The Bombardier Flexity Swift is a series of urban and inter-urban

tram A tram (also known as a streetcar or trolley in Canada and the United States) is an urban rail transit in which Rolling stock, vehicles, whether individual railcars or multiple-unit trains, run on tramway tracks on urban public streets; some ...

light rail Light rail (or light rail transit, abbreviated to LRT) is a form of passenger urban rail transit that uses rolling stock derived from tram technology National Conference of the Transportation Research Board while also having some features from ...

, and

light metro A medium-capacity system (MCS), also known as light rapid transit or light metro, is a rail transport system with a capacity greater than light rail, but less than typical heavy-rail rapid transit. MCS trains are usually 1 to 4 cars. Most medi ...

vehicles manufactured by

Bombardier Transportation Bombardier Transportation was a Canadian rolling stock and rail transport manufacturer, with headquarters in Toronto and Berlin. It was one of the world's largest companies in the rail vehicle and equipment manufacturing and servicing industry. ...

. It is part of the Bombardier Flexity family of

rail vehicle The term rolling stock in the rail transport industry refers to railway vehicles, including both powered and unpowered vehicles: for example, locomotives, freight and passenger cars (or coaches), and non-revenue cars. Passenger vehicles can be ...

s, and like the others, Flexity Swift vehicles can be customized to suit the needs and requirements of customers including legacy designs from its acquisition of Adtranz. ''Railly News'' reported that, by the end of 2015, more than 1,000 Flexity Swift vehicles had been sold.

Overview

Vehicles in the Flexity Swift family vary in length, but are all articulated, usually with three sections. In most cases, the centre section is very short, but can be replaced with a longer section in order to increase capacity. The trams can also be coupled together into

train A train (from Old French , from Latin">-4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to talk of the beginnings of French, that is, when it wa ... , from Latin , "to pull, to draw") is a series of connected vehicles th ...

s. Nevertheless, they are all bi-directional with cabs at both ends and doors on both sides. An emphasis is placed on speed with units capable of safely reaching speeds of when running on dedicated lines. Most vehicles typically weigh between , though the ones made for the Minneapolis line are heavier due to stricter

crashworthiness Crashworthiness is the ability of a structure to protect its occupants during an impact. This is commonly tested when investigating the safety of aircraft and vehicles. Different criteria are used to figure out how safe a structure is in a crash, ...

requirements in the United States (particularly buff strength) and the vehicles in Rotterdam and Karlsruhe are also heavier due to their use on a full, high-capacity

rapid transit Rapid transit or mass rapid transit (MRT) or heavy rail, commonly referred to as metro, is a type of high-capacity public transport that is generally built in urban areas. A grade separation, grade separated rapid transit line below ground su ...

network and on mainline railway tracks, respectively. The Flexity Swift family comes in two distinct versions with a 70% low-floor version to allow access to those in

wheelchair A wheelchair is a mobilized form of chair using two or more wheels, a footrest, and an armrest usually cushioned. It is used when walking is difficult or impossible to do due to illnesses, injury, disabilities, or age-related health conditio ...

s without requiring the construction of high platforms in city streets and a high-floor version with

level boarding Various terms are used for passenger railway lines and equipment; the usage of these terms differs substantially between areas: Rapid transit A rapid transit system is an electric railway characterized by high speed (~) and rapid acceleratio ...

at raised platforms, generally to retain compatibility with stations built for older trams or trains. While they typically use DC

overhead lines An overhead line or overhead wire is an electrical cable that is used to transmit electrical energy to electric locomotives, Electric multiple unit, electric multiple units, trolleybuses or trams. The generic term used by the International Union ...

for power collection, the Rotterdam vehicles are also equipped with

third rail A third rail, also known as a live rail, electric rail or conductor rail, is a method of providing electric power to a railway locomotive or train, through a semi-continuous rigid conductor placed alongside or between the rails of a track (r ...

power capability for use on the central sections of the network, while the Karlsruhe

tram-train A tram-train or dual-system tram is a type of light rail vehicle that both meets the standards of a light rail system, and also national mainline standards. Tramcars are adapted to be capable of running on streets like an urban tramway but a ...

s are compatible with AC electrification which is used on the mainline railways. Both the low and high-floor models were originally developed for use on the Cologne Stadtbahn in Germany. Other uses of Flexity Swift vehicles include London

Tramlink Tramlink, previously Croydon Tramlink and currently branded as London Trams, is a light rail tram system serving Croydon and surrounding areas in South London, England. It is the first operational tram system serving the London region since 195 ...

Manchester Metrolink Manchester Metrolink is a tram/light rail system in Greater Manchester, England. The network has List of Manchester Metrolink tram stops, 99 stops along of standard-gauge route, making it the Transport in the United Kingdom#Trams and light ra ...

,Light Rail Transport Association
since the first on 25 June 2008. the tram networks in

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

and

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

, Rotterdam Metro, Karlsruhe Stadtbahn,

Bonn Stadtbahn The Bonn Stadtbahn () is a ''Stadtbahn'' system in Bonn, Germany, Bonn and the surrounding Rhein-Sieg area, that also includes the Trams in Bonn, Bonn Straßenbahn. Although with six actual Stadtbahn lines (as well as three tram lines) the network ...

, Stockholm light rail lines 12 and 22, and the Metro Light Rail in Minneapolis-Saint Paul, Minnesota. The scrapped Merseytram plan for Liverpool in Merseyside planned to use the same model as London. The Flexity Swift's closest competitors are the

Alstom Citadis The Alstom Citadis is a family of low-floor trams and light rail vehicles built by Alstom. , over 2,300 Citadis trams have been sold and 1,800 tramways are in revenue service throughout the world, with operations in all six inhabited continents ...

family (particularly the RegioCitadis, Citadis Dualis, and Citadis Spirit variants), Siemens's S70/Avanto, SD100/SD160, SD400/SD460 and S200, and Sirio from

AnsaldoBreda Hitachi Rail Italy S.p.A. is a multinational rolling stock manufacturer company based in Pistoia, Italy. Formerly AnsaldoBreda S.p.A., a subsidiary of state-owned Finmeccanica, the company was sold in 2015 to Hitachi Rail of Japan. After the dea ...

. Compared to Bombardier's other Flexity vehicles, these vehicles are not designed for

streetcar A tram (also known as a streetcar or trolley in Canada and the United States) is an urban rail transit in which vehicles, whether individual railcars or multiple-unit trains, run on tramway tracks on urban public streets; some include s ...

operation with extensive mixed-traffic operations, although they do operate as such on a number of systems such as in London, Manchester, and Melbourne.

Technical specifications

Low-floor versions

High-floor versions

References

External links