Green Mover Max
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The Green Mover Max was the first 100% low-floor articulated Light Rail Vehicle (LRV) to be built entirely in Japan. It was developed jointly by
Kinki Sharyo is a Japanese manufacturer of railroad vehicles based in Osaka. It is an affiliate company of Kintetsu Corporation. In business since 1920 as Tanaka Rolling Stock Works, and renamed The Kinki Sharyo Co., Ltd in 1945, they produce rolling stock f ...
,
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational engineering, electrical equipment and electronics corporation headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. MHI is one of the core companies of the Mitsubishi Group and its automobile division is the prede ...
, and Toyo Denki, and introduced first in
Hiroshima is the capital of Hiroshima Prefecture in Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 1,199,391. The gross domestic product (GDP) in Greater Hiroshima, Hiroshima Urban Employment Area, was US$61.3 billion as of 2010. Kazumi Matsui has b ...
by the
Hiroshima Electric Railway is a Japanese transportation company established on June 18, 1910, that operates streetcars and buses in and around Hiroshima Prefecture. It is known as for short. The company's rolling stock includes an eclectic range of trams manufact ...
Company (Hiroden). It replaced Hiroden's ailing fleet of
Siemens Combino The Siemens Combino is a low-floor tram produced by Siemens Mobility (formerly Duewag). The first prototype was produced in 1996 at the Duewag works in Düsseldorf; the trams were later built in Krefeld-Uerdingen. Due to its modular design usi ...
s in 2005.


History - Project U3

In 1998,
Siemens Siemens AG ( ) is a German multinational technology conglomerate. It is focused on industrial automation, building automation, rail transport and health technology. Siemens is the largest engineering company in Europe, and holds the positi ...
won a contract from Hiroden for supplying what was at the time, its latest line of LF-LRT (low floor - light rail transit) streetcars called the
Combino The Siemens Combino is a low-floor tram produced by Siemens Mobility (formerly Duewag). The first prototype was produced in 1996 at the Duewag works in Düsseldorf; the trams were later built in Krefeld- Uerdingen. Due to its modular design u ...
s. Hiroden was also the first operator outside Germany to purchase Combinos, starting with 12 units. According to Hattori, the development of LF-LRVs in Japan was delayed by several factors: overseas manufacturers held patents on many of the basic technologies; low domestic demand increased development risks and established fare-collection protocols. This poor development environment changed in November 2000 when the Barrier-Free Transportation Law was passed. This law required that operators respect accessibility standards when introducing new rolling stock and provided subsidies as tax-relief and tax-exemptions to compensate for the price differences between conventional cars and the more expensive barrier-free designs. A year later, in 2001,
Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (Japan) The , abbreviated MLIT, is a ministry of the Japanese government.国土交通省設置法
brought together a group of eight manufacturers who worked on the latest LF-LRT designs to develop a fully Japanese product. This product was to improve upon many Combino features such as low-floor (now down to ; at doorways); VVVF (variable voltage variable frequency) motor capable of regenerative braking, maximum service speeds of , and LRVs for both and narrow gauge. Soon, three Japanese companies formed a consortium for creating an improved LRT that was better adapted for local running conditions -
Kinki Sharyo is a Japanese manufacturer of railroad vehicles based in Osaka. It is an affiliate company of Kintetsu Corporation. In business since 1920 as Tanaka Rolling Stock Works, and renamed The Kinki Sharyo Co., Ltd in 1945, they produce rolling stock f ...
,
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational engineering, electrical equipment and electronics corporation headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. MHI is one of the core companies of the Mitsubishi Group and its automobile division is the prede ...
(MHI), and Toyo Electric Co. Christened as the "U3 Project", the aim of this collaborative effort was to create a "100% ultra-low-floor articulated light rail vehicle (LRV)" that would be the "Ultimate", "Urban", "User-friendly" Light Rail Vehicle. Project U3 aimed to create a vehicle that was more spacious in terms of passenger capacity, more reliable, and, for which, most of the components could be manufacturer in Japan itself. Specific tasks were allotted to each of the four collaborators - MHI took over
bogie A bogie ( ) (or truck in North American English) comprises two or more Wheelset (rail transport), wheelsets (two Railroad wheel, wheels on an axle), in a frame, attached under a vehicle by a pivot. Bogies take various forms in various modes ...
s, brakes, and inner/outer rigging; Kinki Sharyo focused on design, car body, articulations, and drivers cabin; while Toyo Denki Seizo took responsibility for electric parts and control and drive units. Hiroden was closely involved in this project as its “operation-service” adviser. The result was the "Green Mover Max", a vehicle that had more passenger seats, wider aisles ( – to enable movement of
wheelchairs 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 conditions ...
) and lower dependence on foreign patented technology & component makers. The key to the development of an indigenous 100% low-floor LRV was the bogie with an independent wheel system, similar to the shaft-less wheel connection to the Combinos. Also similar was the placement of motor and drive unit installed to the outer side of the wheel, which helped in achieving a low-floor vehicle. Providentially for the Japanese manufacturers, the Combinos started giving problems within a couple of years. On Combino cars that had run more than , cracks were reported on the connections between the sidewalls and the roof girders such that the safety of passengers in the wheel-less modules could not be assured in the event of a severe collision. This was not a problem specific to Hiroshima - similar problems were reported in other cities that had adopted the Siemens-Combinos, such as
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,
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and
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. In March 2004 Siemens Transport Systems confirmed that body-shell problems were emerging at high mileages and it advised all operators to take out about 400 Combinos that had run more than . This flaw in the Siemens Combino led to the speedy introduction of the GreenMover into the Japanese market, in 2005.


New models

The Green Mover Max consisted of five articulated sections on three cars, two of which were powered. The motors and gears were mounted outside the wheels, allowing them to rotate independently – as in the case of the Combinos. The Green Mover T-5000 soon evolved into T5100 which had even better specifications – the seats were made more comfortable with spacious sofa seats being used in the front cars and the number of seats was increased from 52 to 62. The next version, Green Mover T5100, had wider aisles: in the 5000 series to in the front cars and in Car E, the middle car, of the 5100 series, making for a smoother flow of passengers through the cars. It was more comfortable for both seated and standing passengers. Also most components are made locally, thereby providing reliability and enhanced maintenance.


See also

* Trams in Asia *
Low-floor tram A low-floor tram is a tram that has no steps between one or more entrances and part or all of the passenger cabin. The low-floor design improves the accessibility of the tram for the public, and also may provide larger windows and more airspace. ...


References


External links


Hiroshima Electric Railway Company (Hiroden)



First 100% Low-Floor Tram
- Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) Paper {{Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Tram vehicles of Japan Articulated passenger trains Green Mover Max