Tenerife Takes Its Tram to Heart Photo: MTSA Photo
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TENERIFE | EXPANSION Tenerife takes its tram to heart Photo: MTSA Photo: The tram passes ISLAND Inaugurated only 18 months ago, Metrotenerife will soon complete its first less than 5 m from historical extension and is already planning more. Jane Pearce has been to find out more about buildings such as the theatre. how the network is shaping up. trip on the tram in Santa Equipment suppliers from France, Ikusi-Efacec domain responsible for Cruz de Tenerife is rather Spain and Portugal (Table I) rose to electronic monitoring and control of like riding a rollercoaster, the challenge of providing software all fixed and network installations. as the brightly-coloured and equipment for the tram project As well as co-ordinating all tram Avehicle glides silently down the steep in very tight timescales. These were operations, the management data- hills and around tight curves snaking then integrated by Transdev into the base generates the key performance its way towards the coast. However, management information and oper- indicators used by the government the passengers who experience this ating system, which is linked to the to supervise and measure MTSA’s sensation in ever-growing numbers Las Te resitas are unperturbed, secure in the knowl- La Trinidad Aeropuerto Norte edge that the tram is controlled and Line 3 constantly monitored from the state- La Laguna of-the-art Central Command Post. Valleseco Puente The CCP receives real-time infor- Gracia Line 1 La Cuesta Zurita mation on the location of each tram, vehicle data such as the number of Fundación Hospital Line 2 Santa passengers, live CCTV images from Universitario Cruz Intercambiador cameras located on the vehicle and at 03 km Cardonal tram stops, and the status of the over- Congress Centre La Candelaria head lines and power supply, thanks Tincer to the fully-integrated SAE operations management system. Metropolitana Line 2 de Tenerife SA takes security very La Gallega Tenerife light rail seriously. Controllers can respond LRT in operation quickly to incidents and anomalies, Under construction and keep passengers updated via the Planned onboard public address. © Railway Gazette 2009 38 Metro Report International | March 2009 EXPANSION | TENERIFE administrative centres on the coast Table I. Metrotenerife Phase 1 equipment suppliers and the historic city of La Laguna. Surveys show that 28% of users are Ikusi-Efacec JV Vehicle scheduling and control system, signalling, fire detection, under 25 years of age, and almost 50% SCADA , communications, video surveillance, passenger of these are university students. Ac- information and ticketing cording to Carlos Alonso, President Efacec 1 primary and 7 traction substations, catenary and electrical of MTSA, 20% of trips are made for installations shopping and leisure. Lumiplan Heurès route planning, scheduling and daily operations software Despite 50 road intersections, the tram takes only 37 min to cover the CARL Software Asset management and maintenance management software route from end to end, at an average Atos Origin Management information system speed of 20 km/h. The tracks are seg- Transdata Central management information and operating system; regated from other traffic wherever (subsidiary of Transdev) supervision and integration of subsystems possible and the tram has absolute Transdev Project management and operations priority over other traffic at all junc- tions. Although the tram competes Alstom Transport 20 Citadis trams with local buses or ‘guaguas’, figures show that 55% of all tram journeys performance. The government pays average daily figure of 50 000 passen- would not have been made by bus, ev- the operator an annual fee based on gers, an increase of 8% on 2007 fig- idence that the tram has significantly availability, which is determined by ures. Since the line opened on June 2 increased Santa Cruz’s public trans- quality parameters such as reliability. 2007, a total of 19 million journeys port offering. Andrés Muñoz, Manag- The CCP is located at MTSA’s had been completed. ing Director of MTSA, is proud of the 22 420 m2 headquarters together with The tram’s success can be attributed fact that 25% of tram users formerly the workshop and depot (known as to several factors. One is accessibility. travelled by car but now choose to Talleres y Cocheras), which can ac- Around 55% of the city’s 339 000 in- leave it at home. commodate 35 vehicles. Any faults habitants live within 500 m of a tram are immediately reported back to the stop, with vehicles arriving every Project background control centre, where the CARL main- 5 min during peak hours. Trams op- tenance management programme erate between 06.00 and 24.00 from Motivated by concerns about the generates work orders so that repairs Monday to Friday, and a 24-hour