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Rob
van der Bijl & Axel Kuehn
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TramTrain,
that is, basically trams using heavy railway infrastructure, or the
"Karlsruhe model", has been seen for some time as the miraculous
solution for railbound regional public transport. Note
(February 2009)
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INTRODUCTION [top]
[summary]
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Tram-Train systems link urban tramway infrastructure with the regional heavy rail network around cities. After the first generation of those systems in Germany (Karlsruhe and Saarbruecken) new systems evolve now. The mid-nineties have been a real boom period regarding TramTrain feasibility studies. Many cities and regions with a regional railway network, with or without an urban tramway and of similar size as Karlsruhe have been asking if the concept is transferable to their situation. Most of these projects have not proceeded or at least been heavily delayed and not given high priority. The reasons differ, but we question whether asking the right basic questions early enough would have avoided big studies which went straight into the archives. Despite the flexible and context sensitive nature of TramTrain our aim is to identify at least some generic TramTrain characteristics, since we feel that a clear view of these will enable promoters to recognise a new set of (potential) applications or to revise earlier schemes which may have been reviewed before under narrower conditions. The EC-project CROSSRAIL was an attempt to deliver a standardised or at least harmonised approach to TramTrain, but concentrated heavily on rolling stock issues and specifications. The current LIBERTIN thematic network goes into a similar direction, but is covering light rail in general. We lack an approach which is more focussing both on urban context and the economic viability of projects. Technical issues do not need to become obsolete for decision making (especially as technical issues influence costs!). However, technical feasibility is not enough.
2. DEFINITIONS [top] [summary] [menu] While in the early days of TramTrain one spoke of the "Karlsruhe model", "track sharing" or "joint running" it is necessary today to distinct between different groups. Classic
light-rail/tramway operation Conversion projects are schemes, which make use of former railway infrastructure converted for light rail for a considerable part of the network. There is no mix between tramway and railway operation. Infrastructure is taken over usually, so no track access charges apply. Single mode (electrification 600/750V) track sharing schemes also involve the use of railway infrastructure, but in track-sharing mode with freight trains or other non-electric trains (thus the railway is still used by other railway traffic). This is how Karlsruhe started with the Albtalbahn. In most cases infrastructure is also owned by the light rail operator and track access charges do not apply. TramTrain-operation involves both track-sharing light rail/heavy rail and dual- or multi-mode operation (Heavy rail voltage / Light rail voltage). The track-sharing sections may also include main line heavy rail infrastructure. Usually infrastructure (tracks and stations) is owned by the railway infrastructure owners (DB Netz, RFF, Prorail, Network Rail etc.) and track access and station use charges apply for the light rail operator. TrainTram-operation is reversing the tram-train idea; direct access from the region to city centres is not achieved by bringing the tramway out onto the railway, but by bringing heavy rail vehicles onto the urban tramway or onto a tramway-like alignment. The heavy rail vehicles being used under urban conditions follow tramway regulations. Usually TrainTram will not involve a through-running of railway vehicles from one end of a city to the other, but access the city centre from one side only.
