The Bombardier Flexity Berlin is a

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 ...

type constructed for the

Berlin tram The Berlin tramway () is the main tram system in Berlin, Germany. It is one of the oldest tram networks in the world, dating back to 1865 and is operated by (BVG), which was founded in 1929. It is notable for being the third-largest tram s ...

way network. It was developed 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. ...

during the late 2000s and is based on the Bombardier Flexity family of 100% low-floor trams.

Overview

The design is based upon earlier

Adtranz Adtranz was a multi-national rail transportation equipment manufacturer with facilities concentrated in Europe and the US. The company, legally known as ABB Daimler-Benz Transportation, was created in 1996 as a joint venture between ABB and Daim ...

Incentro The Bombardier Incentro (sold as the ADtranz Incentro until 2001) is a model of tram manufactured initially by Adtranz and later by Bombardier Transportation. It is a five-section, low-floor articulated tram, built for bi-directional operation ...

models and like them, the Flexity Berlin is built from modules. The Berlin public transport operator

Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe The (German: 'Berlin Transport Company') is the main public transport company of Berlin, the capital city of Germany. It manages the city's (underground), trams in Berlin, tram, bus transport in Berlin, bus, replacement services (EV) and fe ...

(BVG) ordered four different prototypes for testing. The variants are one each of 30-metre and 40-metre lengths in double-ended, or single-ended design. The shorter versions use five modules and the longer versions are built with seven modules. Cab and door arrangement can be either bidirectional (two cab) or unidirectional (single cab) format depending upon the intended route. The first were rolled out during the InnoTrans 2008 railway trade fair. The appearance of the trams was especially designed for use in Berlin. If the new Flexity tram tests are successful, then Bombardier's

Hennigsdorf Hennigsdorf () is a town in the district of Oberhavel, in Brandenburg, in eastern Germany. It is situated north-west of Berlin, just across the city border, which is formed mainly by the Havel river. History The town was first mentioned in 1375, ...

factory is scheduled to produce a further 206 units. The order would allow BVG to replace 452 high-floor

ČKD ČKD (Českomoravská Kolben-Daněk) () was one of the largest engineering companies in the former Czechoslovakia and today's Czech Republic. It is famous for the Tatra T3, a tramcar that sold 13,991 units worldwide. History ČKD was formed i ...

Tatra KT4 Tatra KT4 is the name of a GT4 (tram), four-axle type articulated tramcar developed by the Czech firm ČKD Tatra. The first pre-production vehicles entered service in Potsdam in 1975, with the first production vehicles in 1977. A total of 1,747 uni ...

trams. The Tatra trams being replaced are shorter and normally operated in pairs. In 2009 BVG placed an order for an initial 99 trams for delivery from May 2011. The actual roll-in started on 5 September 2011. At the time of the initial order the BVG intended to order 33 more trams after 2017. In June 2012 the BVG placed a second order for 39 trams – the last tram of the first contract arrived on 10 September 2012 and the first tram of the second contract arrived on 7 September 2012. The second contract included only long versions so that the amount of trams is enough to replace all of the old Tatra trams by 2017. The purchase is fully funded by the Bundesland Berlin at an amount of 439.1 million euros. The nearby Strausberg Railway joined the delivery framework of the BVG Berlin Transport Company ordering 2 trams on 5 September 2011. The two short double-ended two-cab trams were delivered in February and March 2013 replacing its older trams (mostly

Tatra KT8D5 Tatra KT8D5 is a bidirectional tram, light rail vehicle currently ( , and not expected to retire soon, except in Brno) operating in Europe and Asia. In several variations, it was designed and manufactured by Czechs, Czech engineering corporatio ...

). The purchase is part of a 20-year contract with the county ensuring the financial basis. The contract for the two trams is at an amount of about 5.5 million euros. The pilot batch was assembled in Bautzen which was later building the chassis for further assembly in Hennigsdorf near Berlin using some parts like motors from Bombardier facilities in

Mannheim Mannheim (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: or ), officially the University City of Mannheim (), is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, second-largest city in Baden-Württemberg after Stuttgart, the States of Ger ...

and

Siegen Siegen () is a List of cities and towns in Germany, city in Germany, in the south Westphalian part of North Rhine-Westphalia. It is located in the district of Siegen-Wittgenstein in the Arnsberg (region), Arnsberg region. The university town (n ...

. The factory in Hennigsdorf will deliver about 20 to 24 trains per year (with the last train from the second Berlin batch to be delivered during 2017).

Overview

Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe's orders

See also

References

See also