBP227.2m (EUR271m) 1.7km (one-mile) Eastside Extension, approved in February 2020. It connects Birmingham’s Lower Bull Street to a temporary terminus outside the Clayton Hotel, close to the site of the future HS2 Curzon Street station.

The initial trials are the first time trams have run down Lower Bull Street, Albert Street and across Moor Street Queensway.

Oslo crash report

The Norwegian Safety Investigation Authority has concluded that the driver of the tram that crashed in Oslo on 29 October 2024 (TAUT 1044) was overcome by the symptom of norovirus seconds before the incident. SL18 414 derailed at the junction of Nygata and Storgata, crashing into the premises of technology retailer Eplehuset. The driver and three passengers were injured.

The NSIA’s report says that the virus attacked the driver’s vagus nerve, leading to a reduced heart rate and low blood pressure resulting in fainting. As the driver lost consciousness, the controller was placed into ‘full power’ mode and the tram took the junction at 37km/h (23mph) instead of the regulated 15km/h (9mph).

Although 414 was not fitted with automatic speed monitoring, it was fitted with a ‘dead man’s handle’. However, the report state that this system took ten seconds to activate but the driver lost consciousness eight seconds before the junction.

The NSIA did not make any safety recommendations in light of the incident.

ABOVE: An impression of a Stadler

Cologne places major order for Stadtbahn cars

Stadler to deliver 132 high-floor LRVs under EUR700m contract

Kölner Verkehrs-Betriebe (KVB), the light rail operator in Germany’s Köln (Cologne), has placed a EUR700m order with Stadler for 132 double-ended high-floor LRVs. The order comprises new HF12 trams plus 34 additional centre sections. They can be coupled, using a quick-release system, to form 70m long vehicles that are capable of carrying 470 passengers. While the cars are single-ended, they are to have doors on both sides so that they can operate in back-to-back formation with the centre sections.

Stefanie Haaks, CEO of KVB, said: “The city council’s approval of this important project gives us planning security. In view of a challenging budget situation, we are very grateful for the financial support, which sends a positive signal for the implementation of the mobility transition and strong public transport. Both our passengers

Indian metro lines open

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi opened new light rail lines in August. He was in Bengaluru (Bangalore) on 10 August to formally open the automated third-rail Yellow Line. Services started the following day. This 19.1km (12-mile) route links Rashtreeya Vidyalaya Road and an interchange with Green Line, to Delta Electronics Bommasandra. It boasts 16 stations and will be worked by 15 six-car CRRC Nanjing Puzhen trains. However, only three trains were available on opening

day, which caused overcrowding. Then, on the 22nd, Modi was in Kolkata (Calcutta) to open three new sections of the West Bengal capital’s metro. Regular services commenced the following day.

Kolkata’s new openings total 13.6km (8.5 miles) of new railway: Esplanade – Sealdah (filling the gap on Green Line 2); Yellow Line 4 from Noapara and an interchange with Line 1, to Jai Hind Bimanbandar Airport; Orange Line 6 from Kavi Subhash and an interchange with Line 1 to Beleghata.

and drivers can look forward to modern trams and a high level of comfort.”

According to Stadler’s specifiation sheet, these new trams will incorporate technology, including wheels with aluminium rims to reduce both weight and noise. Drivers are to benefit from improved visibility as well as systems to warn of collisions as well as a rear-view mirror video system to eliminate blind spots. The driving instruments will also automatically adjust to the ambient brightness.

KVB is likely to benefit from an integrated passenger counting system. This is to be complemented by evaluation software that can help support operational planning.

Passengers are expected to welcome the energy-saving air-conditioning and large information screens. The wider aisles and through gangway should create what has been described as “a spacious feel

and allow for a more even distribution of passengers, which facilitates faster boarding and alighting and reduces waiting times at stops”.

Jure Mikolčić, CEO of Stadler Division Germany, said: “With the new high-floor light rail vehicles, we are joining forces with KVB to send a strong signal for the mobility of the future –comfortable, energy-efficient and ready for the challenges of tomorrow. The vehicles are tailor-made for Cologne and combine state-of-the-art technology with a flexible, modular design.”

These new trams are designed to have a service life of 30 years. As part of the contract, Stadler will provide spares, service support and technical advice. The whole fleet should be in service by the end of 2032.

The new vehicles will gradually replace the existing 2200/2300 and 5100 series trains. They are to be used on lines 4, 13 and 18.

Very Light Rail centre saved

Dudley Council has purchased the Black Country Innovative Manufacturing Organisation in Dudley (UK) after it went into administration.

The Innovation Centre opened in 2022, having cost GBP32m (EUR37m) to build. Both Dudley and Coventry Councils contributed to its construction.

“BCIMO has been responsible for the important work undertaken at the VLR centre over the last few years,” stated joint administrator Deviesh Raikundalia from RSM-UK.

The council bought the centre

on 23 July. Councillor Steve Clark said: “The council has previously provided financial support to BCIMO and so, when the board of directors put the organisation into administration, we made the decision to put in a bid for the business and assets to protect this investment.

“The bid was successful and as the owner of the site, we will now be receiving income from the existing tenants, while looking for an operator to take on the responsibility of operating the site.”

Stadtbahn car. Büro+Staubach for Stadler

Toronto goes ‘Canada first’ for subway train order

Alstom to supply 70 six-car sets to TTC under single-source deal

The city of Toronto has given Toronto Transit Commission permission to agree a single-source contract with Alstom for 70 sixcar subway trains. The decision comes in the wake of the US trade tariffs and is designed to protect Canadian jobs. Therefore, the competitive tender for the new metro cars, which could have attracted bids from outside Canada, has been cancelled and all bidders notified.

Alstom must still meet TTC’s original requirements. The new trains must maximise Canadianmade content and the contract must have its pricing subject to an independent third-party market assessment.

The trains, jointly funded by the federal, provincial and city governments, will be built at Alstom’s Thunder Bay factory in Ontario. Of the 70 sets, 55 will replace existing trains on Line 2 (Bloor – Danforth) while 15 are for the Yonge North and Scarborough extensions. The contract will include options to procure additional trains.

Gregor Robertson, the Federal Government’s Minister of Housing and Infrastructure, said: “To build the strongest economy in the G7, we need to ensure our

investments are protecting jobs and championing industries right here in Canada.

“By partnering with Ontario, Toronto and the TTC, we are delivering reliable, affordable and sustainable public transit and supporting good-paying jobs in Canada. We can all feel proud that these trains will be built by Canadians for Canadians.”

Meanwhile, Metrolinx has awarded the tunnelling contract for the Yonge North Subway extension project to the Aeconled North End Connectors consortium. The contract is to design and build the 6.3km (3.9-mile) tunnel, including all ventilation shafts and stations.

It is worth CAD1.4bn (EUR872m).

Thomas Clochard, Aecon’s Executive Vice President, Civil and Nuclear, said: “Together with our partners, we look forward to bringing our expertise in safely and successfully delivering major transit tunnelling projects to connect communities in the Greater Toronto Area while working collaboratively with Infrastructure Ontario and Metrolinx.”

The tunnel is part of the Toronto Subway Line 1 extension. This will take the subway approximately 8km (five miles) from Finch station to Richmond Hill.

Den Haag welcomes its first TINA

was

by road from Stadler’s factory in Środa Wielkopolska, Poland, to Den Haag (The Hague) in the Netherlands on 8 August.

Four more from the order of 62 are expected this year. The initial quintet will be tested before further deliveries take place in 2026.

The new trams carry the R-NET red and white livery of Metropoolregio Rotterdam Den Haag. They will replace the 66

T bilisi plans light rail expansion

The Mayor of the Georgian capital Tbilisi has unveiled plans to not only expand the city’s metro but also to give it a secondgeneration tramway.

Mayor Kakhaber Kaladze announced on 20 August that a tender was being issued for the design and construction of a 7.5km (five-mile) system, to link the fast-growing residential district of Didi Digomi with Didube metro station.

It is not yet known how much the tramway will cost but it is planned to have 11 stops and is to be worked by ten new trams. It is hoped that the line will take 4.5 years to build. Tbilisi’s firstgeneration tramway operated from 1883 until December 2006.

Mayor Kaladze said: “Today, we are announcing a tender for the purchase of the tram line project and construction works. Before this, as you know, we had announced a tender related to the market study. Now, we have complete information about where it should be built and on which section it should be implemented.”

Meanwhile, the city’s metro, which opened in 1966, is set to gain a third line, from Didube to Rustaveli Avenue. EUR150m is being allocated to developing the 8.5km (5.3-mile) line over the next three years.

Hiroshima revamps city connection

remaining eight-axle BN GTL trams (built 1992-93) and allow for expansion of the network. They will initially be used on lines 1, 6 and 12.

These double-ended trams are 36.5m long and 2.65m wide with accommodation for up to 230 passengers (68 seated). They feature suspended articulations, swivelling bogies and an anti-collision system. The initial order was for 56 trams (with an option for a further 44) but was later increased. Stadler has built TINA trams for Darmstadt, Halle and Rostock in Germany and Basel in Switzerland.

A major addition to the main railway station in the Japanese city of Hiroshima opened in August. The station’s south section closed in 2017 to permit its complete rebuilding, and it has reopened with a three-track tram station.

A new 1.1km (0.7-mile) access line to Hijiyamacho Junction (Ekimae Ohashi Route) has also been built. This provides a more direct link to the city centre.

Passenger services to the new tram station on lines 1, 2, 5 and 6 started on 3 August.

TINA tram 7001

delivered

ABOVE: The T1 subway trains on Line 2 were built by Bombardier in 1995-2001. TTC

LEFT: The first Stadler TINA for Den Haag arrives in the Netherlands. It undertook its first trial run on 22 August. M.Dreischor

ABOVE: A Hiroshima Combino tram tests the new line. Dr E. Plefka

a transport tale of two cities

neil pulling looks at the varied and changing light rail operations around the centre of Germany's biggest metropolitan area.

riGHt: ruhrbahn’s tram fleet has three variants of 30-metre long, threesection, part low-floor vehicles; M8D-NF 1532 and M8D-NF4 1067 are seen on 27 May 2025. the green water tower gives the name to essen’s wasserturm stop.

Below: Handling 1435mm and metre-gauge services south of essen Hbf, rüttenscheider stern underground stop opened in 1986. since 2023 it has had dual-height platforms to cater for low-floor stock which has become the ruhrbahn tram standard.

About 56km (35 miles) separate Duisburg and Dortmund, respectively the major cities at the western and eastern ends of the Ruhr (Ruhrgebiet) conurbation in Nordrhein Westfalen (NRW) state. The Ruhr river takes a winding and in places rural course to the south of the urban spread, modified in stages since the 19th Century to support heavy industry. Essen is around the centre of the urbanised area and has a history of absorbing formerly separate communities. A population of about 580 000 makes it the largest of 53 Ruhrgebiet municipalities. An intricate heavy rail network serves a still-significant industrial concentration, also the more modern growth of service activities forming part of what is sometimes termed the re-invention of the Ruhr. Essen and Mülheim an der Ruhr (hereafter Mülheim), population 173 000 – are amongst several Ruhr cities on the core long-distance main line which also hosts coverage by Rhine-Ruhr S-Bahn and regional trains. Light rail has a presence on a scale which is not always apparent due to sub-surface operations in several locations.

The Verkehrsverbund Rhein-Ruhr (VRR) transport association founded in 1980 covers a very wide area including the Ruhrgebiet for transport planning, service coordination and fares.

Changing priorities

Before depletion by Stadtbahn and bus-based projects, trams were prominent on the streets of Essen and Mülheim. Two years after Essen’s first trams ran in 1893, takeover by the multisystem company Süddeutsche EisenbahnGesellschaft (SEG) accelerated expansion, with Essen becoming the biggest of their tram ventures. Despite a post-World War One Franco-Belgian occupation intended to exact reparations, and then rising bus use, the Essen area nevertheless had 18 tram lines into the 1930s. With a concentration of raw materials and steel production, including Krupp of Essen – also a major armaments producer – and Duisburg-based Thyssen (companies that later merged) the region became a prime World War Two bombing target. By 1945, between 80-90% of Essen’s tramway stock, track and power resources had been destroyed, but functioning

communities began to emerge from shattered cityscapes. Dispersal of the SEG systems saw Essen’s tramway became municipal Essener Verkehrs-AG (EVAG) in 1954. Across the western part of a then-divided Germany, plans for travel more geared to private car use were being implemented. For the Ruhr, this included channelling main roads through cities, reduction of tram coverage and moving some urban rail below ground. Essen opened its first tram tunnel in 1969 and a partly in-tunnel Stadtbahn in 1977, this removing surface trams at Essen’s main station (Hbf). EVAG’s re-equipping with low-floor stock from 1999 and the 2014 opening of about 1.4km (0.88-miles) of new route on Berthold Beitz Boulevard indicated a changed approach to tram services. Such change was not the case in Mülheim however, where low ridership, service suspensions and bus replacement became 21st Century features, with the most recent system cutback being in 2023.

The Ruhrbahn identity

With centres about 10km (6.2 miles) apart, Essen and Mülheim previously had

left: Metro-like infrastructure between the a40 autobahn carriageways was an early outcome of the curtailed regional Stadtbahn project. a Docklands pair heads from Hobeisenbrücke towards Breslauer straße with a U18 service to Mülheim.

Below: seen in august 2016, the Berthold Beitz Boulevard track in the west of essen came into use during 2014. frohnhauser strasse stop (in the background) is near a future junction with the citybahn route.

separate transport administrations. In September 2017, EVAG and Mülheimer Verkehrsgesellschaft (MVG) formally combined as Ruhrbahn GmbH (www. ruhrbahn.de). Remaining as separate legal entities and asset owners, they have a respective 75% and 25% holding in Ruhrbahn. Well before this entity’s creation, several of the area’s transport bodies had worked together, including shared operation of some lines and equipment procurement. Already using the same 101-series for line numbering, Essen and Mülheim both had legacy metre-gauge tramways and 1435mmgauge Stadtbahn with U-designated lines. Small overlaps of the two formats have dual-gauge tracks, variously handled by dedicated platforms or platforms with two levels. Branding of the Ruhrbahn rail and bus fleets includes a mainly rich yellow livery with black window surrounds. Usually linked to public launches, community-based names have been applied to the newer Ruhrbahn trams. The vehicles are badged with a colliery (Zeche) emblem which has local identity and is specifically a feature of the Zeche Zollverein industrial site (www.zollverein.de). Saved from destruction by NRW state and with UNESCO World Heritage status, it is beside the Essen-Gelsenkirchen tram route. Ruhrbahn has two rail routes between Essen and Mülheim. The more northerly and less direct is used in parts by several tram lines. With a fully separate right of way, Stadtbahn U18 is a centre-to-centre service which began in 1977. Underground alignments at each end bracket surface tracks between the carriageways of the A40, the Ruhr valley’s main east-west motorway. This section was an early outcome of an uncompleted project to create a standardised light rail network across the Ruhrgebiet, west to Krefeld and south to Düsseldorf. Further east in Essen, the A40 also hosts the EssenKray busway which opened in 1985. Essen had been a pioneer for the mode, although its scope has now diminished. A tunnel section

shared with trams included the city centre interchange at Porscheplatz, re-named in 2009 to Rathaus (City Hall). The busway used Duobus hybrid trolleybuses until they became restricted to diesel-only use. The guided remnant is centrally positioned in about 4km (2.5 miles) of former tramway space to the north-east of the road junction near Wasserturm stop. Despite the limited space, this was proposed for Stadtbahn conversion, although a new Mercedes Citaro bus fleet in 2020 has kept the A40 busway in operation. Ruhrbahn’s Essen-based U11 and U17 lines combine purpose-built underground alignments and converted surface tram route, thereby including some road intersections and high surface platforms.