3. STATE OF THE ART [top] [summary] [menu] 3.1 Karlsruhe: Success, Failure and Weaknesses The name "Karlsruhe" all around the world is used as a synonym for success. However, the scheme demonstrates a number of features which are difficult to sell elsewhere! The Karlsruhe compromise of running high- and medium floor light rail vehicles through an urban "low-floor" network has to be seen as a killer argument for TramTrain in France and likely in all other countries, where the full accessibility of public transport is an absolute requirement. Therefore level access for TramTrain in all sections of a planned network is of high importance. Karlsruhe is certainly a good example of a railway (main) station at a distance to the city centre where through-running TramTrains result in a considerable gain in attractiveness. With a regional scheme however, involving several TramTrain-lines operating through the city centre, often in coupled units and with relatively heavy rolling stock, Karlsruhe is virtually witnessing the "return of the railway station" into the city centre after having moved it before WWI to the southern edge. At the moment it is planned to solve this new problem by an underground section of the network which would also mean taking out the "normal" surface trams from the pedestrian zone. Nevertheless Karlsruhe's passenger number increases have proven the usefulness of through running in the case of medium-sized cities owning a remote railway (main) station or the benefits of a centrally located railway station. 3.2 Saarbruecken - First Low-floor TramTrain Saarbruecken decided in 1991 -only 26 years after the closure of the old tramway- to re-introduce rail-based public transport in the city-centre. In view to the vast amount of rail infrastructure still existing from the height of the coal and steel industry it was decided not to go for a classic tramway, but for a TramTrain-scheme. Unlike Karlsruhe one went for a fully accessible low-floor system from the beginning (350/380mm platforms throughout). The lack of an urban tramway did ease some of the technical issues which Karlsruhe has needed to compromise (existing rail infrastructure and tramway rolling stock). Only six years later the southern section of the first line from Saarbruecken main station through the city centre towards Brebach and further on towards Sarreguemines in France was opened in 1997. The very fast planning and implementation time certainly was possible only in the very supportive political framework of the Saarland, where in the capital state and municipal politics are very close to one another. However, the first line is still not completed today, as the northern section has been heavily delayed at the public inquiry stage. Construction has now started this year, which means that the northern part has involved planning and implementation time of about 14 years! Saarbruecken shows how crucial it is to be able to implement a project in steps. Such step by step progress is however difficult in competition conditions, where probably the whole project would have been delayed and endangered. Moreover, despite the fact that Saarbruecken got a tramway-like alignment, still the degree of urban penetration is relatively limited, as the TramTrain remains at the edge of the historic centre. 3.3 Other 'First Wave' Cities The boom years of feasibility studies and/or cost-benefit analysis's have been the years 1993-97 with 33 cities/regions known to the authors (see table). Some of
these cities only have been progressed further as TramTrain schemes
or are currently near to realisation, others developed into another
direction: All others have been given up more or less at early planning stages or are just "sleeping projects". The reasons are different and vary from un-supportive political and regulatory conditions via difficult technical conditions to negative economical results. Some examples:
3.4 '2nd Generation' Cities After these "first wave" studies/projects there has been a "second generation" in recent years which includes at least 40 cities all over Europe (see table).
3.5 Our Question Why are there only a few implemented "classic" TramTrain projects today - 12 years after Karlsruhe started with Karlsruhe-Bretten? Was the original Karlsruhe approach a bit to narrow to be successful everywhere? Is there a reason to talk about "TramTrain - the 2nd generation" and what are the features of these projects which have been developed further from the Karlsruhe origins? Is there an easy way to identify at the very beginning whether a city may be suited for TramTrain or one of its derivates? What could be criteria to evaluate this? The authors have looked into a number of the above described cases which have been investigated over the years in order to refine such criteria and to use them for some form of checklist.
4.1 Generic Features Generally
TramTrain projects serve as improvement of already established public
transport networks. This presupposes some luxury, in other words, a
certain size of economy and a sufficient degree of social stability. 4.2 Institutional Context TramTrain
projects are complicated and therefore they need a strong and high quality
regulation. Almost all of these projects cover regional corridors, so
some regional government or body, or at least a sustainable form of
regional co-operation and tough political support is an absolute necessity
for success. 4.3 Urban and Regional Characteristics Historically
the selection of sites for the new railway main station was quite problematic
in many cases in the late 19th century. Due to this historical fact
(or later re-locations) many main stations are in a remote position
from the actual city centre. The distance varies from city to city.
Basic argumentation for introducing TramTrain is bridging the gap between
main station and city centre. To make this worthwhile the distance involved
should be at least around 1000 metres, or a walking distance of circa
10-15 minutes. 4.4 Urban and Regional Figures Generally
TramTrain use requires a minimum population size of city and region.