high levels of car ownership in Ten- can be processed ahead of the vehicle’s service is provided during weekends erife, and the ensuing pollution and return to the workshop. The depot is and public holidays. Moreover, the road congestion which often para- equipped to carry out all corrective route alignment was carefully planned lysed the north of the island, feasibil- and preventative maintenance activi- to serve high-density residential ar- ity studies for Tenerife’s first tramway ties in-house, which helps to mini- eas, and key institutions, including began in January 2001. Metropolitana mise operational costs. two municipal hospitals and univer- de Tenerife SA was created in Septem- Energy costs are an important con- sity campuses, as well as the main ber 2000 to draw up the project, which sideration. MTSA has invested €3·6m A total of 3 680 in a power plant comprising 3 680 so- solar panels have lar panels, with a maximum output of been installed 644 kW, which covers 4 660 m2 of the on the roof of Talleres y roof surface at Talleres y Cocheras. Cocheras, which Capable of generating 900 000 kWh houses the per annum, the plant currently sup- CCP, workshop and depot. The plies 10·3% of MTSA’s power require- modern control ments. Its capacity is being extended centre is the hub to 900 kW by the spring of 2009, of Metrotenerife operations. Real- providing around 16·5% of Metro- time information tenerife’s needs. is displayed on the wall-mounted screen. Outstanding ridership levels Tenerife’s tram has been a resound- ing success ever since its inaugura- tion, with ridership far exceeding all forecasts. MTSA’s financial results have been positive, not only cover- ing operational costs but generating a surplus to start repaying the initial loans. Total annual ridership exceeded 13 million in 2008, with a peak in October 2008 when monthly traffic reached 1·26 million passengers, 27% more than in 2007. This represents an MTSA Photos: Metro Report International | March 2009 39 TENERIFE | EXPANSION Photo: MTSA Photo: was approved in November 2002. The tram runs overhead catenary. Maximum speed where the gradients were too steep to Tenders were subsequently launched through dense is 70 km/h. climb. Cars use regenerative braking, urban areas and in 2003 for civil works, rolling stock, along narrow Ticket machines are located at each and power generated on the downhill depot and E&M contracts, and con- streets, such as stop with on-board validation ma- trip is fed back to trams on the uphill struction finally started in June 2004. the Calle Imeldo. chines located beside each of the 12 track. In 2002 the Tenerife government vehicle doors. Ticket inspectors are awarded a 35-year build and operate employed resulting in a low level of Expansion plans concession to MTSA, which is now a fraud, which stands at less than 3·5%. public-private consortium compris- The project posed several techni- Ricardo Melchior, president of Ten- ing the government, which has an cal challenges due primarily to the erife’s government or Cabildo, is a 80% share, Tenemetro (Transdev, So- steep gradients, which average 5% staunch advocate of the tram and the mague and Ineco) with 14%, and local but reach 8·5% in places. To cope driving force behind its implemen- bank CajaCanarias with a 6% share. with the grades, the vehicles have all tation. Buoyed up by its success, he The 12·6 km line, which runs from three bogies powered. Underpasses remains committed to increasing the Trinidad to Intercambiador and has were constructed in several locations provision of rail services in Tenerife 21 stops, cost €305·6m to build. The fleet of 20 articulated Alstom Citadis Work on the 302 trams which operate the route Tincer section of Line 2 is almost are a colourful sight. The 100% low- completed; the floor vehicles are 32·5 m in length connection with and 2 400 mm wide with a capacity Line 1, at the underground of 200 passengers, including 56 seat- section near Taco, ed. The track is standard gauge and was made in power at 750 V DC is supplied via early 2009. Table II. Metrotenerife planned network Line / Phase Route Length Line 1 Phase 1 Intercambiador – La Trinidad 12·6 km Line 1 Phase 2 La Trinidad – Los Rodeos/North Airport 3·2 km Line 2 Phase 1 La Cuesta – Tincer (L1+L2) 3·6 km Line 2 Phase 2 Tincer – La Gallega – La Candelaria 11·1 km Line 3 Congress Centre – Intercambiador 9·4 km – Las Teresitas Total length 39·9 km 40 Metro Report International | March 2009 EXPANSION | TENERIFE two interurban railways. The esti- mated cost is put at €2·8bn. Asesores 0 20 km de Infraestructuras SL was recently Aeropuerto Norte La Laguna appointed to carry out a financial fea- Ta coronte La Victoria sibility study for the 80 km southern Intercambiador Añaza route, which will have seven stations and connect Las Américas with Santa Los Realejos Puerto de La Cruz Candelaria Cruz in 45 min.