A rolling modernisation

Originally with 34 examples, the 1501-series 70% low-floor DWA/Adtranz (later as Bombardier Flexity Classic) M8D-NF have become the oldest Ruhrbahn normal service trams. Received during 1999-2001 by EVAG, their commissioning allowed withdrawal of the Duewag GT8 fleet dating from the early 1960s. Ensuing use on Romania’s Arad system was a testament to build quality and maintenance over the years in Essen.

riGHt new surface track and the future essen Hbf stop outside the city’s main railway station; the lack of activity is due to this being the 2025 christi Himmelfahrt (ascension Day) public holiday.

Following a gradual rundown, 2025 brought an end of service use of the Duewag M8, their variants dominating services for many years. Mülheim’s M8 and the shorter M6D have also gone, overall ending the use of high-floor tram stock by Ruhrbahn. Replacing them was a later Flexity Classic version received 2013-16, the M8D-NF2/ NF3. These were ordered by EVAG and MVG, respectively becoming numbers 1601-1627 and 8001-8015, a numbering distinction continued under Ruhrbahn. Maintaining the three-section, 30-metre partial lowfloor format, Ruhrbahn’s newest trams are Bombardier/Alstom M8D-NF4 (1051-1082). In June 2025 a joint procurement was launched for batches of 30- and 40-metre trams. This combined an initial 40 vehicles for Ruhrbahn, six for Krefeld’s SWK Mobil and five for Oberhausen’s STOAG, with each body to hold options for more. Ruhrbahn’s new 40-metre trams – their options include 30-metre versions – should bring withdrawal of Ruhrbahn’s Bombardier M8D-NF and STOAG’s MGT6D. Ruhrbahn’s Stadtbahn is operated by long-serving, two-section vehicles, usually run in pairs of the same type. Developed for the regional Stadtbahn project, Ruhrbahn’s 24 remaining Duewag

aBoVe: the southern end of the ÖpnV-trasse (public transport route) shared by trams and buses near oberhausen's main railway station. the bus is operated by recklinghausen-based Vestische straßenbahnen; despite the name, that city's tram services ceased in 1982.

Stadtbahn B80C (5101-series) were built between 1976 and 1985.

Devised for a very different role are two classes dating from 1986 and 1989, purposebuilt for London’s Docklands Light Railway. Collectively termed ‘Docklands’ by Ruhrbahn, the nine P86 (5231-) and ten P89 (5221-) were withdrawn by 1991 when the London system’s operating conditions changed. Their original automatic capability was not needed on the Stadtbahn and driver cabs were added; they have now served much longer in Essen and Mülheim than in London.

In July 2024 two pre-series Stadtbahn vehicles (5303-5304) designated HF1 were received from the Spanish manufacturer CAF. Following evaluation, the production fleet is due to become operational during 2026, leading to full replacement of Stadtbahn B and Docklands stock. Maintaining the twosection configuration of those types, HF1 has an emphasis on accessible passenger space. Air-conditioned and with a prominent service information system, the HF1 is 28 metres long, 2.65 metres wide and has seating for 62. The ownership split in the approximately EUR150 million order placed in June 2021 is 44 for Essen and seven for Mülheim. Although HF1 sets are intended to run in pairs, all have been specified with a driver cab at each end for operational flexibility.

Living with the neighbours Ruhrbahn has a presence in neighbouring areas which have their own urban rail operations. Conversely, the Ruhrbahn area hosts services run by other municipalities, arrangements which allow for running through-services between important locations. In Mülheim, the principal Ruhrbahn coverage is supplemented by Duisburg’s (DVG) tram line 901 with an eastern terminus at Mülheim Hbf; the surface station here is having a major rebuild. On opposite sides of Mülheim’s Hbf’s underground area are single 1435mm tracks for DVG services and Ruhrbahn’s U18. A pair of the latter’s metre-gauge tracks for line 102 are between them. Handling Ruhrbahn and

Below: a Stadtbahn B and M8D-NF2 representing the two ruhrbahn gauges are at Mülheim an der ruhr Hbf.

Below riGHt: Unlike ruhrbahn trams at Mülheim Hbf, Duisburg's DVG has 1435mm-gauge. part of DVG’s recent fleet renewal, Bombardier Flexity GT8ND 2019 awaits departure with a line 901 service.

left: Stadtbahn B 1976-built 5109 in May 2025 at essen Hbf which has separate platform faces for level entry to high and low-floor vehicles. like ruhrbahn’s Docklands stock, the Stadtbahn B trains are due for replacement by the incoming caf HF1

Below left: a metre-gauge Bogestra stadler Variobahn and ruhrbahn Docklands stock on the dualgauge overlap of line 301 and U11 near schloß Horst in Buer, Gelsenkirchen.

Below: line 112 is run by ruhrbahn and oberhausen’s stoaG. Due for replacement under the joint procurement programme, 1996-built MGT6D 208 is seen on 29 May 2025. the U sign marks an entrance to Mülheim stadtmitte’s underground platforms.

riGHt: M8D-NF 1501 and now withdrawn M8C 1155 at the Hollestraße junction on 3 august 2016. this point is where the eastern end of essen’s citybahn route will join existing tracks.

DVG stock, dual-gauge track extends west to a junction near Königstrasse, an underground section which includes Mülheim Stadtmitte. As well as Ruhrbahn line 104 towards Essen, the Stadtmitte surface stop hosts line 112 which is jointly operated by Ruhrbahn and STOAG. From having a substantial 14-line system in 1960, the Oberhausen authority ended its tram operations by 1968. Coverage by a line run by Recklinghausen’s Vestische Straßenbahnen ended in 1974. Today’s line 112 uses track north of the Mülheim boundary at Landwehr. This opened to an Oberhausen terminus at Sterkrade in 1996, then to Neumarkt in 2004.

The distinguishing feature north of Oberhausen Hbf is the 6.8km (4.3-mile) ÖPNV-Trasse, a largely intersection-free and partly-elevated right of way shared by trams and non-guided buses. North-east of Essen, line 107 has a presence in Gelsenkirchen, although all services use Ruhrbahn stock. Both ends of the line feature underground sections, with termini beneath the Hbf of the two cities. Unlike this metre-gauge track sharing in central Gelsenkirchen, Ruhrbahn’s other contact with that city’s Bogestra system is in the northern Buer district. Here there is a dual-gauge overlap of Bogestra trams and Ruhrbahn’s U11 which terminates at Buerer Strasse.

Citybahn: Back to the streets

Channelling light rail below ground had created a focal point for transfers at Essen Hbf, but there were drawbacks. The subsurface platforms are to the south of a near 200-metre wide station, an appreciable walk if using the Hollestraße exits for city centre access. The route is also a deviation for some east-west journeys, with transfers between services adding to peak-hours crowding. Going underground also reduced everyday visibility of the public transport option. Alleviating such problems and bringing convenient surface access were factors in creating Citybahn. The project’s ceremonial groundbreaking took place in February 2024 with a partial opening target during 2026. Citybahn will add approximately 5.5km (3.4 miles) of mostly new route serving 11 stops, eight of these new. In whole or in part, three Ruhrbahn lines are due to use Citybahn tracks, with the project presented

as instrumental in achieving a civic target of 25% of Essen journeys being made on public transport by 2035.

Citybahn’s eastern end will bring track north of Hollestraße, currently used for depot (Betriebshof Stadtmitte) access, into revenue service. The Hollestraße stops will be remodelled to serve Citybahn and the Steele tram route. Essen Hbf stop will have an island platform on Hollestraße, directly outside the main entrance. Shadowing the north side of the railway main line, Citybahn heads north-west to briefly join the track added in 2014 which includes Frohnhauser Straße stop. The northern section will extend to Bergmühle on lines 101/106. Line 105 will

left still running under eVaG in august 2016, M8D-NF trams with line 107 services cross at Musiktheater in essen’s neighbouring city of Gelsenkirchen. this is a core of the substantial Bogestra system which also has separate tram and Stadtbahn operations.

left: Differentiated by direction as lines 101 and 106, these routes take the same southern and western suburban arc around essen: Dwa/adtranz M8D-NF 1528 is at essen west S-Bahn station.

be one of the services on Citybahn, ending in the north-west in Frintrop. This was on a through tram route (line 5) between Essen and Oberhausen, until the latter ended services in 1967. With better connections due across Essen, the case for adding a 3.5km (2.2-mile) connection between Frintrop Unterstraße and Oberhausen’s ÖPNV-Trasse at Neue Mitte by 2030 has been strengthened: another Ruhrbahn meeting with a neighbour beckons.

For a map of the Ruhrbahn, please see: www.ruhrbahn.de/fileadmin/ruhrbahn_media/ downloads/Netzplaene/SchienenNetzplanRuhrbahn-Barrierefrei.pdf

Enabling light rail solutions

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Our expertise within rail engineering, traffic planning, and urbanisation covers all disciplines of metro and light rail projects.

We take a holistic approach and provide multidisciplinary consultancy services, from regional and comprehensive planning to detailed design of railway infrastructure.

Ramboll has assisted numerous cities on light rail projects covering all aspects of infrastructure, systems, rolling stock as well as operations and maintenance of a light rail system.

Our experts are dedicated to developing world-class light rail solutions. We are renowned for continuously optimising urban and regional light rail system towards higher operational speeds and increased comfort.

kiel: vision first, finance follows

richard foster talks to nils Jänig of ramboll, about the plan to return trams to the German coastal city of kiel – and considers what fresh thinking could be applied to projects elsewhere.

We all know the benefits that light rail can bring to the urban environment, and this was reinforced at the 19th UK Light Rail Conference in Leeds on 22-23 July (TAUT 1053). Representatives from Cambridge, Glasgow and West Yorkshire spoke of the transformative effect that new light rail could have on their respective regions. But speakers from cities that already boast light rail added how expansion could also reap further rewards… if only government would loosen the purse strings.

So delegates were interested to listen to Nils Jänig, Director Global Rail Division at Danish consultancy firm Ramboll, talk about the plan to return trams to the German coastal city of Kiel.

“I have learnt that [in the UK], you talk about business cases, added value and growth. We do this differently in Germany,” he told delegates, before adding that, in Germany, this is a secondary consideration to things such as the environment, transformation of urban areas and improving the quality of life for residents. Economic benefits would then follow “indirectly”.

This is a very different way of thinking, a very European way of thinking, perhaps. Yet what’s happening in Kiel feels more akin to what’s being proposed for West Yorkshire

or what we’ve seen in Edinburgh or the greater Birmingham area in recent years.

That’s because in Kiel trams are to return to a city that once had them, and that’s unusual in Germany. Jänig estimates that 59 German cities, mainly in the former East Germany, retained their trams.

Given the attitude towards economic return, is there any other fresh thinking we could learn from Kiel? And what does the project actually involve? Let’s find out.

“You talk about business cases, added value and growth. We do this differently.”

Kiel is the capital of Schleswig-Holstein, that neck of land that juts out north from the main German coast, connecting it to Denmark. Kiel is on the eastern, Baltic side.

The sea has long played a vital role in the city’s history and continues to do so today. It was an important naval base during World War Two, which led to approximately 80% of the city being destroyed by Allied bombs.

The Kiel Canal opened in 1895 to Brunsbüttel on the Elbe estuary in the west, effectively cutting Schleswig-Holstein into

two. Kiel’s harbour is the starting point for Baltic cruises while the ‘Kieler Woche’, a world-famous sailing event, brings millions of people to a city used to fewer than 250 000 inhabitants.

Its 1100mm-gauge tramway opened in 1881 and was electrified from 1896. By the 1970s, “it was rundown, not invested in the infrastructure and rolling stock anymore… and, in 1977, the Kiel parliament… decided to close the system in favour of buses”.

The end finally came in May 1985.

Bringing trams back to the city has been a 40-year dream for Jänig. Not only is Kiel his hometown, he still has the ticket from when, as a 16-year-old, he rode on the last day of operation.

Since the tramway closed, car ownership has steadily increased, even in recent years. For example, there were 94 561 cars in 2008 and 111 933 in 2024.

“[It’s] not a not a rich city,” Jänig explained, “[but it’s] simply full of cars. The infrastructure is very, shall we say, car-oriented.”

Things needed to change, the biggest driver being the demand for the city of Kiel to become climate-neutral by 2045.

“There are people who think ‘yeah, just drive electric cars and we achieve this’…

I don’t think this is correct.”

The city council made the momentous

the end of kiel’s original tramway came in 1985, but the city is seeking to bring back a second-generation tramway after 40 years. new visualisations such as this show how the landscape could be transformed. All images courtesy of Ramboll

decision to back the return of trams in November 2022. This was after Ramboll undertook what Jänig described as the biggest study in Germany into Bus Rapid Transit versus light rail (www.kiel.de/stadtbahn)

This came in the wake of the inevitable ‘bus or tram’ conversation that followed the city deciding that it needed a form of mass transit to ease congestion.

“All parties were behind new mass transit, but there were some people saying ‘We don’t need an expensive tram, maybe… upgraded bus could do it as well’.

“[The study] ended with this conclusion: the tram system runs on a ten-minute [headway]. The BRT, in order to cope with the demand, needs five minutes. And, in the inner city, this leads to a very dense operation, which you cannot extend or expand.

“In addition, rail-based local transport receives federal funding under the Municipal Transport Financing Act (GVFG), but bus solutions, such as the BRT, do not.

“Obviously, the tram was the best mode.”

The city agreed in November 2022.