But the maximum is also relevant, since TramTrain is generally not suitable
for heavy metropolitan uses. Minimum and maximum figures should also
be taken into account while considering the potential transport corridor
or the proposed catchment area. 4.5 Public Transport Characteristics TramTrain/TrainTram
in principle is a tool to avoid interchanges on a passenger's way towards
the city. This means that there is no or very little place for such
a scheme in a city which already has a high quality rail scheme linking
into the city centre, e.g. by a S-Bahn/RER type system coming from the
region and running underground in the city. 4.6 Technical Issues Experience
has shown that nearly all technical issues of a TramTrain scheme can
be solved, however there are more favourable (easier) conditions and
more complicated (difficult) ones. The non-existence of an urban infrastructure
is not automatically a disadvantage as it gives more planning freedom
and eases full accessibility solutions. 4.7 Costs and Cost Comparisons The assessment of options or the contents of cost-benefit-assessments are handled differently. Comparisons of different options are not enforced in Germany - normally it is enough to show a positive benefit-cost-ratio of the politically preferred option. Such comparisons are however important or even obligatory elsewhere. A comparison
of costs and benefits between TramTrain and other modes, some of which
may need to draw upon interchanges to a larger scale, is necessary especially
for more regional parts of a TramTrain-network at the borderline to
"normal" heavy rail operation. TramTrain costs/km should not
only be compared with the more expensive alternatives as new tramways
or even metros, but also with alternatives as DMU (EMU) operation. If
it can be proven that the latter show a cost-benefit ratio worse then
TramTrain, the economical viability of a TT-project is definitely increasing.
The ratio alone is not deciding, as 100 divided by 50 is the same as
10 divided by 5, which means that politics have to decide in such a
case whether they want more benefit for more costs, or less benefit
for less costs. Even more critical this decision will become when a
comparison might come out with one option having 80% of the benefits
of the other, but only 50% of the costs.
5. APPLIED CRITERIA - THE FIFTY ISSUES [top] [summary] [menu] Our checklist and its fifty issues (see previous section & table below) enable us to assess existing, planned and potential TramTrain cities/regions on a 'quick and dirty' way. As a first finger exercise we developed a rating system (AAA, …, D), and applied this system to the issues of our checklist. To demonstrate the value of our approach we selected six German 'reference cities', which all realised TramTrain, and six cases, which all represent potential TramTrain candidates: Antwerp (Belgium), Groningen (Netherlands), Aidelaide (Australia), Liège (Belgium), Szeged (Hungary) and Nizhniy Novgorod (Russia). We evaluated how a positive or negative response to the 50 issues is influencing a rating. It would be too complicated to describe this whole background process here, but both tables (see above) show the result by summarising just the seven groups.
Case: Antwerp (Belgium). Rating: A…BBB - The existing tramway, which is expanding in to the region (e.g. Zwijndrecht; see picture), the planned use of already available tram tunnel constructions, and serious proposals to enlarge the tramway on a regional scale favour TramTrain of a next generation type. But, some severe technical and cultural problems regarding the National Railways has to be solved. Firstly gauge, the existing tramway is narrow, while the heavy railway is standard gauge. This gap should be bridged. Probably the best thing to do is introduction of dual gauge on all relevant portions of the local tramway network. A more serious problem is the lack of any experience with TramTrain. Conservatism and political struggle within and around the National Railways of Belgium probably prevented TramTrain so far.
Case: Groningen (Netherlands). Rating: AA…A - This city in the north of The Netherlands in principle is a good example of a TramTrain city. The idea of TramTrain has been subject of discussion - November 2002 light rail vehicles were exhibited at city centre's market square (see picture). Nevertheless the planning process developed into another direction. The current proposal imply independent train and bus services, however interrelated in some transport nodes. Still TramTrain would be a sensible approach.
