A low-floor tram 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 ...

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. A low-floor tram allows accessible level access from

curb A curb (American English) or kerb (British English) is the edge where a raised sidewalk/pavement or road median/central reservation meets a street/other roadway. History Although curbs have been used throughout modern history, and indeed ...

level platforms. Level access can also be achieved either by using a

high-floor High-floor describes the interior flooring of commuter vehicles primarily used in public transport such as trains, light rail cars and other rail transport, rail vehicles, along with buses and trolleybuses. Interior floor height is generally mea ...

vehicle serving high-platform stops. Currently both types are in use, depending on the station platform infrastructure in existing rail systems. Some systems may make use of former railway alignments where use of existing high platforms is desirable, while others, particularly new systems, may not have the space to site high-level platforms in urban centres.

Low-floor tram configurations

Trams traditionally had high floors, and articulated tram designs evolved with low-floor centre sections. Examples of this design are

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

11G/12G-trams and the Kusttrams in

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

. The most common design of 100% low floor vehicles is the multi-articulated design. This uses short carbody sections for the wheels with longer sections between them. Examples of this 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 ...

and Combino. A different design was developed by

MAN A man is an adult male human. Before adulthood, a male child or adolescent is referred to as a boy. Like most other male mammals, a man's genome usually inherits an X chromosome from the mother and a Y chromosome from the f ...

. In 1990 the GT6N was the first 100% low-floor tram. These trams are found in ten German cities (such as

Bremen Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (, ), is the capital of the States of Germany, German state of the Bremen (state), Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (), a two-city-state consisting of the c ...

and

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

) and in the Swedish city

Norrköping Norrköping ( , ) is a city in the province of Östergötland in eastern Sweden and the seat of Norrköping Municipality, Östergötland County, about 160 km southwest of the national capital Stockholm, 40 km east of county seat Lin ...

. Other designs are only partially low floor, with high floors over the

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 at the outer ends and single axle bogies under the low-floor centre section. North American light rail type vehicles frequently have a similar configuration but with a centre bogie designed to accommodate a low floor situated under a short centre section. In Vienna,

Ultra Low Floor The Ultra Low Floor tram (ULF) is a low-floor tram operating in Vienna, Austria, and Oradea, Romania, built by a consortium composed of Siemens Mobility, Siemens and :de:ELIN, ELIN in Vienna. It has the lowest floor-height of any such vehicle. ...

(ULF) Trams can "kneel" at the curbside, reducing the height from the road to only . Protram205 ramp

Some public transport companies have both low floor and high floor trams. They report that low floor trams have 15% higher maintenance costs for the rolling stock, and 20% higher maintenance costs for the infrastructure on average. Many low-floor trams have fixed bogies which increase track wear and tear, while decreasing the speed at which a tram can drive through a curve (usually in radius curve). The

Škoda ForCity Škoda ForCity is a family of low-floor trams built by Škoda Transportation. This includes Finnish-made Artic (tram), Artic trams branded as ForCity Smart. ForCity trams have been ordered by transport companies in Bonn, Bratislava, Chemnitz, E ...

and the newest

X04 try to counter the effect with pivoting bogies while maintaining 100% low floor design. Prior to the new design, pivoting bogies could only be used under high floors, hence such trams could only be part low-floor, with high-floor sections over the pivoting bogies.

Historic examples

The idea of a low-floor tram dates back to the early 20th century when a number of trolley systems began experimenting with various "stepless" designs. Perhaps the most notable is the Hedley-Doyle Stepless car introduced in 1912 for use on Broadway in

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

. A number of other cities also purchased Hedley-Doyle Stepless trams after seeing their success in Manhattan. Since these cars had a unique appearance compared to any other trams running at the time, they earned a number of nicknames, including

hobble skirt A hobble skirt was a skirt with a narrow enough hem to significantly impede the wearer's Gait (human), stride. It was called a "hobble skirt" because it seemed to hobble the woman as she walked. Hobble skirts were a short-lived fashion trend th ...

cars, public welfare cars, and sow bellies.

Typical floor heights

Typical floor heights of low-floor trams are , and the

tram has a floor height of only . For comparison high-floor trams are typically more than and

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 ...

using

heavy rail 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 ...

trains has floor heights of .

List of low-floor trams by country manufactured and manufacturers

Belarus

;

Belkommunmash OJSC "Holding Management Company "Belkommunmash" (, Belkamunmash), is a Belarusian manufacturer of electric public transport vehicles. The enterprise was based on a tram and trolleybus repair facility which was opened in 1973. Today it is the lead ...