The other factor in the tramway’s favour is that when central Kiel was rebuilt after the war, “there was not a lot of money… so it’s not the nicest, best-looking city”.

So, Jänig said, “It’s not only a tramway project, [moving people] from A to B but it’s more the French idea of rehabilitating the city, [doing] something for the whole environment left and right of the track.”

So what will the new Kiel system be like?

The network will eventually total 36km (22.3 miles), with lines radiating to all points of the compass from the central harbour area. But the first priority is the 12.5km (7.8-mile) Line 1. This runs from the new Science City at Bremerskamp (to the north west of the city), through the city centre to Wellindorf, to the east of the city.

The line is to pass the main Wellindorf railway station, which will receive a makeover to its concourse. A new depot is to be built centrally to the LRT system, at the current bus depot in Diedrichstrasse. The buses will be relocated.

In order to maximise capacity, the system with four lines will require 43 trams (all 45m in length and 2.65m wide). The platform height is to be 300mm throughout.

There will be a mixture of segregated and on-street running, as dictated by the width of the city streets. On the segregated areas, grassed track will be used as much as possible. Where green spaces and trees can be included, they will be.

One part of Kiel that has developed since the tramway closed 40 years ago is the university. A turning loop was built there in 1973, closing just five years later (“Not so super sustainable”, Jänig noted).

Trams will pass the university again but without the turning loop. However, with laboratories now packed with high-tech sensitive equipment, Ramboll was concerned how the university might be affected by electro-magnetic compatibility.

“We made a lot of effort early on to take the university and stakeholders on board,” Jänig said. “[We’ve] ended up with two sections without overhead catenary, [running] on batteries in order to reduce EMC emissions.”

Those discussions took place early in the project’s development rather than being a last-minute addition.

It’s getting on for three years since the council gave its backing to the scheme. So what’s the latest progress? Are – to coin the phrase – spades in the ground?

Not yet. Line 1 is at what Jänig calls the German equivalent of the Transport & Works Act, Planfeststellung.

“It is, in essence, the same,” he said, seemingly impatient to get through this process. “We try to be fast. The planning and the public [consultations] and all the things you need to do – this takes a while.”

What about the cost? To build Line 1’s 12.5km (7.8 miles) of new tramway, the budget has been set at EUR564m. That’s because inflation and a risk add-on has to be taken into account.

Jänig explained that there is, as yet, no firm timeline for construction.

“At the moment, the opening should be in 2034. [That’s] nine years from now on. If we speed up, [it’s] achievable [but] it’s not easy.

“In our country… federal funding is normally 70%-75% of the infrastructure. But [federal government doesn’t] fund the [planning stages], vehicles and depot. The city or the Bundeslaender (here

Schleswig-Holstein) needs to pay on their own.

“This was the biggest discussion. How could the city afford this?”

Firstly, the scheme has political support from the state of Schleswig-Holstein. This has pledged EUR3.8m for further planning work for the coming years.

But when the budget of EUR564m for the first commissioning phase of 12.5km, including the depot and vehicles, was announced, some political parties in Kiel began to question the conservative political party CDU whether the city could afford the project.

However, as Jänig explains, “the total costs, which included inflation and a risk premium, were estimated at EUR564m, [this] still left sufficient scope for other investments between 2029 and 2034, when the majority of the [light rail] expenditures for Kiel (EUR272m) will be incurred. Thus, the costs were discussed very transparently in public.”

With this knowledge, the council voted on 20 March 2025 to begin the design and planning approval phases, to establish a planning and construction company, and to advance urban development in parallel.

The amount of money needed for the

aBove: a visualisation showing the line to elmschenhagen.

left: a visualisation of how light rail will look in the kiel Garden pedestrian zone.

length of line is, in Germany, considered rather expensive. But, Jänig explained, a façade to façade transformation is unusual in Germany.

“Compare this to the latest Scandinavian or French projects – a new line, fully integrated [plus] depot, vehicles; it’s not out of this world.”

Place the route of the proposed system over a map of the original network and you’ll notice many similarities.

“About 11km [6.8 miles] of our network is the same as the old. It’s not a miracle because the people who travel from A to B still live in the same area and they travel similar routes.”

But Kiel has expanded in the last 40 years, and the new system extends to areas that were less densely-populated when trams last ran here. However, the important point that Jänig stressed is that the new system, all 36km (22.4 miles) of it, doesn’t go beyond the city boundary. That’s important because it means that the city has complete control of the project, without recourse to the surrounding state or districts.

This similarity with the old tramway network could prove very significant. That’s because the federal government has declared that this 11km (6.8 miles) is not actually a new system but a re-opening. And that means that rather than 70%-75% of funding for the infrastructure, the project should get 90%! And the project was told, Jänig said, to “just apply for it".

“OK, we said, [let’s] have a beer and then let’s do it! It was a nice offer and it’s still valid so let’s see.”

Kiel could, therefore, become the first city in Germany that could benefit from this additional funding, worth EUR10m-15m.

Yet putting the tramway back into Kiel is not going to be easy. The harbour is still very busy, not just with cruise ships but with goods. Wide loads, moved by lorry “come not once a month [but] once a day”.

Space is limited. Any segregated line is going to “steal [space] from whomever, cyclists, cars, pedestrians”. There are also

limits to what changes can be made to the road network.

And, in the same way that Piccadilly Gardens is the bottleneck for the UK’s Manchester Metrolink, so the harbour section could be for Kiel.

“All lines which go from the west side to the east side have a bottle neck around the Kiel harbour, so this is a little bit of a complex situation. How many trams and buses you can push through a corridor?”

What lessons does Jänig think other new tram systems – whether replacements for long-gone networks or something completely new – could we learn from what’s happening in Kiel?

“People fear long-term construction sites, changes to familiar city landscapes, the loss of parking spaces...”

Kiel is not the first German city to consider putting back its tramway. Referendums in Wiesbaden, Tübingen and Regensburg in 2020, 2021 and 2024 respectively went against tramway revival schemes. Why?

“People fear long-term construction sites, changes to the familiar cityscape, the loss of parking spaces, or additional noise when building or expanding a light rail system.

“In Tübingen, for example, 57% of the population voted against the construction of a light rail line, with older people in particular expressing reservations about the planned route through the city centre. Similar scenarios have also played out in the past in other cities that have so far forgone light rail, such as Münster, Aachen, and Mönchengladbach. This highlights the importance of early and transparent communication and the active involvement of the public in planning processes.”

In Kiel, the mantra has become “explain, explain, explain”.

In order to get everyone on side, the proposed network was divided into 11 3km (1.8-mile) sections for the planning stages. Then the Ramboll team engaged with the client within each of these sections. This engagement ranged from online feedback and local workshops to physically walking people along the proposed route.

Residents were shown films and animations explaining the proposed urban transformations (these can be seen at www.kiel.de/de/umwelt_verkehr/_stadtbahn_ beteiligung.php). Technical drawings were shown, as these were more easily understood than cross-sections, detailing the proposed routings for the tramway, roadways and active travel routes.

The team also went into areas of the city that won’t be reached by the tram to explain how residents will benefit from complementary improvements to bus services.

“We have to bring them on board as well if we want to go on,” Jänig explained. “Everybody should profit in the longer term from the system.”

What he described as “quite an effort” to engage with residents will hopefully pay dividends as the project goes through the planning stage.

“When we go out… of ‘TWA’ and [into] the more detailed planning, then [we’ll] get [fewer] people coming to us and complaining. We can always say ‘Yes… this is the reason why we have this solution’.

“[By doing this], we hope to save time.”

Much about the Kiel project feels groundbreaking, whether that’s being able to access different funding streams, to small aspects such as taking a more integrated approach to working with city departments. But this naturally reflects the scope of the project; after all, what’s being developed in Kiel is “the biggest re-introduction of an LRT system” in Germany since World War Two.

aBove: visualisation of the light rail project at the main commercial road, Holtenauer strasse.

Report

sixty years on the rails: Colin robey’s l egaC y in UK l ight r ail

UKtram reflects on Colin robey’s astounding 60 years in the rail industry.

Few people can claim to have shaped the UK’s modern light rail sector quite like Colin Robey. Over an extraordinary 60-year career, his influence has stretched from major infrastructure projects to shaping industry policy, mentoring future leaders and encouraging collaboration across the sector.

When Colin first stepped into the railway world in the mid1960s, he had two career options in mind: the Royal Navy or the railway. As he likes to tell it, “The railway answered first”. The choice proved to be a life-long calling, one that has seen him work across some of the UK’s most significant rail developments, spend 32 years in heavy rail and devote 28 years to light rail, including two decades with UKTram.

Widely recognised as a legend of both industries, Colin’s wealth of knowledge and warm personality have earned him the respect and admiration of colleagues nationwide. A mentor to many and a champion both in supporting young people in the sector and equality, he has been at the heart of some of the most significant developments in UK light rail, including the West Midlands Metro and the work of the UKTram Centre of Excellence.

Looking back, Colin identifies two developments that fundamentally changed the way the sector operates:

“The Transport and Works Act was transformative in the way sponsors brought forward new schemes.” Before that, networks all opened under their own acts of Parliament, and the process was very different. The TWA introduced a more structured approach, and the Centre of Excellence has worked with the Department for Transport to make improvements where possible.

Colin reflects on another major milestone in light rail: “The formation of UKTram as a member organisation”. Now, it brings all the systems together and has improved information sharing, all the while creating a sense of collective purpose across the sector.

environmental impact of things like tyres.’’

Colin argues that the current governance structure – with heavy rail under the Department for Transport and light rail often left to local authorities – is not sustainable in the long term. The formation of Great British Railways, he hopes, will provide an opportunity to integrate policy and delivery in a way that better supports light rail growth.

“I’m particularly hopeful about the development and the potential for mixed-use railways combining tram, light rail and very light rail on the same network.’’

Colin served as Managing Director of UKTram for four years, overseeing constitutional changes and chairing the Executive and Guidance, Standards, Safety & Assurance group meetings. His earlier career included development roles on major schemes such as the reopening of Snow Hill Station, the Robin Hood Line, the Ivanhoe Line, and the Chase Line. At Centro (now Transport for West Midlands), he was responsible for rail franchise and tram concession management, delivering new trams, extending the depot and providing operational input into key extensions. Since stepping down as MD, Colin has chaired the UKTram Centre of Excellence. Through his leadership, Colin continues to drive progress on critical sector priorities; developing competent persons for safety validation, stripping back the base cost of tramway construction, and ensuring skills and standards are maintained for the future, to name a few.

Colin is candid about the challenges early schemes faced and the lessons learned:

“In the early days, schemes were fighting for funding. Sponsors would sometimes hold back information for commercial reasons, which slowed learning across the sector. Today, we’ve become far more collaborative.

“One lesson I’d stress to future light rail sponsors is to separate the tramway itself from public realm features’’, such as highspec granite paving or decorative installations, which, while aesthetically pleasing, are not essential to the functioning of a tramway. “Enhancements beyond the basic tramway should be treated as separate projects.” That way, costs are clearer, and delivery is more straightforward.

These elements can inflate the perceived cost of a scheme and make it appear less viable, he explains. “There’s a place for them, of course, but we need to separate core infrastructure costs from these additions so we can make more accurate funding cases.”

Despite his pride in the sector’s progress, Colin admits there’s still work to be done: “We’ve not yet managed to get through to the Department for Transport just how green we are, and not just in terms of reducing congestion and fumes, but the

And then there’s the focus on the next generation. Colin is a passionate advocate for engaging students and apprentices, not just to fill future skills gaps but to inspire a deeper connection with light rail as a career path. Initiatives such as the LRTA-supported Rising Star Award and pilot outreach programmes in the West Midlands are, in his view, essential to sustaining the industry’s momentum.

James Hammett, Managing Director of UKTram, summed up the sector’s appreciation: “I think we could all write pages of what Colin has done for not only West Midlands Metro, but for the light rail sector and heavy rail over his immense career. I’ve been fortunate to work with Colin closely and have him as a mentor. His enthusiasm has never wavered, and his knowledge, expertise and desire to share and build future generations is an example to us all.”

Colleagues from across the industry have echoed this sentiment, describing Colin as “the godfather of light rail”, “a true gentleman”, “a fountain of knowledge” and “an inspiration whose dedication and determination have transformed the sector”.

Many also note his ability to mix serious professionalism with warmth, humour and genuine friendship.

Reflecting on his career, Colin is characteristically humble: “I’ve enjoyed every minute. I’ve met wonderful people and I’m currently working on a book about my career, which I hope to finish this year”.

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tampere: pioneering the smart depot

richard Foster finds out what the future could hold for automated depots –as showcased by Škoda at its smart depot in tampere, Finland.

All goods vehicles with a maximum authorised mass of over 3.5 tonnes have to be fitted with a tachograph, which governs the life of drivers and operators.

A tachograph has three modes that measure the actual driving, plus the amount of time the driver is at ‘rest’ and ‘other work’. The latter is a loose title for additional activities, such as unloading the vehicle.

Digital tachos are less easy to fool than the old analogue versions but, in the hectic life of a 21st Century goods driver, a little fudging can still take place. For example, the tachograph can be set to record a rest period while the driver is actually engaged on other work in order to allow them to get back on the road as quickly as possible.

Now, how is that of any relevance to the world of light rail?

Just imagine, for a moment, that some of that ‘other work’ could take place automatically while the driver was enjoying a genuine rest period. Science fiction in the world of road haulage perhaps but, thanks to Škoda Group, not for light rail.

Tampere is roughly 180km (112 miles) north of Helsinki. It’s Finland’s most populous urban area, second only to the capital.

The first proposals for a tram system were made in 1907 but, remarkably, it took until 2021 before the first light rail vehicles were running through the city’s streets. The 24.6km (15.3-mile) system is divided into two

lines, serving 33 stops. Approval was given in 2024 to extend the system from Pirkkala to Linnainmaa, which is to open in two sections in 2028 and 2032 respectively. Further expansions are planned.

So why did Škoda choose Tampere depot, nestling in woodland between the southwestern suburbs of Hervanta and Solkimäki, to become the first in the world to boast its Smart Depot Ecosystem?

Says Škoda’s Jan Švehla, “There are several reasons. The main is the ‘Living Lab’ programme in Tampere, which enables us to deploy and test our systems on a real tram and within a depot environment.

“The fact that Tampere operates our 34T trams helps us to reduce integration effort for this project. And finally, Finland’s pioneering mindset and openness to new technologies make Tampere an ideal partner for our Smart Depot activities at this stage.”

Škoda describes Smart Depot thus: “A transformative advancement in tram depot management, integrating a suite of interoperable technologies designed to enhance efficiency, safety, and costeffectiveness.”