Case: Aidelaide (Australia). Rating: A…BBB - Technical roots and utilisations of TramTrain have been West European affairs. But maybe Adelaide in Australia could be an example outside Europe. Like American, Australian conurbations exceed the scale of European cities and its regions. Though the number of inhabitants of Adelaide is almost similar to that of larger middle-sized European cities, the distances within, as well as the size of the urban region are bigger. Adelaide city accommodate 970.000 inhabitants (city plus region: 1.2 million). The Glenelg tramway connects the city centre with Adelaide's beach, but the centre terminus (Victoria Square) is located some distance of the main station (see picture). If we apply all of our criteria to Adelaide there is reason to believe that this Australian conurbation could benefit from TramTrain. Maybe, since cultural, institutional and technical conditions differ from West European ones. And more over, such a through service will need high investments due to difference in gauge (tram is standard, train is broad gauge) and the likely necessity of electrification of the heavy rail section used by trams.
Case: Liège (Belgium). Rating: A…+ - This city in Belgium (Wallony) meets many principles regarding urban and regional characteristics, socially and economically. Liège is the very heart of its region; Liège's main station is newly built completely, but the centre still is remote (no tramway, but luckily between station and city centre a busway on reserved alignment is available, also suitable for TramTrain; see picture 'TT'). But unfortunately the size of Liège's regional and local economy don't allow any advanced schemes like TramTrain on the short run. Improving bus infrastructure with the aid of simple means still demands priority. But, on the long run one should not rule out TramTrain.
Case: Szeged (Hungary). Rating: C…C+ - Yet again a true TramTrain city? Szeged in the south east boarder area of Hungary: 170.000 inhabitants, a normal gauge tramway and railway, a main station far away from city centre. Probably though, a completely unknown city for many of us, which surely never has been subject of TramTrain study. So, Szeged is a true TramTrain candidate? No, perhaps not, as like other East European cities the size of city's local and regional economy is insufficient without doubt. Not convinced? Please, do have a glance at the worn out Szeged's city tramway of today. But perhaps, if this tramway eventually has been modernised (in stead of abandoned), TramTrain will be a possible future, that is, on the long run. The alignment of line 1 (see picture; blue on the map) could be used for a TramTrain-service.
Case: Nizhniy Novgorod (Russia). Rating: D…- - This Russian city, 600 kilometres east of Moscow, is a potential TramTrain city indeed. Many urban features justify the installation of TramTrain, like the social economic meaning of this city for its hinterland, the distance of uphill centre to low situated main station at the other site of the river, an existing tramway (see picture), and much more. However, the size of Nizhniy Novgorod's local and regional economy and the degree of social stability in Russia is insufficient by far. Moreover, these Russian cities lack a public transport culture which could back advanced TramTrain schemes.
6. CONCLUSION [top] [summary] [menu] TramTrain has been seen for some time as the miraculous solution for rail-bound regional public transport. However, the number of implemented cases is limited and those projects which came further than the initial feasibility study often have developed in another direction. Even in Germany with very supportive regulatory and political structures progress has been much slower then one would have expected. There is no "single" explanation for this, but a deeper look behind the Karlsruhe myth provides clues. Looking at the reasons for the "non-progress" of other projects is also helping to understand. In simple terms: TramTrain is neither cheap nor easy. "Master planning" is needed from the beginning to create a final system layout, to allocate the roles of different modes in the overall scheme and to identify the consequences for urban planning. It also needs a serious acting with the compromises it can involve, especially if integrating an existing urban tramway. There is even more dependence on supportive political and regulatory structures because it is more complicated in it's project structure. There may also be limits for TramTrain's regional radius - which may sensibly be found in a range of 25-40km radius around a city. Even if the idea of offering seamless transport into city centres is still very favourable, interchange should not be treated too dogmatic in an "avoid any interchange" policy. An integrated regional scheme with defined activity areas for different modes will always involve interchanges and can still be attractive. Rolling stock design is another feature and one has to find the right ratio between a conservative "reliability" and