* AKSM-743 - Third Generation tram on Minsk tramway * AKSM-843 - Fourth generation tram on Minsk tramway

Canada

;

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. ...

TTC Flexity 4466 on route 504A King EB at Yonge

*Zürich

Cobra COBRA or Cobra, often stylized as CoBrA, was a European avant-garde art group active from 1948 to 1951. The name was coined in 1948 by Christian Dotremont from the initials of the members' home countries' capital cities: Copenhagen (Co), Brussels ...

* Flexity 2, including the model for Blackpool * Flexity Classic *

Flexity Freedom The Flexity Freedom is a Low-floor tram, low-floor, Articulated tram, articulated light rail vehicle developed by Bombardier Transportation, and later Alstom, for the Light rail in North America, North American market. It is marketed as part of ...

* Flexity Link * Flexity Swift, only some models, including Melbourne E Class and Croydon CR4000 * Flexity Outlook ''Eurotram'' * Flexity Outlook ''Cityrunner'', including the model for Toronto * Incentro, including Flexity Berlin and Nottingham AT6/5 *Brussels T2000 * Bombardier Variobahn

Croatia

; Crotram

* TMK 2200 (NT 2200) * TMK 2200 K * TMK 2300 * TMK 2400

Czech Republic

; ČKD Tatra * K3R-N / K3R-NT (reconstruction with low-floor middle section) * KT8D5N (with low-floor middle section) * KT8D5R.N1 / KT8D5R.N2 / KT8D5R.N2P (reconstruction with low-floor middle section) * KTNF6 / KTNF8 (reconstruction of KT4 with low-floor middle section) * RT6N1 / RT6N2 * RT6S * Satra III (reconstruction with low-floor middle section) ; Aliance TW Team * Tatra T3R.PLF (nicknamed "wana" (Czech for 'bath') - newly built with low-floor middle section) * Tatra T3R.SLF ("wana") * VarioLF / VarioLF plus / VarioLF plus/o ("wana") * VarioLF2 / VarioLF2 plus / VarioLF2/2 IN * VarioLF3 / VarioLF3/2 * EVO1 * EVO2 * VV60LF (trailer) ;

Škoda Transportation Škoda Transportation Akciová společnost, a.s. is a Czech Republic, Czech manufacturer of vehicles for public transport, including Tram, trams, Electric multiple unit, electric multiple units, and Bus, buses. The company was formerly a divisio ...

* 03T Astra/Anitra * 05T Vektra *Elektra 06T, 10T, 13T, 14T, 16T and 19T *ForCity Alfa 15T *ForCity Classic, including 26T, 28T and 35T *ForCity Plus, including 29T and 30T * ForCity Smart Artic ; Inekon Trams * 01 Trio / 12 Trio

France

;

Alstom Alstom SA () is a French multinational rolling stock manufacturer which operates worldwide in rail transport markets. It is active in the fields of passenger transportation, signaling, and locomotives, producing high-speed, suburban, regional ...

* ATM Class 6000 * Citadis 100 * Citadis X01 (301, 401 and 301 CIS/71-801) * Citadis X02 (202, 302, 402 and 502), including Melbourne C Class and C2 Class * Citadis 403 * Citadis X04 (304) * Citadis X05 (205/Compact, 305, 405) * Regio-Citadis * Citadis Dualis *

Citadis Spirit The Alstom Citadis Spirit is a Low-floor tram, low-floor Articulated tram, articulated light rail vehicle developed by Alstom for Ottawa's O-Train. It is marketed as part of its Alstom Citadis, Citadis family, which includes other models of lig ...

* Tramway Français Standard TFS-1 (with low-floor centre section added at a later date) and TFS-2 * Translohr vehicles

Germany

; Allgemeine Elektricitäts-Gesellschaft AG (AEG) * ATAC Class 9000 ;

Duewag Düwag or Duewag (stylised in all caps), formerly Waggonfabrik Uerdingen, was a German manufacturer of rail vehicles. It was sold in 1999 to Siemens with the brand later retired. History Duewag was founded in March 1898 as Waggonfabrik U ...

Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...

Be 4/6 and Be 4/8 * GT8N (reconstruction with low-floor middle section) * GT8Z (reconstruction with 73% low-floor) *

Duisburg Duisburg (; , ) is a city in the Ruhr metropolitan area of the western States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. Lying on the confluence of the Rhine (Lower Rhine) and the Ruhr (river), Ruhr rivers in the center of the Rhine-Ruh ...

GT10 NC-DU (reconstruction with low-floor middle section) * MGT6D * M97 (reconstruction with low-floor middle section) *Sheffield Supertram * 6MGT and 8MGT ;

*Nuremberg N8S-NF (reconstruction with low-floor middle section) ;

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 ...