Very simply, this means that when a tram arrives at the depot, the driver hands it over to an operator in the control centre. This is by activating the autonomous/automated mode in the depot. The tram is now ready for the Smart Depot to take over.

In the control centre, an operator tells the tram, via a server, where to go – to the

aBoVe: Škoda’s hypex edge computer is installed on all trams, which can analyse data from sensors to identify potential hazards.

washing plant or to a particular servicing bay. This is known as the ‘mission’, which includes precise instructions for the tram.

Now, Škoda’s ATO-T system takes over and the tram undertakes its ‘mission’ automatically. Škoda says, “The system regulates the tram’s speed and guides it to its assigned destination. If an obstacle is detected, the vehicle automatically halts, waits until the track is clear, and then resumes its mission. The ACS supplies obstacle data and intervenes to stop whenever a collision risk is identified.”

Once the mission has been completed, a driver – either one that has enjoyed a rest break or one just starting their shift – then takes the tram back out into service.

Clearly, such a system requires a lot of cutting edge technology. The heart of the system is the Škoda high performance computer, which is installed on all its new trams. This computer has the potential to analyse the data from laser and camera sensors while identifying potential hazards. It can even, Škoda says, “predict the trajectory of objects”.

The system tested at Tampere uses LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) and cameras to ensure that the tram can adjust its speed or completely stop. This is the anti-collision system (ACS) and complements Škoda’s automated tram operation system (ATO-T).

Other abbreviations and acronyms used in the Smart Depot are: HD map LiDAR

Tampere depot

SLAM (High Definition LiDaR Simultaneous Localisation and Mapping); GPS (Global Positioning System) and IMU (Inertial Measurement Unit). All these combine to maintain “a consistent and accurate understanding of the tram’s position and movement within its environment”.

Keeping an eye on the whole system is the control centre operator. A secure wireless communication channel constantly feeds data on what the tram is doing and how it’s progressing with its ‘mission’.

Škoda says that the Smart Depot “is designed to enhance the efficiency, safety, and cost-effectiveness of tram depot operations by integrating a suite of interoperable products. These products can be deployed collectively or individually, allowing customisation to meet the unique requirements of different depots”.

Any automated operation requires thorough testing, but the depot is a particularly busy environment with many potential hazards. Letting an automated tram loose in a depot requires a comprehensive programme of trials, to “ensure its reliability under real-world conditions”.

The first Škoda ForCity Smart Artic X34 undertook these trials in July 2024, focusing on three key areas. The automated tram movements were closely monitored as the vehicle made its way through the depot, passing through the wash line and responding to obstacles on the tracks. Also under scrutiny was the control centre operator’s ability to control and monitor tram ‘missions’, as well the connections between tram and server. The final aspect being trialled was the interface between the new systems, Tampereen Ratikka’s existing depot infrastructure, and other Škoda digital systems.

Of these tests, Škoda says, “Testing at the tram depot validated its capabilities, showcasing significant improvements in operational efficiency and safety.”

So what does Škoda see as the tangible benefits of automated movements around the depot? “It enhances cost-efficiency through automation of routine processes and minimisation of manual intervention. A key factor in cost reduction is the significant decrease in depot collisions, which often lead to costly repairs and operational disruptions.”

What’s quite remarkable about the Smart Depot system was that it took only 12 months to get from initial conception to real-world trials, a fact recognised by the Global Light Rail Awards judges who awarded it ‘Highly Commended’ status.

What happens now? Says Švehla, “At the moment, we are focused on validating the Smart Depot concept and selected technical solutions. A full-scale deployment in Tampere is not foreseen at this stage, as the goal of our co-operation is primarily to demonstrate and refine the technology.

“Our next step is to bring these validated solutions into a commercial pilot project together with an operator who is ready to invest in depot automation. Several operators are already exploring the technology and preparing their requirements, and we also see that automation features are becoming expected in tenders for new trams.”

“It enhances cost-efficiency through automation of routine processes and minimisation of manual intervention.”

top: With tampere running its system with a fleet of Škoda 4City Artic trams, this was an obvious place to trial Škoda’s smart depot.

right: after the driver hands the tram over at the depot, the vehicle is then monitored as it makes its way through a series of automated processes – including (BeLoW right) running via the wash line.

BeLoW: one of tampere’s Škoda vehicles makes its way out of the automated depot, prepped and ready to run again.

All photos courtesy of Škoda Group.

A sus TA in A b L e so L u T ion for T he gr A nd duchy

Andrew Thompson visits Luxembourg, where the capital’s second-generation tramway has blazed a trail since its opening and continues to grow.

From 1875 to 1964 Luxembourg featured a first-generation tramway. In late 2017 the modern Luxtram opened as the Grand Duchy’s second generation light rail system, initially running on the short 3.5km (2.2-mile) section from the northern terminus at Luxexpo to Rout Bréck, serving the city’s corporate district as well as the European Parliament along the way.

The tramway has been free to use since 1 March 2020, as part of a wider free public transport policy offered by the city. Funded via taxes rather than ticket revenue, the policy was intended to reduce congestion and lower carbon emissions, while encouraging the use of public transport. It covers buses, trains and trams for all residents and tourists.

Since its opening, the single tram line has consistently grown in phased extensions, which have also required significant engineering solutions, such as the comprehensive refurbishment of the Grand Duchesse Charlotte Bridge. This 355m rigid frame bridge was originally opened in 1966, but now carries the tram line 75m above the Alzette Valley for the second leg of the system from Rout Bréck to the city centre at Stäreplaz/Place de l'Étoile. The 1.6km (one-mile) extension was inaugurated in July 2018, and is noteworthy for its lack of overhead catenary. For this reason, CAF

supplied Urbos LRVs with powerful traction batteries.

From Stäreplaz/Place de l’Étoile, the next extension of the Luxtram route opened in December 2020, achieving a major milestone by reaching the main railway station Gare Centrale. Also along this section of the route (which crosses the historic, stone-arched

“The single line has consistently grown in phased extensions, which have also required significant engineering solutions.”

Pont Adolphe from 1903 before passing several other historical landmarks), no overhead power lines were used.

Continuing further south from Gare Centrale by two stops, another 1.4km (0.9 miles) were added to the tram route in September 2022 when the temporary terminus Lycée Bouneweg was reached. This school is also adjacent to the large railway yard and workshops of national operator CFL.

The next southern extension with an additional 3.7km (2.3 miles) and five stops was launched in July 2024, when the football stadium at the namesake Stadion terminus was reached. From Gare Centrale to Stadion, catenary is used throughout, and the sleek silver trams call at six intermediate stops, including the interchange at the railway station Howald Gare.

As of now, the most recent – and also longest extension – of Luxtram was opened in March 2025, when 3.9km (2.4 miles) were added to the route at the northeastern end with the long-planned continuation of line from Luxexpo to the airport at Findel. This makes Luxembourg one of the growing number of cities in Europe with a light rail link to its airport. Other noteworthy destinations are Bremen, Erfurt, Firenze (Florence), Nice, Zürich, and in the UK, Edinburgh. As the Findel extension mainly runs through woodland and alongside the A1 motorway, it has only one intermediate calling point between Luxexpo and the airport at Héienhaff P+R. There the tramway also has a short tunnel, cut under a road junction with the highway.

Taking all six route sections into account, the entire line length from Findel to Stadion is about 16.1km (ten miles), of which 3.6km (2.2 miles) are catenary free. In total there are currently 24 stops along Luxtram, of which

AboVe: dwarfed by the office towers of Luxembourg's booming business district at Kirchberg, car 120 is about to arrive at the funicular interchange station rout bréck-Pafendall.

Images courtesy of Andrew Thompson.

LefT: The sleek styling and silvery livery of all Luxtram LrVs is a perfect match for the contemporary architecture with similar colour scheme in the city's newly developed district cloche d'or along the southern extension to stadion. here car 108 is seen rounding the curve and about to call at Lycée Vauban.

LefT: running on the southern extension that first opened in July 2024, car 102 has just departed from the penultimate stop at Wassertuerm while running to stadion, framed by the namesake water tower. To the rear the white contours of the modern national stadium are also visible. The stade de Luxembourg was built in 2017-21.

Rout Bréck provides interchange onto the 200m-long funicular with its 19.7% gradient, which offers an easy link to the PfaffenthalKirchberg railway station and has an unusual 1800mm gauge. The funicular consists of two parallel yet separate lines. This provides high capacity for peak periods, allowing both lines to be used with two counterbalancing cars (each with spacious cabins for up to 168 people), while also making the system more operationally-resilient and ensuring continued public service, when one of the lines is out of use for periodic maintenance.

Luxtram and the funicular both opened at the same time in December 2017, being built to help alleviate congestion.

To further ensure modal shift in favour of mass transit and reduce traffic in the old town of Luxembourg, which is a UNESCO World Heritage site, all public transportation in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg was made free by formal government decision in February 2020. This includes commuter and inter-city trains of CFL, with a supplement only applying for use of First Class on CFL services.

As Luxembourg is a dynamic city with a sizeable expat community and a significant presence of multi-national corporations from various industries, not to mention the institutions of the EU, the tramway will continue to keep pace and grow further.

beLoW: At dusk, car 104 has just passed another service at Place de Metz. in the background is the old headquarters building of the savings bank spuerkeess, which was built from 1909 to 1913. The fading light shows how all the cAf Urbos LrVs have colour-tinted windows for design purposes.

“At the southern end of the system, long-standing plans are even more ambitious, as Luxtram will evolve into nothing less than a long-distance interurban line.”

While the city has a population of about 136 000, the whole Grand Duchy counts 660 000.

In February 2025 works started on the extension in the Kirchberg district, where the new line will diverge at Rout Bréck on a more northerly alignment along Boulevard Konrad Adenauer, serving government ministries, office blocks and the campus of Écoles européenne. The new line will reconnect with the existing trunk route at Luxexpo, and is slated for completion by 2027.

At the southern end of the system, long-standing plans are even more ambitious, as Luxtram will evolve into nothing less than a long-distance interurban line. Since 2018, preparations have been made for the phased construction of the 19km (11.8-mile) overland route to the southern city of Esch-sur-Alzette, serving the intermediate communities along the way. The first section from the current terminus Stadion to Leudelange is scheduled to open by 2028, the next extension to Foetz by 2030, then to Metzeschmelz by 2032, and finally to the eventual terminus Belvaux Mairie by 2035. The new-build line, with its grade-segregated interurban sections, will be built to a design speed of 100km/h (62mph), ensuring a rough average travel speed of 50km/h (31mph). This will require the procurement of a new interurban LRV fleet, as the current generation of 32 CAF Urbos 3 is not designed for such parameters. Early documentation suggests the procurement of 24 nine-section, 56m doubleended trams for the extension to Esch.

With this landmark interurban project, the government of Luxembourg is seeking a sustainable solution to the projected population growth for the Grand Duchy by the 2030s, while making its light rail system more inclusive and integrated for use beyond the city limits of the capital.

LefT: Luxexpo is the original northern terminus of Luxtram and still located near the lone tram depot that services the entire fleet of 32 cAf Urbos 3. To the rear runs the new extension to the airport. Luxexpo will also be the site where the planned extension along boulevard Konrad Adenauer will reconnect with the existing trunk route.

beLoW: The new airport tram terminus at findel gets passengers right to the front door of the main terminal building. here car 130 is about to depart with a southbound service to stadion. The centre island platform can accommodate two LrVs.

beLoW: Luxembourg's elegant main station dates from 1910 and is still the country's most important public transport interchange, providing seamless transfers between light rail, buses and main line trains.

Gare Centrale

Leschte Steiwer / Dernier Sol Lycée Bouneweg

Kilometres

Established

Published

Comprehensive

Available

Read

systems factfile No.216

Antwerp, Belgium

Light rail has a long history in Antwerp and there is a strong commitment to maintaining its role as the core transport mode.

Antwerp (Dutch: Antwerpen; French: Anvers) is about 42km (26 miles) north of Brussels and is in Flanders region where Dutch is the main language. At the western end of a province with the same name, Antwerp (2025 estimated population 565 704) is Belgium’s second-biggest city. Sited on low ground by a narrowing of the Scheldt estuary, it was an international trading centre long before Belgian independence in 1830. Historically associated with the diamond trade and finance, it was handling bulkier cargoes and containers that turned Antwerp –now administratively combined with Bruges (Zeebrugge) – into Europe’s second-biggest port. A substantial tourism industry includes trade generated by cruise ships which can

ABOVE: CAF Urbos 100 ‘Stadslijner’ 7442 draws away from Havenhuis terminus on 8 April 2025. Dominated by the Port of Antwerp-Bruges headquarters, the tramway opened in this part of a former commercial dock area in 2019.

dock within walking distance of the city centre. Most of Antwerp’s urban area is on the Scheldt's eastern/right bank, this also hosting road and rail links which cross the nearby Dutch border.

Now Belgium’s second-biggest tram system after Brussels, Antwerp’s horse-drawn, standardgauge tram lines which started in 1873 gave way to metre-gauge electric operations from 1902. War-damaged 1067mm-gauge NMVB rural lines, some becoming integrated with the city system, were rebuilt to metre-gauge by 1921. Cutbacks and bus replacements accelerated after World War Two, with three trolleybus lines active between 1929 and 1964. Forms of local transport administration prevailed before national constitutional

changes which saw Flanders, Walloon and Brussels-Capital regions each getting a transport management body. For Flanders this was Vlaamse Vervoermaatschappij De Lijn established in 1991 which runs according to a public service contract, currently 2023-27. All using De Lijn (‘The Line’) as a brand, the tramways in Antwerp, Gent (Ghent) and along the Belgian coast, the Kusttram, fall within the remit. All are metre-gauge, which has enabled some transfers between the systems. De Lijn directly operates about half of the Flanders bus network, with the rest contracted to other concerns.

The Antwerp system’s legacy roots remain clear in its radial spread, some weaving through mature neighbourhoods and closely spaced intersections. Important changes include the outcomes of an unrealised

Words and pictures by Neil Pulling

Antwerp

BELGIUM

THE FLEET

De Lijn tram and buses have a mainly white livery, plus black, grey and yellow. Additions are a lion head sketch to represent Flanders, with the Hoppin logo relating to an initiative to encourage mixed-mode journeys. Continuing a practice of giving names to De Lijn tram types, the 62 uni-directional Bombardier Flexity 2 'Albatros' 7301-series received 2015-18 are in five- and seven-section versions, respectively 31 and 43 metres long. Antwerp brought the Spanish-built CAF Urbos 100 ‘Stadslijner’ into service in early 2023 (the Kusttram ‘Zeelijner’ counterparts had an earlier debut). Air-conditioned, they have five sections, are 31.4 metres long and 2.4 metres wide. Capacity 54 fixed and 22 folding seats, plus 126 standees. Most (7401-7440) are uni-directional, with bi-directional 74417459 introduced during summer 2024.