a progressive "design is everything" policy. Despite all the technical extra requirements of a TramTrain-vehicle - it will not be acceptable to run an "ugly duckling" alongside attractive "normal" trams. This is definitely one of the problems that has arisen in France, where most schemes have been developed from scratch in a very high design quality context, which one did not want to diminish for a later TramTrain-scheme. The dimensions of TramTrain rolling stock are also a less obvious design feature, as many (old and new) tramway schemes present limited options for platform lengths and/or vehicle width. On the other hand a TramTrain-scheme will depend in most cases with regard to the economic issues on the complete replacement of existing train services which means that a high capacity is needed which requires longer and wider vehicles and also coupled units. This is definitely a contradiction in many cases. If the share of total rail-bound traffic which TramTrain might achieve in a region is very low such a complex solution may not be worthwhile (however, TrainTram could be an alternative in some cases). Another lesson is to avoid a "one scheme with one mode and one vehicle" policy. As Kassel is now showing, it is feasible to operate both all-electric TramTrains and dieseltrams together and to use them as the existing network requires it. This takes also a lot of financial pressure away from rural, non-electrified railway routes without reducing attractiveness. A number of early TramTrain studies had already proved the need for such technology. The Chemnitz Citybahn shows an intelligent symbiosis of electric light rail and diesel heavy rail operation within one operating company. Flexibility is recommended! One cannot assume that using two existing infrastructures result in a cheap combination of the two automatically. Main cost factors are possibly regional electrification, safety and detection installations, physical links of railway and tramway infrastructure, or even creating the tramway infrastructure from scratch and the necessary adaptations of the existing networks (which can turn out to become a city centre tunnel as in Karlsruhe). Second generation projects as Kassel, Nordhausen, Chemnitz or Zwickau have brought serious innovation to TramTrain by adapting and widening of the original Karlsruhe idea. This will give scope for further studies or a review of older approaches. To find an ideal TramTrain city has at least become easier. The 50 basic TramTrain issues developed in this paper will hopefully allow to speed up future TramTrain discussions and allow an early steering in the right direction.
Bijl, R. A. J. van der (1998) Leicht durch Stadt und Landschaft - Light Rail - a convenient means of regional and city transport. Topos, 24, 23-31. Bijl, R. A. J. van der (1998) Light rail in Nederland: veel praten, weinig doen. Stadtbahn-project in Karlsruhe geniet aandacht, maar nog geen navolging. Blauwe Kamer, 1, 24-35. Bijl, R. A. J. van der (2003) Light rail & regionale planning. Portland (OR): voorbeeld van 'transport oriented development' Hugo Priemus, Robert Kloosterman & Willem Korthals Altes (ed.), ICES, Stad & Infrastructuur. Koninklijke Van Gorcum, Assen 2003, 67-74. Griffin, T., Kuehn, A. (1996) Shared track scheme now gaining wide acceptance (1996) Passenger Rail Management, 11 CrossRail - outlining the standard for the future European Tram-Train (2000-2001) Reports, RD.10843, EU DG Tren, Brussels. Ludwig, D., Kuehn, A. (1995) Das Karlsruher Modell und seine Übertragbarkeit. Der Nahverkehr, 10, 12-22 Numéro Spécial PERIURBAIN (2001) Revue Générale des Chemins de Fer, 12, 3-86. Phraner, S. David, Roberts, Richard et al (1999) Joint operation of Light Rail Transit or Diesel Multiple Unit Vehicles with Railroads, TCRP Report 52, Transportation Research Board, Washington D.C.
THE AUTHORS [top] [summary] [menu] Dr. Rob
van der Bijl (Amsterdam, Netherlands) is urban planner and founder of
www.lightrail.nl. Since 1997 he has been involved in TramTrain research
and projects in Holland and other European countries. He has documented
TramTrain systems, projects and features on his website 'Light Rail
Atlas'. This webpage is based on our paper presented for the Association for European Transport during the European Transport Conference (ETC 2004) in Strasbourg, 4-6 October 2004.
CONSULTING & CASES [top] [summary] [menu] The authors
of this paper certainly are also available for consultancy services
in this field, be it further advice on best practice, feasibility studies
or study-tours to relevant locations. Having a deep experience with
TramTrain projects and being able to review those both from their technical
conditions and their institutional and urban/regional planning context
we are able to guide our clients both in early phases of those projects,
when the question is what to do at all and in later phases, when the
bigger firms are needed on stage, to assure some “context/content
quality control” and to deliver valuable “second opinions”.