* Avenio (previously Combino Plus/Supra) * Avenio M (previously Combino), including Melbourne D class *Frankfurt am Main type R tram *

Karlsruhe Karlsruhe ( ; ; ; South Franconian German, South Franconian: ''Kallsruh'') is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, third-largest city of the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, after its capital Stuttgart a ...

GT6-70D/N and GT8-70D/N * S700 and S70 (also known as Avanto) *Serie 3800 de FGV on Metrovalencia and CCFL fleet series 501-510 on Lisbon tramway * Ultra Low Floor (ULF) ;

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 ...

Eurotram The Socimi Eurotram (later sold as the Bombardier Flexity Outlook (E)) is an electric tramcar originally designed for the tram system of Compagnie de Transports Strasbourgeois (CTS). Initially produced by Socimi, after the company became bankrupt E ...

* GTxN/M/S * Variobahn Stadler Pankow * Variobahn, including Munich Class S

Italy

;

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 ...

* ATM Class 5000 * Sirio *Oslo SL95 *West Midlands Metro T-69 *Boston Type 8 Trolley ;

Fiat Ferroviaria Alstom Ferroviaria S.p.A., formerly known as Fiat Ferroviaria S.p.A., is the Italian division of Alstom. Fiat Ferroviaria S.p.A. was the rail division of automobile manufacturer Fiat. It was founded in 1880 as Società Nazionale Officine di Sav ...

* ATM Class 5000 * ; Società Costruzioni Industriali Milano (Socimi) * ATAC Class 9000 *

Japan

;

* Little Dancer ;

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 ...

*Hiroden 5100 series Green Mover Max *Hiroden 1000 series (II) * Kinki Sharyo SLRV (low-floor centre section) ;

Niigata Transys is a Japanese railway vehicle and equipment manufacturer based in Seirō, Niigata. The company is a subsidiary of IHI Corporation and has a factory in Niigata, and representative offices in Osaka, Sapporo, Sendai, and Niigata. Products Low ...

* Fukui Railway F1000 ( :ja:福井鉄道F1000形電車) * Kumamoto City Tram 0800 ( :ja:熊本市交通局0800形電車) *Kumamoto City Tram 9700 series ( :ja:熊本市交通局9700形電車) * Man'yosen MLRV 1000 ( :ja:万葉線MLRV1000形電車) *

Okayama Electric Tramway is a transportation company in Okayama City, Chūgoku, Japan. The private company operates tram lines and bus lines. The company and its lines are officially abbreviated as . The company was founded in 1910, while its first tram line was ope ...

9200 ( :ja:岡山電気軌道9200形電車) * Toyama City Tram Line 9000 series ( :ja:富山地方鉄道9000形電車) * Toyama Light Rail TLR 0600 ( :ja:富山ライトレールTLR0600形電車) * Utsunomiya Light Rail

Poland

;

Konstal Alstom Konstal is a company based in Chorzów, Poland producing rail vehicles, in particular metro cars and trams, as well as components for trains. In 1864, the plant was founded as part of the Royal Steelworks in Chorzów and in 1917, it was ...

* Konstal 112N * Konstal 114Na * Konstal 116N/116Na * Konstal NGd99 * Konstal 116Nd ; Modertrans * Moderus Beta MF 01, MF 13, MF 14 AC BD, MF 18 (reconstruction with low-floor middle section) * Moderus Beta MF 02 AC, MF 15 AC, MF 16 AC BD, MF 19 AC (new trams with low-floor middle section) ; Pesa Pesa 122 NbT

* Tramicus 120N, 121N and 122N * Swing *

Jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

* Twist 2010N, 2012N, 2014N ''Krakowiak'' and 71-414 Fokstrot ; Protram * Protram 205 WrAs * Protram 405N, one prototype produced in 2012 and used since then in

Kraków , officially the Royal Capital City of Kraków, is the List of cities and towns in Poland, second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city has a population of 804,237 ...

;

Solaris Bus & Coach Solaris Bus & Coach sp z o.o. is a Polish manufacturer of public transport vehicles (buses, trolleybuses and trams), with its headquarters in Bolechowo-Osiedle near Poznań. It is a subsidiary of Spanish rolling stock manufacturer Construcciones ...

