THE INTERNATIONAL LIGHT RAIL MAGAZINE www.lrta.org www.tautonline.com AUGUST 2015 NO. 932 ATLANTA CONTINUES THE STREETCAR REVOLUTION UK debates safety, technology and integration Suburban Washington to get trams Hope for Andalucía’s ‘closed’ lines? UKTram backs seven innovations ISSN 1460-8324 £4.25 World Congress Freiburg 08 UITP faces the issues Trams in Germany’s of urban growth ‘green’ capital 9 771460 832043 We’re proud to be at the heart of the UK rail system Since 1996, we’veSince 1996,been supportingwe’ve been rail helping transport rail transport in the UK in to the deliver UK flow improved more performanceefficiently. and customerThe rail franchisesservice. Through we operate our joint deliver venture one inrail three franchises rail journeys we operate and give one over in three 14,000 rail employees journeys a living. Weand also employ keep overour fingers14,000 people. on the Atpulse Keolis of passenger we’re committed needs, toto puttingcontinuously heart, improve soul the speed andand significant comfort of investmenttheir journeys. into At the Keolis UK’s we’rerail network, committed helping to putting us all heart,move forward soul and together. significant investment into the UK’s rail network, helping us all move forward together. keolis.co.ukkeolis.co.uk 316 CONTENTS The official journal of the Light Rail Transit Association AUGUST 2015 Vol. 78 No. 932 www.tramnews.net EDITORIAL EDITOR Simon Johnston Tel: +44 (0)1733 367601 E-mail: [email protected] 13 Orton Enterprise Centre, Bakewell Road, Peterborough PE2 6XU, UK ASSOCIATE EDITOR Tony Streeter E-mail: [email protected] WORLDWIDE EDITOR Michael Taplin 327 Flat 1, 10 Hope Road, Shanklin, Isle of Wight PO37 6EA, UK. E-mail: [email protected] NEWS EDITOR John Symons 17 Whitmore Avenue, Werrington, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffs ST9 0LW, UK. E-mail: [email protected] SENIOR CONTRIBUTOR Neil Pulling WORLDWIDE CONTRIBUTORS Tony Bailey, James Chuang, Paul Nicholson, 306 Richard Felski, Ed Havens, Bill Vigrass, Andrew Moglestue, Mike Russell, Nikolai Semyonov, Vic Simons, Alain Senut, Thomas Wagner. NEWS 300 WHEEL/RAIL INTERFACE 323 PRODUCTION Muni unveils LRV mock-up... and orders Concluding his two-part series, Bob Hall Lanna Blyth 40 more; UKTram innovation scheme further dispels the ‘keep theory’ and Tel: +44 (0)1733 367604 E-mail: [email protected] progresses; Vélez-Málaga tramway to return? considers experience from around the world. DESIGN Debbie Nolan UK LIGHT RAIL CONFERENCE 306 SYSTEMS FACTFILE: FREIBURG 327 ADVERTISING Debate and innovation at Nottingham’s Extensions and new trams: Freiburg is an COMMERCIAL MANAGER Geoff Butler biggest-ever UK Light Rail Conference. exciting LRT city – as Neil Pulling explains. Tel: +44 (0)1733 367610 E-mail: [email protected] PUBLISHER UITP WORLD CONGRESS 312 WORLDWIDE REVIEW 332 Howard Johnston UITP visited Milan in June, and reported Algiers extension opens, Bombardier to Tramways & Urban Transit is jointly published by the on promising progress in increasing public deliver Shanghai peoplemover, Bordeaux’s LRTA and LRTA Publishing on the third Friday of each transport’s market share. tramline B extended. month preceding the cover date. LRTA WEBSITE AND DIARY ATLANTA STREETCAR 316 MAILBOX 338 Brian Lomas The birth of a new LRT system hasn’t been Discussions on the wheel/rail interface; E-mail: [email protected], [email protected] easy for Georgia’s state capital – by Vic Simons and why are modern trams so heavy? LRTA MEMBERSHIP (with TAUT subscription) Tramways & Urban Transit is sent free to all paid-up members of the Light Rail Transit Association. UTRECHT UITHOFLIJN 319 CLASSIC TRAMS: SNAEFELL 340 SUBSCRIPTIONS AND MEMBERSHIP ENQUIRIES Project Manager Martijn Donders explains The Isle of Man’s mountain line marks its LRTA Membership Secretary (Dept T06), the challenges of delivering a new line. 120th anniversary. 38 Wolseley Road, Sale M33 7AU, UK. Tel: +44 (0)117 9517785 BACK ISSUES Tel: +44 (0)1406 373070 Using the ‘hard sell’ approach to LRT’s benefits PRINT AND DISTRIBUTION Warners (Midlands) plc, The Maltings, West Street, Cities like public transport. It frees up road space and space for development Bourne, Lincs PE10 9PH, UK. Tel: +44 (0)1778 391000. and can help cleanse the air of pollutants. Light rail in particular adds a LRTA REGISTERED OFFICE sense of permanence that encourages investment and regeneration – a sign c/o 138 Radnor Avenue, Welling, Kent DA16 2BY, UK. of a confidence that is appealing to developers, businesses and residents. Private company limited by guarantee, No. 5072319 The results of the latest UK Tram Passenger Survey also paint a positive in England and Wales. picture, with overall satisfaction levels of 90% across the UK’s networks. LRTA CHAIRMAN This compares favourably to figures of 88% for bus and 81% for rail. Edinburgh Trams Andrew Braddock E-mail: [email