RIGHT: Built in 1966, 7099 leads a modified PCC pair away from the Groenplaats surface platforms, with the Cathedral of Our Lady in the background. Remodelling this city square from 2026 will incorporate improvements to the system's sub-surface presence.

ABOVE: The system’s deepest public access point, the southbound platform at multi-level Diamant. Modernised and with the number of lines served increased since its opening in 1980, Diamant has become the busiest pre-metro stop.

RIGHT: Seen from Halewijn, the section towards central Antwerp includes the Brabo tunnel. Extending from Groenplaats in 1990, this section brought tram services to the river's left bank and raised community integration.

ABOVE: The P+R Linkeroever name was transferred from here to a new stop with a bigger parking site added nearby. Retitled Regatta in January 2022, this stop’s turning loop remains, as does the engineering exhibit as used for the Brabo tunnel's twin bores.

RIGHT: Bombardier Flexity 2

‘Albatros’ 7312 heads south through the tram crossroads created on Franklin Rooseveltplaats seen in April 2025 when there were fewer services. Suspended line 11 normally uses a mainly single-track loop west of here to Melkmarkt.

metro project, taking tram coverage to the Scheldt’s left bank and some 21st Century extensions. That around 11.5km (7.2 miles) of the system has sub-surface running and stops is due to the metro project, planned to be achieved by building the ‘PreMetro’ tunnels which allowed for eventual conversion to 1435mmgauge. Intended as an interim stage, several tram lines became re-routed to tunnels, a process that spread over several years.

The core of today’s underground operations are tracks serving two stops in an area around Antwerpen Centraal, the main railway station. Intensively used and warren-like in layout, Astrid and Diamant are respectively at the northern and southern ends of that area, with the short distance between them including a delta junction. From here the tunnel extends for about 450 metres west to Opera, joining a section which in 1975 had become the first underground route; access ramps were removed as the tunnel alignments became fitted out for service. Little over one kilometre separates Opera and Groenplaats which had an underground return loop. The initial section included the city’s historic centre, also intermediate Meir in the bustling main shopping district. Extending from Groenplaats in 1990, the western arm incorporated the twin-bore Brabo tunnel under the Scheldt to emerge near Halewijn stop. Later reaching Zwijndrecht in East Flanders province, this greatly improved local travel between the left and right banks.

For those from farther away, parkand-ride sites encouraged people to not take private cars into central Antwerp. This premise is supported by other peripheral sites including the new high-capacity installations at a relocated P+R Linkeroever (the original setting became Regatta) and P+R Luchtbal.

Modernising pre-metro stops has brightened some formerly gloomy surroundings, also bringing renewal of some original equipment, notably the escalators. Including a more prominent surface presence and a bright entrance in a now car-free zone, a major rebuild at Opera was completed in 2019. This incorporated bringing a second pre-metro tunnel into use for the route of line 10 which reaches the surface to the south near Stadspark. Part of the same tunnel became used by line 8 as far west as the loop beneath Rooseveltplaats, turning back here to its Astrid terminus. Integrated with the imminent remodelling of the Groenplaats square, the pre-metro facilities will be renewed and access points enlarged. Opera and Groenplaats are amongst several locations with platforms both at street level and below ground;

“major surface changes came under the Noordlijn project, delivered

2020. this took tramway coverage to the former docks area north-west of the city centre.”

ABOVE: A southbound PCC pair at Nationale Bank, a busy stop located between junctions. The imposing bank premises are no longer used for their original purpose.

ABOVE: Long-term rebuilding along the Hoboken Lelieplaats branch has led to bus substitution and route changes. Normally serving that branch, line 12 trams have been using loops here at Zwaantjes.

RIGHT: Terminus of a northern extension opened in 2017, the P+R Luchtbal parking garage added in late 2021 has space for 1700 vehicles.

network facts

Opened: 1873 (electric metre-gauge from 1902)

l ines: 14

Depots: 3

approx. length: 85km (53 miles)

approx. weekday hours: 05.00-00.30

m ain line frequency: Ten minutes

Gauge: 1000mm

Power: 600V dc, overhead supply Network/operator: Vlaamse Vervoermaatschappij De Lijn www.delijn.be c ivic information: https://www.antwerpen.be tourist information: https://visit.antwerpen.be

BELOW: Siemens MGT6 ‘Hermelijn’ 7279 at Berchem Station, a main bus and tram convergence sited about 200 metres from Antwerpen-Berchem, the city's second-busiest station. The tracks (to the right) are normally used by line 11, at this time suspended.

RIGHT: The Mexicobrug between Cadixstraat and Havenhuis is in the Flanders Heritage Inventory. Dock railway traffic had previously used the bridge's western span, with the eastern span modified for use by trams in 2019.

ABOVE: Florent Pauwels crossroads: having four trams from the same direction in view illustrates the challenge of maintaining schedules on shared road space.

ABOVE: Zuid (South) is a main bus-tram interchange, with a nearby separate stop for the Antwerpen-Zuid station on the Antwerp-Gent main line.

effectively at the same location as sub-surface Meir, the on-street platforms are titled Meirbrug.

Major surface changes came under the Noordlijn project (previously as part of ‘Brabo 2’) delivered between 2016 and late 2020. This took tramway coverage to the former docks area north-west of the city centre where dereliction had followed as cargo shipping moved to modern handling facilities downstream. In December 2019, line 24 was re-routed along the broad Italiëlei avenue, running north of a new tram crossroads on Rooseveltplaats. Line 24’s Havenhuis terminus takes the name of the nearby port headquarters, a typically dramatic design by the Zaha Hadid architectural practice and completed in 2016. On another branch in Eilandje (little island), MAS became the northern line 7 terminus in August 2017. The title refers to Museum aan de Stroom, an exhibition space reached by footbridge across a dock basin. Noordlijn also added around 2km (1.25 miles) of route beyond the Noorderplaats junction. This joined existing track near Kinepolis, a line 6 terminus (then called Metropolis)

ESSENTIAL FACTS

local travel: The main ‘Lijnwinkel’ – staffed information and sales point – moved to a new Centraal station location in late 2023. Including an English section, the multi-agency ‘Smart ways to Antwerp’ (www.slimnaarantwerpen.be) integrates journey planner and mapping, plus wider transport information. See the De Lijn website for on-line ticket options. From Lijnwinkel or machines, single (60-minute) tickets at EUR3.00. Excluding national rail (although ticket combinations are available), De Lijn modes have common fares; as such the Dagticket (24-hour) and 72-hour counterpart at EUR9.00 and EUR18.00 respectively are useful if using more than one De Lijn system on the same day(s). By train from Antwerp to Gent in about an hour; to Ostend for Kusttram in under two hours (prices as June 2025).

What is there to see? For many, the city gateway will be Antwerpen Centraal, opened in 1905 with a scale and majesty to warrant a visit in its own right. There is a tourist office here and also at Het Steen fortress on the much improved riverside which includes the cruise ship terminal. This is west of the historic and tourist core which spreads around the elaborate Grote Markt (site of the Brabo fountain honouring the city's mythical founder) and the more workaday Groenplaats. The Cathedral of Our Lady and City Hall are amongst many outstanding buildings. Antwerp became a family home of Sir Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640) and his works are represented at several city locations. Another Antwerp icon and now renamed to match the glass in which it is traditionally served, Bolleke beer (www.dekoninck.be) is brewed near De Merode stop. Widely available, the 'Explore Antwerp' map which integrates tram lines is recommended. Central Antwerp is ideal for walking, although staying alert to cycle lanes is important when doing so.

by 2007 and later being remodelled for the 2017 Luchtbal P+R extension. Most of the 14 normal lines - half being over 12km (7.5 miles) longare routed through the city centre, with widespread track sharing by lines, each with a mainly ten-minute interval. This gives intensive coverage of surface points like Nationale Bank and Harmonie. Below ground, as at Astrid and Diamant, the lateral and vertical splitting of tracks as necessitated by space restrictions makes this less apparent. Engineering works on the system or its surroundings mean that service revisions are widespread: checking prevailing arrangements before travel is recommended.

Even for a substantial system, De Lijn runs a diverse fleet in Antwerp. Becoming a mainstay after a 1960 debut which represented renewed confidence in the mode, Antwerp retains around 55 modified Belgian-built, high-floor BN/ACEC PCC trams. Generally used in pairs, most are in the uni-directional 7001-series built between 1960 and 1975. In 2018, six of the bi-directional and more modernised 6201-series came from Gent for use on line 12

LEFT: Antwerpen Centraal overlooks Koningin Astridplein where surface tram platforms are titled Centraal Station; multi-level Astrid stop is below this square. Bi-directional trams, here a former Gent PCC, are needed as the outer line 12 terminus has no turning facilities.

when Sportpaleis turning facilities were lost. Shortening at the city end raised the prominence of this batch through using the surface loop on Koningin Astridplein (in front of Centraal) after entering the square through Chinatown’s Pagoda Gate. With three batches between 1999 and 2006, the Siemens/Bombardier ‘HermeLijn’ brought much longer (29.6 metres) single-tram formations and low-floor operation to Antwerp; capacity 250, 74 seated. With 145 De Lijn examples, ‘Hermelijn’ has seen use on all of the systems, although seasonal peak transfers to Kusttram have now ended. The type is now subject to an upgrade programme being carried out by CAF in Spain, with 7262 as the first to rejoin service during May 2025. The two later low-floor types are included in ‘The Fleet’. Just away from revenue tracks, the oldest of three active depots is Hoboken, located amongst housing with Jan Van de Wouwer ordinarily being the nearest stop. Rebuilding Antwerpse Steenweg – a road normally hosting lines 2 and 4 towards Hoboken’s Lelieplaats terminus – means that only depot moves currently go west of the Zwaantjes junction. Punt aan de Lijn depot is in a commercial area alongside Noorderlaan near Kinepolis. Opened in 2012, Deurne near Ertbrugge stop in the north-east is the newest depot, also having the least constricted site. The former Groenenhoek depot in Berchem houses the Flemish Bus and Tram Museum (opening and heritage collection details: www.vlatam.be).

PAR i S T1/T2:

R i S ing de MA nd

The Île-de-France tram lines 1 and 2 are transport mainstays for a diverse range of Paris suburbs. TAUT looks at how these two lines have changed.

WARSz AWA :

neW ex T en Sion S

Andrew Thompson visits the Polish capital where four new network extensions have opened over the past 18 months.

enz H en

Neil Pulling reports from Shenzhen, where street-based tram operations serve particular needs in a small part of this sprawling south China metropolis.

+ Vietnam: Hanoi Metro Line 3

+ Classics: Minneapolis-St Paul

+ The latest news and analysis, system and technical development

Worldwide Review

ALGERIA

ALGER (Algiers). A contract for the completion of the 9.6km (six-mile) metro extension to the airport has been awarded to China Railway Construction Corporation. It is Africa’s first metro project to have a Chinese company as a general contractor. The extension was originally due to open in 2022, but work was suspended. Completion is now planned for 2027. RGI

AUSTRALIA

PERTH. The extension of the Armadale commuter rail line to Byford is to open on 13 October. urbanrail.net

AUSTRIA

GRAZ. Tracklaying on the new city centre alternative route was completed on 22 July, with passenger services due to start in late November. The first Alstom Flexity tram moved to the Wien (Vienna) central workshops on the same day for final testing. DS WIEN (Vienna). Alstom Flexity 415 was delivered on 24 July, followed by 416 on 2 August; 414 was to enter service on 1 September. It is understood that opening of the line 27 extension to Aspern Nord is now scheduled for late October. tramwayforum.at

VORCHDORF – GMUNDEN. Former Bürmoos – Trimmelkam 1952-built ‘steeplecab’ electric locomotive E27.001 has been moved to the Stern & Hafferl line. Renumbered E22.006, it is to be used on construction trains. EB

AZERBAIJAN

BAKU. Baku Metro and Turkish engineering and design company Yüksel Proje have signed an agreement for the design of stations on the Green and Purple line extension projects. apa

BELGIUM

ANTWERPEN (Antwerp). The final double-ended CAF tram to be delivered (7460) entered service in June. These vehicles are now working on lines 5 and 12.

The last ex-Gent (Ghent) double-ended PCCs ran on 31 August. Single-ended PCCs still work on line 7. M. J. Russell BRUXELLES/BRUSSEL (Brussels). The first eight-axle trams transferred to Woluwe depot were 7901/02/15/45/46. They are to be used on lines 39/44 from September.

New Alstom trams are now in service on line 81.

Construction work has divided line 51 into two once more.

From 4 August, it operates Stade – Belgica and Square Marguerite Duras – Midi, probably until April 2026. T-2000 GENT (Ghent). T4 resumed operation to UZ from 18 July. Work has started to extend T4 over service tracks from Muide to Dampoort. T-2000

KNOKKE – LA PANNE. The Hermelijn trams used on the coastal tramway during the summer were 6333/36/38 from Gent (Ghent) and 7225/29/36/46 from Antwerpen (Antwerp).

T-2000

BRAZIL

BRASILIA. Work has started on the 3.6km (2.2-mile) Orange Line metro extension to Avenida Sul.

RGI

BULGARIA

SOFIA. The first of eight Škoda air-conditioned four-car metro trains was trialled at the Velim test track in the Czech Republic during August. Delivery to Sofia should be next May, with a view to service entry in September. TP

CANADA

EDMONTON. The first of 46 HyundaiRotem double-ended seven-section, low-floor trams for the Valley Line West (2027), was delivered on 1 August. It had been shipped from Changwon in South Korea to Tacoma, USA. The new stock will work with

the 26 Bombardier trams already in operation on Valley Line Southeast. ctvnews.ca TORONTO. The latest date given for the start of passenger services on the Eglinton Crosstown Line 5 is 21 December. D. Drum, cbc.ca

CHINA

HONG KONG. A 10.7km (6.6-mile) northern link line connecting the Tuen Ma line to the East Rail line’s Lok Ma Chau branch is to be built by 2034. RGI NANJING. Line 5 of the metro was extended north by 24km (15 miles) from Wenjinglu to Fangjiaying on 6 August. urbanrail.net

CROATIA

OSIJEK. All high-floor trams are to be replaced after the exercise of an option for ten additional TMK2500s from KONČAR. TP

CZECH REPUBLIC

GENERAL. Škoda Group’s Ostrava-Martinov factory has won contracts worth EUR47.5m for service and repair work: repairs to five T3 bodies for Liberec, maintenance of Ostrava’s 39Ts ; overhaul of 60 29T and 30T trams for Bratislava; servicing Praha’s (Prague’s) 14T trams. lok-report.de PRAHA (Prague). A parade of up to 42 vehicles is to celebrate 150 years of the city’s tramway on 21 September. They will run from Karlín to Špejchar.