Check below for a number of projects in which this method has already been applied successfully.
Don’t underestimate also the importance of well-organised and guided study-tours! It is a great tool to understand your choice of options – and avoid just going to a so-called “Mekka”, try to see several locations and to compare them properly. An independent guide can be very helpful to see behind official “Hallelujahs”! See www.lightrail.nl/studytours and especially on second generation TramTrain in Germany, the “Tour of the year” (link) page.
Groningen
Grenland
Aarhus
Oslo WORKSHOPS AT ZWICKAU AND LUCERNE - Axel Kuehn and Rob van der Bijl developed their '50 issues' method for evaluating schemes within the TramTrain world and have successfully applied it for a number of cases. Now they widened the scope to cover also state of the art regional heavy rail schemes which today often show similar qualities and features as light rail oriented approaches - be it as an alternative option or as an existing condition. In 2006 Axel and Rob will organise two challenging 'workshops on location' in Zwickau (Germany) and Lucerne (Switzerland), which will pick up some of the 50 issues in more detail, but also represent the widened scope in respect to the real life situations at hand. The Zwickau workshop originally was fixed for May 11-12th, but had to be postponed to June 15-16th – the Lucerne workshop will take place on September 14-15th 2006. The 2007
workshop was organised by Axel Kuehn. A tailor-made program was envisaged
in respects of the TramTrain project in Aarhus (Denmark). For late 2008
a workshop has been scheduled in Bremen. Participants will have the opportunity to evaluate and to discuss on location a variety of specific issues more thoroughly and by comparing the chosen local approach with other available or thinkable solutions. The workshops will combine study-tour, presentation and workshop features in a very interesting way. NEWS & RECENT EVENTS [top] [summary] [menu] Toyama
(Japan) In April 2008 RVDB/Lightrail.nl started a case study to
the new TramTrain of Japan (in co-operation with the local authorities).
The project of Toyama serves a nation-wide show case of light rail.
Check our link for the first results: www.lightrail.nl/toyama/
Zwolle-Kampen
(Netherlands) RVDB/Lightrail.nl (Rob van der Bijl et al.) in co-operation
with ARCADIS engineers won the competition of ProRail, the state-owned
company responsible for maintenance, slots and safety of the national
railway network (May 2007). RVDB and his team proposed the transformation
of several regional lines into full tramways, or to some extend the
introduction of track sharing. The regional railway Zwolle-Kampen serves
as pilot and will be converted to tramway. The first project has been
elaborated in the first half of 2008.
La Réunion
January-June
2008 - TramTrain seems to progress in France Projects have been
announced in Nantes and Lyon, while in several other cities TramTrain
proposals were taken seriously (e.g. Toulouse and Le Havre). May
2008 - TramTrain trials in UK As pilot will serve the 59 km section
between Sheffield, Barnsley and Huddersfield of the Penistone Line.
Northern Rail will operate the experimental service, using five TramTrain
vehicles. The trial will start in 2010, so far no test running has been
envisaged on the existing Sheffield system. Operator Northern Rail is
owned by Serco and Ned Railways. The latter will use its experience
with the trial operation of TramTrain on the line Gouda-Alphen in The
Netherlands.
November
2007 - Tram-train La Réunion (France)
TramTrain seems also to reach the island of Réunion (France).
November 21, 2007 the French government announced a 500 million euro
loan for the 1.3 billion project. It's the biggest loan ever from the
central government to a local/regional authority.
April-November
2006 - Three new TramTrain conversion style projects
September
2006 - Brussels-Aalst – TramTrain progress in Belgium
There is positive news regarding TramTrain applications in Belgium. When in 2000 first TramTrain ideas have been discussed for Brussels within the CROSSRAIL EC-project, these ideas have been without any real official support at this stage and when the authors of this page wrote their paper on “TramTrain-the second generation” in 2004 the institutional conditions in Belgium have still been qualified as “not very promising”.