protected] in particular must be congratulated for its score of 95% (equal with Nottingham Express LRTA DEPUTY CHAIRMAN Transit) – impressive for an operator that has had to fight hard to promote a service that Paul Rowen found itself under very public pressure when it opened just over 12 months ago. LRTA PUBLISHING REGISTERED OFFICE: So if authorities and passengers like light rail, why are there still barriers to its c/o 8 Berwick Place, Welwyn Garden City, Herts AL7 4TU, wider adoption? The obvious one is cost. At millions of [insert currency here] per km, UK. Private Limited Company, No. 06169422 the upfront capital investment for a new line can be hefty. However, the industry is in England and Wales. responding with ways of bringing this down through innovative methodologies for © LRTA Publishing 2015. track, electrification and even vehicles – read more on this in our reports from the UITP Articles are submitted on the understanding they may also later be used on our websites or other media. A contribution Congress in Milan and UK Light Rail Conference in Nottingham in this issue. is accepted on the basis that its author is responsible for the The other big challenge is in managing delays and disruption – this one is as much opinions expressed in it, and such opinions are not those of about public relations as any area of engineering. I’ve been asked how delays can be LRTA Publishing or the LRTA. All rights reserved. avoided many times recently and my answer is always the same: Planning and strong No part of this magazine may be reproduced or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic or mechanical, including relationships. We must remember that inserting a new fixed-track system into any photocopying, recording or by any information storage and built-up urban area is one of the most complicated endeavours known to man. With retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from so many disciplines, stakeholders and interfaces, detailed planning can help avoid the copyright owner. Multiple copying of the contents of the disruption, but cannot ever remove the possibility of it happening entirely. How magazine without prior written approval is not permitted. promoters and constructors communicate and keep people enthusiastic is key – some do COVER: Atlanta Streetcar 1001 leaving Peachtree it very well, some don’t. There are lessons for us to learn here. Simon Johnston, Editor Center Station on 19 May. Vic Simons www.tautonline.com . www.lrta.org AUGUST 2015 / 299 News Muni unveils Siemens S200SF mock-up, and orders 40 more cars Passenger reaction to be tested with life-size mock-up; new order takes total fleet to 215 new LRVs full-size mock-up of the Muni signed a USD648m deal TOP LEFT: front of its forthcoming for 175 60-seat LRVs with Siemens The mock-up Siemens S200SF high- last year, and the first prototype of the Siemens floor LRV was unveiled will be delivered at the end of S200SF Aby the San Francisco Municipal 2016 from the latter’s Sacramento LRV for San Francisco’s Transportation Agency (Muni) plant. Muni has a remaining Muni has been on 16 June. At the same time it option for another 45 cars. The put on display. was confirmed that an option for mock-up will be used to gauge Siemens/Muni 40 more of the air-conditioned reaction to seating configurations cars had been exercised, taking and colourschemes. the total on order to 215. Meanwhile, Muni was to open regular weekend service on its E-Embarcadero tramline S200SF SPECIFICATION on 25 July, linking Fisherman’s Wharf and the Caltrain terminal Length: 22.86m every 15 minutes. This reversing Width: 2.65m movement at the Caltrain station th Height: 3.5m (King St/4 St) requires the use BELOW Unladen weight : 35 730kg of five of the seven (1006-11/15) LEFT: Muni restored double-ended PCCs. double-ended Bogie wheelbase: 1.9m Double-ended museum trams PCC 1011 is one Minimum curve radius: 13m may also be operated. of the cars that Floor height: 864mm The line was trialled during will be used on Motors: 4 x 130kW (4 x 174hp) the 2013 America’s Cup yacht the new E-Embarcadero races, and will now operate Maximum speed: 80.5 km/h line from July. (50 mph) on Saturdays and Sundays It carries the Maximum gradient: 9% 10.00-19.00. Although the line livery of the shares tracks with the N and T Seats: 60 former Market lines, because these are operated Street Railway Standing: 140 (@ 6/m2) with high-floor LRVs, new (that never Wheelchair/bicycle spaces: 4 low-level platforms with ramps operated PCCs). were built for the E line cars. P. Ehrlich Luxembourg tram design unveiled, UKTram backs seven project timescale revealed Politicians and representatives The first rails are to be laid innovation schemes from Luxembourg’s new tram next year, with the initial section UKTram is pushing forward tools to maximise the efficiency project presented the design of to open in 2017.