* Solaris Tramino

Romania

; Astra Vagoane Călători Astra_Imperio_Cluj_62

* Autentic * Imperio ; URAC Bucharest * Bucur LF (65% low floor) * V3A-93-CH/CA-PPC (low-floor middle section) * V3A-93-PPC (reconstruction with low-floor middle section)

Russian Federation

; PTMZ (Petěrburgskij tramvajno-mechaničeskij zavod) * LVS-2005 * LVS-2008 * LVS-2009 (71-154) and 71-154М ; UKVZ (Usť-Katavskij vagonstrojitělnyj zavod imeni Sergeje Mironoviče Kirova) * 71-623 * 71-624 * 71-628, 71-628-01, 71-628-02 and 71-628M * 71-630 * 71-631 * 71-633 * 71-639 (Castor) ; Uraltransmash * 71-412 (partially low-floor) * 71-415 ;

Tver Carriage Works Tver Carriage Works () is a rolling stock manufacturer located in Tver, Russia. The company is part of Transmashholding. History of the factory Tver Carriage Works was founded on 25 August 1898 with the name Upper Volga Railway Materials P ...

( PC Transport Systems contract) * 71-911 and 71-911E (City Star) * 71-911ЕМ (Lionet) * 71-921 (Corsair) * 71-922 (Varyag) * 71-923 (Bogatyr) and 71-923M (Bogatyr M) * 71-931 (Vityaz), 71-931M (Vityaz-M) and 71-931AM (Vityaz-Leningrad) * 71-932 (Nevsky) * 71-934 (Lion)

Spain

; Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles (CAF) * Urbos 1 * Urbos 2 * Urbos 3 * Urbos AXL * Urbos TT * Urbos LRV ; Vossloh España *

Citylink CityLink is a network of tollways in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, linking the Tullamarine Freeway, Tullamarine, West Gate Freeway, West Gate and Monash Freeways and incorporating Bolte Bridge, Burnley Tunnel and other ...

, including Sheffield Supertram Class 399 *

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 ...

Switzerland

;

ABB ABB Group is a Swedish-Swiss multinational electrical engineering corporation. Incorporated in Switzerland as ABB Ltd., and headquartered in Zurich, it is dual-listed on the Nasdaq Nordic exchange in Stockholm, Sweden, and the SIX Swiss Excha ...

* Tram 2000 Be 4/8 (low-floor middle section) * Variobahn ;

Stadler Rail Stadler Rail AG is a Swiss manufacturer of railway rolling stock, with an original emphasis on regional train multiple units and trams, but moving also into Rapid transit, mass rapid transit, High-speed rail, high speed, Inter-city rail, interci ...

, including Supertram Class 399 *

Tango Tango is a partner dance and social dance that originated in the 1880s along the Río de la Plata, the natural border between Argentina and Uruguay. The tango was born in the impoverished port areas of these countries from a combination of Arge ...

, only some models * TINA *

Turkey

; Durmazlar *

Panorama A panorama (formed from Greek language, Greek πᾶν "all" + ὅραμα "view") is any Obtuse angle, wide-angle view or representation of a physical space, whether in painting, drawing, photography (panoramic photography), film, seismic image ...

Silkworm ''Bombyx mori'', commonly known as the domestic silk moth, is a moth species belonging to the family Bombycidae. It is the closest relative of '' Bombyx mandarina'', the wild silk moth. Silkworms are the larvae of silk moths. The silkworm is of ...

; Bozankaya

Ukraine

; Electrontrans Electron T5L64 Franka square 1

*Electron T3L44, T5L64 and T5B65 ; Tatra-Yug * K-1M6 * K-1M8 * K-1M * K-1T

Other trams

* BKM 85300M *DL6WA, mark Dalianren (meaning "Dalian people") manufactured by Tram Factory of Dalian, in

Dalian Dalian ( ) is a major sub-provincial port city in Liaoning province, People's Republic of China, and is Liaoning's second largest city (after the provincial capital Shenyang) and the third-most populous city of Northeast China (after Shenyang ...

. * Brookville Liberty Modern Streetcar *Cegielski 118N Puma * Tram Power City Class *Hedley-Doyle Stepless car (1912) *

United Streetcar United Streetcar, LLC, was an American manufacturer of modern streetcars, located in the Clackamas, Oregon, Clackamas area in the southeastern suburbs of Portland, Oregon, founded in 2005. It was the only U.S. company building modern streetcars� ...

trams *M31 in Gothenburg tram network (reconstruction with low-floor middle section) * :ja:SWIMO *Newag Nevelo *NGT6DD and NGT8DD in

Dresden Dresden (; ; Upper Saxon German, Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; , ) is the capital city of the States of Germany, German state of Saxony and its second most populous city after Leipzig. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, 12th most p ...

References

External links

Strassenbahn-Online
{{in lang, de Passenger rail transport Tram vehicles 1990s in rail transport