Škoda delivered 52T 9506 on 19 August.

Tatra T3 8231 re-entered service as T3R.PLF 8773 on 11 July, followed by 8774 (ex-8221) on 29 July. M. J. Russell, dopravacek.eu

FINLAND

TAMPERE. Statistics published after the system’s first four years show that it attracts 19m passenger journeys/year. The highest passenger count in a single day was 82 409, customer satisfaction is 4.6 out of 5, and reliability 97.6%.

A feasibility study is being carried out for an 8km (fivemile) tramway extension from Hiedanranta to Ylöjärvi. TP

FRANCE

BESANÇON. New Alstom Citadis trams have been numbered 901-908.

A third track is to be laid at Brulard stop in summer 2026 to permit short-workings. T-2000 BREST. Alstom delivered the first of eight Citadis trams for line B in early August. RGI LYON. Alstom and SYTRAL Mobilités have signed contracts for 26 new automated metro trains (EUR145m) and the renovation of metro line D’s automated systems (EUR158m). The new two-car MPL25 trains will have rubber tyres and air-conditioning. The 12.5km (7.8-mile) line D was automated in 1991-92. lineoz.net

Due to start carrying passengers this autumn, Siemens Avenio trams are seen on test at Ishøj station on the København western orbital line. XXL1219

Worldwide Review

GERMANY

BERLIN. Line 21 will be split into two sections from 22 November when 900m of track along Boxhagener Straße and Marktstraße is closed.

Construction work for the new line 22 along Ehrlichstraße, Blockdammweg and on Wandlitzstraße will start in spring 2026 and take six months. nd-aktuell BRAUNSCHWEIG. There will no trams to Stöckheim until next spring after a derailment involving Tramino 1957 revealed infrastructure deficiencies on this section. nd-aktuell DORTMUND. The city council has agreed to commission a feasibility study for the proposed Stadtbahn extension to Kirchlinde. DS FRANKFURT-AM-MAIN. On 4 August Alstom returned the first of 14 T class trams that been sent back to Spain to fix manufacturing defects. DS GERA. Darmstadt NGT8D 0775 arrived on loan on 25 July. It was to enter service as Gera 213, as part of an evaluation looking at removing trailers from service. DS HAMBURG. The European Investment Bank is loaning Hamburger Hochbahn EUR173m to finance the purchase of 41 new U-Bahn trains from Alstom. RGI KÖLN (Cologne). With no delivery dates yet available for the new Alstom low-floor trams, Kölner-Verkehrs-Betriebe has awarded Talbot a contract to overhaul 40 trams in the existing fleet. DS PLAUEN. After a period of infrastructure work where only Tatra KT4D high-floor trams could be used, a revised network was to be introduced from 2 September: Line 1 (Preisselpöhl – Reusa; Line 2 (Plamag – Waldfrieden); Line 3 (Oberer Bf – Neundorf); Line 4, (Südvorstadt – Neundorf). DS

SCHÖNEICHE. Ex-Heidelberg low-floor tram 69 entered passenger service on 23 July. UTM

HUNGARY

BUDAPEST. CAF tram 2279 was delivered on 1 August. Of the 51 on order, 46 will be 34m five-section versions. The other five have ninesections and are 56m. All should be in service by November 2026.

A. Valent

INDIA

PUNE. The first of 22 Alstom three-car metro trains for the 23km (14-mile) Line 3 was unveiled in early August. RGI

ISLE OF MAN

MANX ELECTRIC RAILWAY. The Isle of Man government has suggested that the railway’s Derby Castle depot site could be included in the sale of the adjacent Summerland plot, in order to encourage buyers. Should the depot be sold, “existing or similar facilities will be provided within an enlarged scheme”.

SNAEFELL MOUNTAIN

RAILWAY. The railway’s 130th anniversary was celebrated on 21 August when Lieutenant Governor His Excellency Sir John Lorimer KCB DSO MBE and Lady Lorimer MBE toured the railway.

ITALY

BRESCIA. A feasibility study into a proposed 22km (14-mile) light rail line from the city to Villanuova sul Clisi (possibly later to Lake Garda) is to take place. The line could carry 10m passengers per year. RGI FIRENZE (Florence). Rails on the new Piazza della Libertà – Bagno a Ripoli line have been laid in different locations. Construction works are progressing along the whole route.

Line T1’s unused junction in Viale Fratelli Rosselli and Via Jacopo da Diacceto, affected by excessive wear, is being removed

and substituted by a curving track section. This has divided T1 into two over the summer (Villa Costanza – Porta al Prato and Railway Station – Careggi). A. Fantechi

GENOVA (Genoa). Hitachi fourcar metro trains 41-54 are now entering service. TR

MILANO (Milan). A EUR362m contract has been awarded for the 3.3km (two-mile) western underground extension of metro line 1 to Baggio. RGI

KAZAKHSTAN

OSKEMEN. The first Belkommunmash T701 low-floor tram (14) was delivered from Belarus on 8 August. transphoto.org TEMIRTAU. A full tramway service (05.00-23.30) began on 10 July, operated by the jointstock company AO Qarmet. One of its parent companies is the steel company that has owned the tramway since it opened in 1959. cs-dopravak

LATVIA

RIGA. A ground-breaking ceremony for the 2.2km (1.4-mile) EUR28.2m tramway extension along Latgales iela took place on 16 July. Completion is due in May 2026. RGI

MONGOLIA

ULAANBAATAR. The Ministry of Roads and Transport has approved a feasibility study for a planned 26km (16-mile) two-line tramway designed to reduce traffic congestion. RGI

NETHERLANDS

AMSTERDAM. Tendering has started for the purchase of 78 new 30m trams. Estimated to cost EUR391m, they will be needed from 2032 so that the Combino fleet can be withdrawn. One of the new cars will be equipped as a trial for driverless technology.

Withdrawn BN articulated tram 822 has been refitted as a restaurant

tram. It operates WednesdaySunday, with departure from Amstelstation at 18.30.

There was no metro service between Zuid and Spaklerweg/ Van de Madeweg 12 July-24 August to permit track relaying. Line 23 shuttled between RAI and Amstelstation.

Celebrations to mark 50 years of the EMA museum group will involve events on 27-28 September including an all-day special service of preserved trams on line 16 (Centraal Station – VU Medisch Centrum). TTW, OR ROTTERDAM. A tender for up to 46 new 90m metro trains costing EUR578m is being issued. The initial order would be for 38 and they are to have provision for automatic operation. Due to be delivered in 2029-30, they will replace Bombardier-built trains dating from 1998-2002.

Regional metro Line E was cut back to Blijdorp in July. RGI, OR

PAKISTAN

LAHORE. The first test run on the 27km (17-mile) Super Autonomous Rapid Transit system took place in early August. It uses a three-section articulated battery bus developed by the Chinese engineering contractors, Norinco International. Gulf News

PHILIPPINES

MANILA. The first three of 16 LRVs ordered from CRRC Dalian finally entered service on MRT3 on 16 July. They had been delivered as long ago as January 2014, but have been in store while “compatibility problems” were resolved. RGI

POLAND

KATOWICE. Trams on lines 15, 21 and 26 were able to pass under the railway viaduct at Sosnowiec again from 1 August. Temporary line 45 has been withdrawn. TP KRAKÓW. A contract was signed with PESA on 18 August for 30 new double-ended 33.3m Twist

The new tram depot for the eastern extension of Paris line T1 at Montreuil. Hourdel

Passengers wait to join a Yellow Line train in the Indian city of Bengaluru (Bangalore). N. Gadekal

trams. The deal is worth PLN558m (EUR131m), with delivery planned for 2028-29.

An environmental decision is awaited on plans for a 26km (16-mile) metro line estimated to cost PLN13.5bn (EUR3.2bn). The first stage would be 6km (3.7 miles) across the city centre, serving the railway station. It is hoped to start work in 2028. skyscrapercity

ROMANIA

CLUJ-NAPOCA. A tender has been issued for the purchase of seven trams plus 15 years of maintenance. lok-report.de

The oldest and newest trams in the Sarajevo fleet (the former restored and re-gauged). Replica 1895 car 15 representing the first delivery to the narrow-gauge system for its electrification, and 2024

on today’s standard-gauge

SINGAPORE

MASS TRANSIT RAILWAY. Alstom has been awarded a contract for the design, supply, installation, commissioning and testing of communications-based train control on the 14km (ninemile) Thomson – East Coast line extension as well as the connection to Changi Airport. IRJ

ŁÓD Ź . Ex-Bochum NF6D tram 1960 (ex-BOGESTRA 439) has been fitted with airconditioning, at a cost of PLN3.5m (EUR 820 000). More of the fleet could be converted.

TP

POZNA Ń . A tender has been issued for ten single-ended 32m 100% low-floor trams. There is an option up to 20 more. Delivery is to start within two years and they will replace Tatra RT6N1 partly low-floor trams.

A three-year project to renew the Chrobry Bridge is to start on 3 November. Tram services will be diverted. TP WARSZAWA (Warsaw). Bids for up to 160 new trams were received from Škoda Transportation and HyundaiRotem. Polish tram builders declined to bid, citing restrictive conditions in the specification. A decision is expected this autumn.

PESA is to replace worn components in 130 of the 186 Swing trams in the fleet.

cs-dopravak WROCŁAW. A tender has been issued for the construction of a tramline along Ulica Tadeusza Ko ś ciuszki. It would connect to existing lines at each end. Trams last ran here in 2011. TP

PORTUGAL

LISBOA (Lisbon). There will be two tram parades on 20 September, featuring up to nine historic trams. They are to leave Santo Amaro at 10.30 and 16.00 for Praça da Figueira.

M. J. Russell

PLOIE Ș TI. A tender has been issued for 20 100% low-floor trams with space for 100 passengers (30 seated). Delivery is required to start within 21 months of the contract being awarded. Current service is provided by around 30 high-floor Tatra KT4D s. DS TIMI Ș OARA . The mayor has signed a EUR21m financing agreement for the construction of a new tram line from Gara Nord to Pas Solventul. A tender has been issued for ten new trams. adz.news

RUSSIA

CHEREPOVETS. The new batch of 71-911 low-floor bogie trams has been numbered 192-197. transphoto.org

MOSKVA (Moscow). PKTS delivered the first of 100 new 71911EM Lvyonok bogie trams to Apakov depot on 7 August. transphoto.org

ROSTOV-NA-DONU. Sinara’s first standard-gauge threesection 71-233 was delivered on 4 August. transphoto.org

YAROSLAVL. Ust-Katav-built 71-628 bogie trams, delivered under the Movista franchise, are 00297-00315. transphoto.org

SAUDI ARABIA

RIYADH. A contract has been awarded to Arriyadh New Mobility Consortium to build the 8.4km (5.2-mile), five-station metro extension of Line 2 to Diriyah South. IRJ

SERBIA

BEOGRAD (Belgrade). The first of 25 Bozankaya 100% low-floor trams to enter line 12 service was 1352 on 29 July. transphoto.org

SLOVAKIA

KOŠICE. Nine double-ended Tatra KT8 trams are to have their high-floor centre sections replaced with new Pragoimexbuilt low-floor sections, in a EUR1.79m project. The sections boast new electrical control equipment and air-conditioning. The first tram to be taken to Krnov for this work to be carried out was 537. cs-dopravak

SPAIN

JAÉN. The latest date for the resumption of services on the 4.7km (2.9-mile) tramline is in December. lok-report.de

SWITZERLAND

GENÈVE (Geneva). Lines 12 and 18 are closed between Plainpalais and Carouge until 6 December. Trams from Moillesulaz arrive at Plainpalais to set down passengers for the replacement bus service, but do not pick up passengers there, running light to Bel Air to return to Moillesulaz. Bus passengers from Carouge have to catch a line 17 tram to Bel Air for transfer to line 12.

Free travel was provided on all public transport in Canton Genève on 13 August, to combat increased ozone pollution.

C. Warren, RGI LIESTAL – WALDENBURG (BLT). Automatic operation on the metre-gauge 13.1km (eight-mile) Waldenburgerbahn (BLT line 19) was due to start in September using ten Stadler Tramlinks fitted with NOVA

Pro CBTC for GoA2 operation. Unattended operation should be achieved in 2030. RGI LOCARNO – DOMODOSSOLA (FART/SSIF). With Stadler ABe6/12 101-104 now in service, Abe4/8 45-48 and Abe4/6 54 have been sold to the Ferrovie Genova –Casella in Italy. A private group has bought 52 for display in Opfikon. SSIF will take delivery of four Abe6/12s later this year. SSIF has been gifted Abe4/6 53 for spares. EA

SYRIA

DAMASCUS. Talks have been held with an investment company to revive plans for a 16.5km (tenmile) cross-city metro line. RGI

TURKEY

ANKARA. Work has started on the 7.5km (4.7-mile) Ankaray light metro extension to Natoyolu. RGI KOCAELI ( İ zmit). Bozankaya has completed the delivery of 15 five-section 100% low-floor double-ended 33m trams. Each can accommodate 298 passengers (66 seated). The contract was worth TRY697m (EUR14.5m). A further five trams are on order for the 23.4km (14.5-mile) tramway.

UKRAINE

TP

DNIPRO. Metro construction is to resume with the help of European Bank for Reconstruction & Development funding. This will extend the 7km (4.3-mile) line that opened in 1995. TP LVIV. The first of 25 ex-Basel eight-axle trams to enter service on line 9 from 19 August was 1252. A further five are to be in service by the end of the year. cs-dopravak

UNITED KINGDOM

GLASGOW. Installation of platform screen doors on the Glasgow Subway was to start in August – a first step towards Unattended Train Operation.

Stadler Tango NF3 providing regular service

system. Kanton Sarajevo and P. Haseldine

LONDON. The new GBP1.1bn (EUR1.3bn) extension to the British Library will be designed to cater for the proposed Cheshunt –Shepperton Crossrail 2 line.

GREATER MANCHESTER Passengers can now pay on the Bee Network using Apple Pay’s Express Mode.

NOTTINGHAM. A more frequent timetable was introduced to Nottingham Express Transit on 20 August. A temporary timetable had been introduced in June while accident damage to trams was rectified. Trams are to run every seven minutes at peak times.

SHEFFIELD. Rails were replaced along Middlewood Road 17-29 August. Only the Yellow Route was affected, with replacement buses offered.