However, parallel to the reorganisation of the railway including the separation of network (INFRABEL) and operation (SNCB), some initiatives lead to a new strategy and approach. First internal studies of SNCB dealt with the more general aspects of TramTrain and it was decided to work on several case studies in both the Wallonian and the Flemish part of the country and also in the Brussels region. It has to be said that not all those studies deal with real TramTrain – as one has taken over to some extent the Dutch “LightTrain” approach, which means that some schemes are more regional heavy rail schemes with state-of-the-art rolling stock. LightTrain in principle (from e.g. a German perspective!) is nothing but a modern form of regional railways like presented on our RegioRail-page, but besides Zwickau all those schemes are heavy rail and fulfilling more or less completely UIC-standards.
STIB, the Brussels operator is now in the lead regarding the case study for Brussels region, which involves the railway corridor from Aalst to Brussels (L.50) targeting on CCN (Centre de Communication Nord), through Brussels on existing and new tramway infrastructure and back on the railway in the East (L.26) towards Etterbeek. Thus this is real TramTrain!
A challenging project - we will inform again as soon as any results have been made public by the client and steering group.
June 2006 - Historic Regensburg – a challenging TramTrain case
The German
city of Regensburg, located in Bavaria on the Danube River, with a city
population of 128.000 and an agglomeration size of nearly 200.000, is
currently investigating a regional light rail scheme including the use
of regional heavy rail infrastructure.
Next steps
are a conceptual study regarding the proposed light rail scheme and
the possible integration in the regional public transport plan. Axel
Kuehn has been assigned by Regensburg municipality as an external advisor
for the conceptual study, especially with regard to the technical feasibility
of alignments in the historic Regensburg context.
May 2006 - TrenTranvia: TramTrain goes Spain
TramTrain operation is called in Spain TrenTranvia, thus literally translated TrainTram, which we use differently per definition. The Alicante-Denia “TrenTranvia”-scheme is well known for some time already, see below some “artist impression” of the vehicle which will be delivered soon. Reading ALSTOM here raises the question whether this is another child of the RegioCitadis TramTrain-family, which is operating in Kassel within the RegioTram scheme? No it isn’t! This vehicle is a real local product, coming from the workshops of the local Valencia production plant of VOSSLOH, which was belonging until 2004 to ALSTOM and which has contributed a good deal of the vehicles for light rail and metro projects in the Valencia region.
This metre gauge vehicle will be operating under 1500V/750V DC, so in principle showing “Dutch TramTrain conditions” and is foreseen for a maximum speed of 110km/h in the railway sections which is more then all other TramTrain schemes did go for. It will be only partly low-floor with high floor sections above the bogies.
A second TramTrain scheme is on the move now in the Cadiz region, thus in the very South of Spain! It will link the two towns of Chiclana and San Fernando with Cadiz. Part of the project will be urban tramway (Chiclana-San Fernando), while the extension to Cadiz will involve mixed operation light/heavy rail on ADIF infrastructure.
Axel Kuehn
and Rob van der Bijl are members of the project team of Ardanuy Ingenieria
S.A., which have been assigned earlier in the year by GIASA with a study
detailing technical issues of the TramTrain scheme in the fields of
signalling, communication, rolling stock and interfaces between the
two systems tramway and heavy rail. Axel Kuehn is currently dealing
with a rolling stock study which will contribute to the preliminary
specification of the future TramTrain-vehicles. Be
sure to hear more about this scheme in the future!
May 2006 - RegioTram visits Sweden Since several
years the Swedish State research institute VTI is investigating into
the transferability of the TramTrain idea to Sweden. Within the so-called
DUOSPårVAG-project a test operation in Östergötland
region around the two bigger cities Norrköping and Linköping
has been investigated and prepared. You find more information about
this project under www.vti.se/duo.
Soon Mulhouse will open its new city tramway. Part of the central portion of this tramway will be used by a regional TramTrain.
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