STOURBRIDGE. One of the Stourbridge branch’s two Class 139s , 139002, has been named ‘George The Station Cat’ after a Stourbridge feline. A competition to name 139001 has taken place but the winning entry is yet to be announced.

TYNE & WEAR. The Metro celebrated its 45th anniversary on 11 August. It has carried more than 1.5bn people since the first section opened in 1980.

A GBP2.1m (EUR2.4m) scheme to introduce new ticket barriers has started at Regent Centre Metro station. A feasibility study is underway to identify which other station could benefit from barriers; 13 stations have them.

USA

east from Halawa to Kahauiki is to start on 1 October. The ground-breaking ceremony for the next segment to Ka’akaukukui (Civic Center) with six stations was on 11 August. Completion should be in 2030.

urbanrail.net, J. May

KANSAS CITY, MO. The 5.6km (3.5-mile) USD352m (EUR301m)

KC Streetcar Main Street extension from Union Station to UMKC is due to open on 24 October.

D. Drum

LOS ANGELES, CA. Line D metro services from Union Station to Wilshire resumed on 26 July. They had been suspended for 70 days due to construction work under Wilshire Blvd for the Wilshire – La Cienega extension. This is due to open in autumn.

Since the new LAX/Metro Transit Center opened on 6 June, ridership on light rail Line K has increased by 140% on weekdays, 200% on Saturdays and 215% on Sundays.

transphoto.org, Mass Transit MINNEAPOLIS, MN. The Federal Transit Administration has approved the final environmental impact statement for the 21.4km (13.4-mile) Blue Line extension from the city centre north to Brooklyn Park.

The city council approved the closure of the 65km (40-mile) North Star commuter rail service to Big Lake on 27 August. Patronage on the trains has dropped from 2660 per day before COVID to 430. The last train is to run on 2 January. Services began in 2009. J. May

OMAHA, NA. A USD27m (EUR23m) contract has been placed with Sampson Construction for a three-track Streetcar depot and workshop. It is to accommodate the six CAF cars on order. skyscrapercity PHILADELPHIA, PA. PATCO’s night services are to cease on 1 September to permit deep cleaning of stations. This is intended to improve safety as well as cleanliness. Services are to resume next March. Philadelphia Inquirer PORTLAND, OR. The downtown MAX station at Skidmore Row was closed from 24 August due to low usage. Its closure should allow journey times to be accelerated.

Tri-Met’s projected budget deficit could result in an 18% cut to MAX light rail service in 202627, through increased headways.

S. J. Morgan, Mass Transit SAN FRANCISCO, CA. Muni had received 189 Siemens S200SF LRVs by 10 August, with 172 having entered service.

No Breda LRVs have run since 29 July. They are in store, pending a decision on whether to permanently withdraw them. Breda 1483 has been converted to a works car.

With patronage still much lower than pre-COVID, the number of scheduled vehicle duties per day is around 130.  S. J. Morgan SEATTLE, WA. The opening of the mostly elevated 12.8km (eight-mile) Federal Way light rail link is now expected before the end of the year.

Consultant firm Jacobs has been selected to lead the design of the 6.6km (4.1-mile) West Seattle light rail link, which is planned to open in 2032. Mass Transit

VIETNAM

HANOI. Construction of the metro’s 11.5km (seven-mile) Line 2 was to start on 10 October. Work on the 38km (24-mile) Line 5 is to start in December. IRJ

MUSEUM NEWS

2005, but has not operated since 2006. The second is Blackpool rail grinder 2 – a works car built in 1935 and later operated at Crich, but which has been stored for 50 years.

The vehicles are currently in store at its Clay Cross site.

The museum would like both vehicles to remain within the public sector if possible, and has invited expressions of interest for either vehicle.

DALMELLINGTON

(UK).

Former Met-Cam Glasgow subway car 130 has moved to the Doon Valley Railway for short term storage.

MANCHESTER

(UK). Heaton Park Tramway’s horse tram L53, with restored Eades reversible body, has been repositioned at its temporary new home at Greater Manchester’s Museum of Transport. It is displayed next to Manchester horse bus L2.

PITTSBURGH, PA (US). At the Pennsylvania Trolley Museum, 1949-built St Louis Car Co. PCC 1713 was launched as the ‘Terrible Trolley’ on 12 August. Its special livery celebrates the Pittsburgh Steelers’ four Super Bowl victories in the 1970s. J. May TRONDHEIM (NO). Preserved 1957-built Strømmens tram 14 was moved from Munkvoll museum to the former Dalsenget depot in Trondheim on 14 August, under a three-year display deal. R. Kjenstad WASHINGTON, DC (US). Preserved Den Haag PCC 1006 is to join the collection of the National Capital Trolley Museum. haagsetramnieuws WEHMINGEN (DE). An enthusiasts’ day is to be held on 11 October with rare vehicle combinations and photographic opportunities. Entry will cost EUR60 per person (including a EUR15 food voucher). C. Heuer

CONTRIBUTORS

ATLANTA, GA. Streetcar services were to be suspended from 8 September to permit utility repairs. Replacement buses are to run for at least a couple of months.

NEW YORK, NY. All 13 trains on Line G have been made up of R-211 cars since mid-July.

J. May

CHICAGO, IL. Chicago Transit Authority ran a special train on 20 July to celebrate the reopening of Lawrence, Argyle, Berwyn and Bryn Mawr stations after the completion of modernisation work. RGI HONOLULU, HI. Work on extending the automated metro

Alstom will supply Kawasaki with traction equipment for the 435 R211 metro cars ordered last year.

Fare evasion was cut from 13.6% to 9.8% in the first quarter of 2025.

A USD1.97bn (EUR1.7bn) construction contract for the extension of the Second Avenue Subway from 96th St to 125th St has been approved. RGI

BALTIMORE, MD (US). The city council has awarded Baltimore Streetcar Museum USD165 000 (EUR141 000) to support a new campus centred around the restored Maryland & Pennsylvania Railroad roundhouse at 2601 Falls Road. BSM BEAMISH (UK). The air-brake cylinder from Gateshead 10 has been dismantled for inspection. CRICH (UK). The National Tramway Museum is seeking new homes for two trams in its collection. The first is Halle (Saale) tram 902 from 1969; it was imported from Germany in

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 adz.news, apa, BSM, cbc.ca, csdopravak, ctvnews.ca, dopravacek. eu, Drehscheibe (DS), Eisenbahn (EB), Eisenbahn Amateur (EA), haagsetramnieuws, International Railway Journal (IRJ), lok-report. de, Mass Transit, nd-aktuell, Op de Rails (OR), Philadelphia Inquirer, Railway Gazette International (RGI), skyscrapercity, Tram-2000 (T-2000), tramwayforum.at, transphoto.org, Transport Publiczny (TP), TTW, and urbanrail.net.

Delivered to the Russian city of Sankt Peterburg for trials, this is the prototype 71-952 Voevoda tram from local builder PKTS. Y. Zalevkiy

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athens light rail: When plans come to fruition

It was wonderful to see the feature on Athens light rail in the July issue of TAUT (1051). This was the dream of Antonis Tritsis, the Mayor of Athens, who sadly died in office in April 1992, long before the plans for trams could be developed.

In May 1991, the Mayor held a workshop in his office with invited light rail ‘experts’ to explore how a light rail system could be achieved in Athens which already had a metro. Those attending were senior managers from Grenoble and Munich and a group from Greater Manchester PTE (Passenger Transport Executive) consisting

You couldn’t make this up...

I was looking forward to my first visit to the new tramway in Liège following Andrew Thompson’s article in the August issue of TAUT (1052). At its western end, the line terminates at an interchange in Sclessin in the shadow of the stadium of the wellknown football club, Standard Liège, with its huge Tribunes (tiered staging and seating) dominating the landscape. The tramway clearly wants to demonstrate its accessibility to the stadium with destination indicators displaying ‘Standard’ rather than the generic district name.

Except that on match days, the trams do not go all the way to the terminus at the Stadium at all! Instead, despite continuing to display ‘Standard’ on their screens, they terminate about a kilometre short at Place Ferrer, where all the passengers are evicted and forced to walk the remaining distance to the match, whilst the trams take layover time and reverse on the specially-installed crossovers to return towards the city.

At least I was pleased to note that Belgium has not lost its penchant for a quirky sense of humour. In Britain we would describe such an arrangement as Pythonesque!

Mike Russell, Reading

Liège: Correction

Unfortunately the Liège article (TAUT 1052) contains an error, which is important as it relates to the special feature of this system which has been highlighted previously.

The track in Feronstree is not double-track at all but single-track, albeit with a passing loop approximately midway. This loop is laid out for left-hand running and comes into use on Sundays when the track along Feronstree is used by trams operating in both directions.

Visitors may be confused and possibly miss this unusual operating arrangement altogether.

Mike Russell, by e-mail

of Joe Clark, Chairman of the PTA, Peter Morgan, Senior Planning Officer, and myself, Tony Young, then Operational Planning Manager for Metrolink.

A full programme of working seminars was held over two days, supported by Professor George Giannopoulos from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. Mayor Tritsis made it clear that he wanted a tram system for Athens and wanted it as soon as possible. A traffic engineer from Piraeus in the seminar wanted to ensure that any tram line would extend to Piraeus! Each group submitted a report on

Short-sighted Washington plan

So. The powers that be in Washington DC intend to sweep away a tramway that has been open less than ten years and replace it with a new generation streetcar... a trolleybus. They state that the streetcars are “past their useful life”. This sounds like a decision by a committee that knows nothing about trams or tramways.

Some of the problems with the DC Streetcar seem to me to stem from the fact that the Union Station terminus is really not very near the Union Station. Signage from the station is somewhat sparse, and it’s a bit of a hike to get to the terminus. Also, the journey is slow because there are many traffic intersections along the H Street route, and streetcars appear to have no traffic light priority. Put those problems right and I believe more passengers would be attracted.

An extension was planned beyond the Oklahoma Road terminus along Benning Road as far as East Capitol Street, which would have almost doubled the length and made it a much more viable route. I can’t imagine that the viability of the line was helped by the fact that no fares were charged.

It is short-sighted to give up on DC’s only tram route after such a short period when it could be made a very useful part of the Washington transit scene.

Simon Brown, Reading, UK

Florence’s political compromise I would like to present some information and a brief comment about the ‘political compromise’ mentioned by Andrew Thompson in his excellent report on the tramways of Florence (TAUT 1053).

The T2 line project, already modified to avoid roads incompatible with a modern tramway, provided for the passage through the centre from Piazza Unità to Piazza della Libertà. The route approached the Duomo (but did not invade its front!) and,

their recommendations for which we were profusely thanked. Professor Giannopoulos said that he had personally recommended to the Mayor that consultants be appointed immediately.

The Mayor’s death in his early fifties after not much more than a year in office could have set any thoughts of trams in the capital city back decades. It is a tribute to all involved that only 13 years later, trams were running in Athens, on not one but two lines, including that route to Piraeus. Mayor Tritsis would be delighted! Tony Young, by e-mail

to minimise the occupation of space and the visual impact, a stretch of gauntlet track was planned there and, even with the technology available in 2007, without overhead line.

The T2 line was the subject of a referendum among the citizens of Florence in 2008, and votes against the line had a narrow majority (53.8 % of valid votes), as is understandable due to the strongly-orchestrated campaign against the tram, also based on incorrect information and aimed at spreading fears. The referendum, which was merely advisory, had no consequences, however, because the voters did not reach the quorum established by the municipal regulations. Everything was therefore ready for the construction of the line with the passage through the centre, since the necessary authorisations had been obtained. It was the new mayor of Florence, who took office in 2009, who ordered the cancellation of the central section, justifying it with the creation of a pedestrian precinct, despite the fact that there were successful examples of coexistence between trams and pedestrians in Europe. Perhaps the search for consensus weighed more.

This decision penalised Florence for two reasons. The first is the distancing of public transport from the city centre, with a gentrification effect, which is negative from social and urban planning points of view. For a quantitative figure, it is enough to observe that to reach the very central Piazza della Repubblica from the S. Maria Novella railway station, it is necessary to add a walk of 800m to a tram stretch of about 2.5km (1.5 miles), while the direct path on foot is 700m.

The second reason is the loss of a second connecting route between the western and eastern branches of the tramway network, useful both for reducing the need for line exchange and for flexibility of operation.

So, the ‘compromise’ was not made for the good of Florence.

Giovanni Mantovani, by e-mail

Classic Trams GOTHENBURG’S HISTORIC FLEET

The tramway continues to impress today as the pre-eminent method of transport in Sweden’s second city, complemented by a comprehensive collection of trams from the earliest days.

Mike Russell reports.

Göteborg (Gothenburg) in Sweden possesses one of the most impressive tramways in northern Europe. It was held up 50 years ago as a shining example of the then unfashionable move towards network modernisation rather than falling victim to the widespread tendency towards abandonment. This issue we look at the city’s historic operation and its beautiful array of vintage rolling stock.

The heritage stock is stored and maintained in the historic tram depot at Gårda, which was given up for regular service in 1985 in favour of new, larger premises nearby. It has since been adapted as a museum depot, opening in 1989, with a small hall containing exhibits from the earliest days of Göteborg trams. The depot itself and the cars are still owned by Göteborg’s city council, but the vehicles are financially supported both by the city and the county authority representing the wider area around the city. Maintenance and operation is left to volunteer members of the local tramway society (Ringlinien) under supervision of the tramway company. Of these members, three are actually paid for their restoration and maintenance services by the city and county authorities.

Gårda’s historic collection is predominantly focused on tramcars, but includes one former Göteborg trolleybus – the city operated a tworoute system from 1940-64 – and a couple of motor buses. Most of the rolling stock is kept in working order, but there is always at least one car at any time receiving heavy overhaul and any necessary reconstruction work.

Horse-drawn tramways began operation in Göteborg in September 1879, and one example representing this period has been reconstructed. Its precise origin is unknown; it was originally mounted on metre-gauge trucks but later converted to standard gauge for operation as a trailer behind the first electric cars. It was restored in 1929 from a type S4 trailer.

Electrification of the system took place in 1902 and the much larger collection of motor cars and trailers dates from that time. All are original cars, lovingly restored in the traditional blue and ivory livery. The oldest is one of the initial electric car fleet, 15, which dates from 1902. This was put aside for preservation as long ago as 1929. A second car dating from 1902 is also represented in the fleet; this is 43, which was later modernised with glazed vestibules and then sold to Jönköping in 1925. Jönköping abandoned its tramway in 1958 and 43 was returned to Göteborg for preservation.

Also dating from the pre-World War One era is open-sided cross-bench trailer car 507, built in 1906 by Vabis of Södertälje. This example was still in use in 1946.

Car 92 dates from 1917 and represents the standard Göteborg design of tramcar that was in use on city services for more than 40 years. Car 92 and cars 129, 133 and trailer 240 illustrate a standard series of higher-capacity cars for city service, an improvement achieved by providing extended platforms; at that time (early 1920s) all Göteborg trams were of two-axle, doubleended configuration. Car 92, however, is in modernised 1950s form.

Distinctive designs

Saltholmen has long been a popular resort situated on a peninsula overlooking the archipelago that surrounds Göteborg. Until 1945 it was administratively beyond the city limits. The tram line to Saltholmen was built by a private company, but was part of the city network when it opened in 1907. An imposing design of bogie car built for this line in 1928 is car 208, a favourite with the public and sometimes seen venturing to its traditional haunt on what was known as the Långedrag line. A short two-axle car built for this line in 1923 is 302.

The distinctive design of more modern tramcars with which Sweden will be forever associated was introduced to the city in 1943. With a single-ended layout with doors on the then nearside (left-hand side) and a threewindow front elevation, many cars of this design were later built, and it is appropriate that 211 has survived into preservation.

When Sweden changed the rule-of-theroad to right-hand running in September 1967, many cars of this vintage were deemed unsuitable for reconstruction and taken out of service. They were replaced by more modern examples of broadly similar design that were rebuilt. Examples were Hägglundbuilt M23 motor car 15 (the second in the historic fleet to carry that number), and later the standard design such as M25 car 606 of 1961. Other cars built for left-hand running were turned round and coupled to form back-to-back pairs for right-hand running.

A rare non-Göteborg item is the unique Tatra T7B5 bogie car 100, which started life in Praha (Prague) and later passed to Oslo in the unfulfilled hope of a series order; in 1998 it was offered to the Göteborg museum, which accepted the gift and operates it occasionally, mainly for private hire.

Works cars and freight vehicles are not ignored. Locomotive VI of 1918 was once

1

used on permanent way work whilst an older M5 car is being restored to its latter-day status as a works car, but is not yet operable.

Regular operation

Fortunately the working examples of this superb collection are not hidden from public gaze, but can often be seen around the system. Visiting enthusiasts wishing to see examples in guaranteed service, however, need to plan the timing of their visit. Line 12, the Liseberg line, is operated by historic cars between Centralstationen and Liseberg – a return journey takes around 40 minutes.

There is a regular daytime Saturday service between mid-April and late September, increased to Tuesday to Saturday inclusive each week in July and early August, the high summer period in southern Sweden. On these occasions it is usual for two cars to be in operation giving a 20-minute service.

After leaving the loop at Centralstationen the service travels via Brunnsparken to Kungsportsplatsen, where cars mingle with assorted more modern tramcars on the regular network to Korsvägen and on to Liseberg, serving the amusement park. Arguably the most impressive operation is in the pre-Christmas season from early November to late December, when the historic cars leave Gårda depot at dusk, and provide a ten-minute service on line 12 for two to three hours, with last journeys running at around 19.00. They are like stately galleons with lights ablaze gliding effortlessly along the city’s main shopping street.

Cars on line 12 observe the standard tramway fare structure, so that discounted tickets such as day passes are available on the service as with the main route network.

Göteborgs Spårvägar entrusts the volunteers with the museum trams’ operations. Västtrafik and not Göteborgs Spårvägar is responsible for the fare structure. Many of the cars operated on line 12 are of traditional double-ended design and must be worked by a crew of two, but certain more modern cars are authorised to operate as oneman vehicles, which can assist the staffing position on the small-scale museum network.

Guided tours of the tramway museum are offered each Sunday (except in June, July and August) between 11.00 and 14.00.

The private hire of many of the historic cars is another important feature of the tramway museum and brings in muchneeded revenue to assist the continuing restoration programme.

With grateful thanks to Rikard Ågren for assistance.

1. A popular tram for group hires is ASEA type M21 equalwheel bogie car 208, built in 1928 for operation on the line to Saltholmen. Here it is negotiating the terminal loop for line 12 at Centralstation on 5 December 2024.

2. Car 302 is one of six two-axle ASEA type M8 cars built in 1923 for the Saltholmen line. In this image it is loading passengers on the Centralstation turning loop, ready for its next trip to Liseberg on heritage route 12. 5 December 2024.

3. One of the most regular performers on heritage line 12 is ASEA type M4 car 43 of 1902, here entering the outer terminal loop at Liseberg on 10 May. This car was repatriated from Jönköping in 1959 and is often used as the museum’s ‘Christmas tram’. David Lawrence

4. A seasonal view of car 63 operating on line 12. The Hägglund type M23 tramcar dates from 1953 and was new to Gävle, but after that city’s tramway was closed in 1956 was acquired by Göteborg and rebuilt for right-hand running.

5. The oldest electric tram in the museum fleet is 15, from 1902. It is shown here whilst undergoing maintenance and general repairs in the Gårda museum depot. Visible in the rear on 6 December 2024 are Hägglund type M23 car 61 (exGävle) and ASEA trailer 248.

6. A significant place in the museum fleet is held by ASEA type M22 car 211, the prototype of a large series of similar cars built for the Swedish tramways in 1943. Particularly noteworthy is its retention of the original bodywork configuration for left-hand running. It is seen returning from Liseberg on line 12 on 10 May. David Lawrence

7. As daylight fades on 7 December 2024, car 92 emerges along the Gårda depot access tracks for service on heritage line 12. This car is a stalwart and one of four cars of similar design dating from the period 1917-1920.

8. One of the modern generation of trams in the museum collection is 100, the unique Tatra T7B5 from Oslo. It sees sporadic use on the museum tramway, and with its interior layout fitted with tables is especially popular for private hire parties. It is shown outside Gårda depot on 10 May. David Lawrence

All photography by Mike Russell unless otherwise stated.

Prague 150 – Celebrating 150 years of public transport

By Paul Rowen

The LRTA sends its congratulations to the city of Prague in the Czech Republic, which is celebrating 150 years of public transport. Not only that, but it is celebrating 150 years of trams in the city.

The actual celebration will be on Sunday 21 September, when 40 trams will parade through the city on a 12km (7.5-mile) route. Celebrations start on Sokolovská Street at 09.30 with short speeches followed by the parade, which will be led by a horse-drawn carriage and will include trams from the oldest to the newest Škoda 4City Plus 52T tram.

The LRTA is fortunate to have a group visiting the Czech city for the celebration as part of an Ian Longworth tour, and former

LRTA Treasurer Mike Ballinger will be representing the TMS by riding on one of the trams.

A full report by Mike Russell will appear in the next issue of TAUT, and an online talk by Rob Pritchard is also planned for October. Additionally, the Association has sent a congratulatory message wishing Prague well for the celebrations.

The LRTA (and its predecessor the LRTL) has been fortunate to visit the city of Prague several times, and the latest issue of Tramway Review (the association’s historical journal, published quarterly and available in TJ Jones) includes an account of the 1972 visit to Czechoslovakia and Hungary by Mike Russell. He will also be giving an online talk on the topic later this year.

Documents available for this year ’ s AGM

This year’s AGM in Sheffield is rapidly approaching, and there is still time for members to register for the events which include a reception at the South Yorkshire Transport Museum, a dinner and a visit to Crich.

Papers for the meeting are now available online in the members area. This includes

MEETINGS & EVENTS

OCTOBER

Thursday 2. Brentford 14.30. Martin Jenkins: Tram, trolleybus and other films from Online Transport Archive. London Museum of Water and Steam, Brentford TW8 0EN. Contact: thamesvalley@tlrs.info. GBP5 inc. refreshments (TLRS)

Thursday 7. Southampton 19.30. Martyn Davies: Railway miscellany. Junction Church (Former Railway

Institute) Romsey Road, Eastleigh, GBP3. (LRTA/SEG)

Wednesday 8. Sussex 19.40. Tim Kendell; Tram-train innovations. Southwick Community Centre, Southwick, BN42 4TE. Contact: sussex@tlrs.info. GBP2 visitors. (TLRS)

Monday 13. Leeds 19.30, John Holmes: North Leeds railways, part 2: Otley to Ilkley. The Engine House, Leeds LS10 2JG. GBP1 (inc. light refreshments). Contact: enquiries@ lths.co.uk. (LRTA/LTHS)

the annual accounts, Chair’s report and other functional group reports, and details of how to apply for a proxy vote if members are not able to attend in person.

The event will be streamed online, although members cannot presently vote online except through the use of a proxy form.

Saturday 18. Coatbridge 13.00. Scottish trams show and tell & talk TBC. Cumbernauld Theatre, Lanternhouse G67 2UF. Contact: scotland@tlrs.info. (TLRS) Monday 20. Liverpool 19.30. Sharon Brown: Liverpool Overhead Railway by the people they employed. Sefton Park Community Association, Liverpool L17 3AG. Contact: merseyside@tlrs.info. GBP4. (TLRS) Monday 20. Solent 19.30. TBA.

St. Nicholas’s Church Hall, Hants, PO17 6HP. Contact Paul Coles. solent@tlrs.info. GBP2. (TLRS) Saturday 25. Garstang 14.00. Brian Yates: Trams in the 60s. St Thomas New Church Hall, Garstang PR3 1PA. Contact: archivist@tlrs.info. Small fee light refreshments. (TLRS) Saturday 25. Nottingham 14.00. Paul Coles: TLRS archives East Midlands part 2. Beeston Scout Hut, NG9 1GA. Contact: chairman@ tlrs.info. (TLRS)

ABOVE: Prague has hosted a number of tram celebrations in years gone by – pictured is part of the procession that marked 140 years in 2015. Mike Russell

ABOVE: Part of the parade through the streets of Prague in 2015. Mike Russell

Bookshop

Order online from https://shop.lrta.org/ – 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

Tramways in Milan in Colour (1954-1978)

I tram di Milano – Immagini a colori (1954-1978)

Third in the series of colour albums exploring the fascinating combination of urban and interurban tramways in and around Milan. The variety of rolling stock is amazing and is richly illustrated. English and Italian text.

> A4 hardback, 144 pages, 176 colour pictures plus two maps.

£33.50 (UK); £40.00 (outside UK); £47.50 (Airmail Z1);

£52.50 (Airmail Z2/3); LRTA Members: £3.00 discount

TRAM 2000 – Atlas 2025

Belgique - Luxembourg

Comprehensive review of the tram, metro and light rail systems in Antwerp, Brussels, Charleroi, Ghent and Liège plus the Belgian Coast, Han-sur-Lesse and Luxembourg. French text.

> A5 softback; 100 pages; 91 colour pictures; 38 maps.

£16.00 (UK); £20.00 (outside UK); £22.50 (Airmail Z1); £24.00 (Airmail Z2 and 3); LRTA Members: £1.35 discount

Scottish Transport No. 77 - 2025 Edition

Annual magazine of the STTS

Features ex-Manchester trams in Aberdeen, idiosyncrasies in Glasgow, Scottish tram models, Edinburgh artefacts, more Scottish Aviation Pioneers and Ayr Corporation’s first trams.

> A5 softback; 60 pages, illustrated in colour and black & white.

£11.00 (UK); £15.00 (outside UK); £17.00 (Airmail Z1);

£18.50 (Airmail Z2/3); LRTA Members: £0.85 discount

Tramways and Light Railways of Barcelona, Mallorca and Valencia in Colour (1954-1980)

The first in a series of three books covering many of the tramways and electric light railways operational in Spain in the mid-1950s.

> A4 hardback, landscape format; 144 pages, fully illustrated in colour throughout.

£42.50 (UK); £54.00 (outside UK); £66.00 (Airmail Z1); £67.50 (Airmail Z2/3); LRTA Members: £3.90 discount

Japan Tram Atlas

A comprehensive review of the tramways and trolleybuses of Japan with superb track maps for every system. Details of the car types operated and the routes on which they run are covered. English and German text.

> A4 softback; 272 pages, 423 colour and black & white pictures, 48 track maps.

£36.50 (UK); £46.50 (outside UK); £56.50 (Airmail Z1);

£61.50 (Airmail Z2/3); LRTA Members: £3.25 discount

Then and Now on the Chicago Surface System

Shore Line Interurban Historical Society Dispatch No. 15

A superb review of the streetcar and trolleybus systems in the Windy City from the early days to the present, now dominated by the motorbus.

> A4 softback, 100 pages, 170 pictures mainly in colour.

£32.50 (UKs); £37.50 (outside UK); £41.50 (Airmail Z1);

£44.50 (Airmail Z2/3); LRTA Members: £2.95 discount

For further details of all these books go to our website.

Kam všude vedly koleje 1894-1972

Historie Nákladní Dopravy na Tramvajových Tratích Normálního Rozchodu v Ostravé a Okoli

Tells the fascinating story of the freight tramway network in the Ostrava region of the Czech Republic. Descriptions of rolling stock and maps of all lines and depots plus sidings. Czech text.

> A4 hardback, 216 pages, fully illustrated black & white and colour pictures, 80 maps. Limited quantity available

£28.00 – www.nationaltrolleybus.org

Od páry k bezemisní

dopravě 1894-2024

Pohledy do 130 Leté historie Veřejné Dopravy na Ostravsku

Comprehensive history of public transport in the Ostrava region of the Czech Republic. Covers all modes up to the present extensive tram, trolleybus and bus networks. Czech text.

> A4 hardback, 128 pages, 300+ black & white and colour pictures, 29 maps. Limited quantity available.

£22.00 – www.nationaltrolleybus.org

BARCELONA,

European Light Rail Congress

TWO days of interactive debates... TWELVE hours of dedicated networking... ONE place to be

Espacio Mutua Tinerfeña –

La Laguna, Tenerife

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 2026 we are taking the European Light Rail Congress back to the beautiful Canary island of Tenerife, home of the Metrotenerife light rail system.

Metrotenerife provides modern and efficient public transport, with safety and the environment being key factors that contribute to improving the quality of life of the citizens of Tenerife and the surroundings. There are some very exciting expansion plans with their current lines in the North of the Island growing, as well as building new lines to connect more areas of the island and reduce the need for cars and reduce both congestion and pollution.

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, plus an expansive exhibition hall within the Espacio Mutua Tinerfeña in San Cristobal de la Laguna, which is very close to the tramway. An evening networking reception for delegates to maximise their networking opportunities is also included, along with an exclusive behind the scenes depot tour hosted by Metrotenerife. Convenient accommodation to the venue is very close with one hotel just 4-5 metres away, and another 450 metres away.

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.

11-12

March

2026