TW 6000
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The TW 6000 is a type of articulated
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 ...
vehicle used on the Hanover Stadtbahn system, manufactured by
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 ...
,
Linke-Hofmann-Busch Alstom Transport Deutschland, formerly Linke-Hofmann-Busch, is a German manufacturing company originally established in Breslau (now Wrocław, Poland) to produce locomotives and rolling stock. Its origins lay in the wheelwright business of Gott ...
,
AEG The initials AEG are used for or may refer to: Common meanings * AEG (German company) ; AEG) was a German producer of electrical equipment. It was established in 1883 by Emil Rathenau as the ''Deutsche Edison-Gesellschaft für angewandte El ...
, Kiepe and
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 ...
. The vehicle can serve both high platforms and street-level stops; it has cabs at both ends, thus eliminating the need for
turning loop A balloon loop, turning loop, or reversing loop (Glossary of North American railway terms, North American Terminology) allows a rail vehicle or train to reverse direction without having to Shunting (rail), shunt or stop. Balloon loops can be u ...
s. It was unique in Germany at the time for featuring
thyristor A thyristor (, from a combination of Greek language ''θύρα'', meaning "door" or "valve", and ''transistor'' ) is a solid-state semiconductor device which can be thought of as being a highly robust and switchable diode, allowing the passage ...
chopper control and a contemporary design by Herbert Lindinger. A total of 260 were built between 1974 and 1993, of which the first series of 100 was built by Duewag in
Düsseldorf Düsseldorf is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in the state after Cologne and the List of cities in Germany with more than 100,000 inhabitants, seventh-largest city ...
from 1974 to 1978, whilst the second to eighth series (160) were built by LHB in
Salzgitter Salzgitter (; Eastphalian dialect, Eastphalian: ''Soltgitter'') is an independent city#Germany, independent city in southeast Lower Saxony, Germany, located between Hildesheim and Braunschweig. Together with Wolfsburg and Braunschweig, Salzgitte ...
from 1979 to 1993. From 2002 on, 82 units were sold to
Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...
,
Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...
and
The Hague The Hague ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the c ...
,
The Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...
. In 2013, üstra ordered 100 new vehicles (with an option for 46 more) to replace the aging TW 6000 vehicles; those vehicles, which are known as the TW 3000 were delivered between 2014 and 2018.


Technical parameters

A single unit has a length of and a width of . Up to 150 passengers can fit into a single car; up to four sets can be operated in multiple. The maximum speed is rated at . The two DC motors are rated at 218 kW at 600 V each and can draw a maximum current of 900  A. Cars 6206-6260 are microprocessor controlled, using an
Intel 8085 The Intel 8085 ("''eighty-eighty-five''") is an 8-bit microprocessor produced by Intel and introduced in March 1976. It is software-binary-code compatibility, binary compatible with the more-famous Intel 8080. It is the last 8-bit microprocesso ...
and GTO thyristors.


Series delivered

The following TW 6000 series were delivered: The lead of the consortium changed over to LHB after the first series due to political lobbying, as subsidies provided by the state of
Lower Saxony Lower Saxony is a States of Germany, German state (') in Northern Germany, northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with , and fourth-largest in population (8 million in 2021) among the 16 ' of the Germany, Federal Re ...
were spent on the project, LHB (which is based in
Salzgitter Salzgitter (; Eastphalian dialect, Eastphalian: ''Soltgitter'') is an independent city#Germany, independent city in southeast Lower Saxony, Germany, located between Hildesheim and Braunschweig. Together with Wolfsburg and Braunschweig, Salzgitte ...
) was favoured over the out-of-state
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 ...
(with their operations in
Düsseldorf Düsseldorf is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in the state after Cologne and the List of cities in Germany with more than 100,000 inhabitants, seventh-largest city ...
,
North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia or North-Rhine/Westphalia, commonly shortened to NRW, is a States of Germany, state () in Old states of Germany, Western Germany. With more than 18 million inhabitants, it is the List of German states by population, most ...
).


Cab controls

All TW6000s are driven using an integral traction and braking system with a deadman's trigger that drivers must depress to mobilize the vehicle. When released while moving, first the warning system beeps, and then the
track brake A magnetic track brake (Mg brake) is a brake for rail vehicles. It consists of brake magnets, pole shoes, a suspension, a power transmission and, in the case of mainline railroads, a track rod. When current flows through the magnet coil, the m ...
s are applied.


Changes in Series 2

* New floors, lacking the Series 1 furrows * Smaller stop buttons and warning lights, partly retrofit to Series 1 from 3/81 to 5/85, completely retrofit to Series 1 from 10/88 to 11/92 * Destination indicator inside the Stadtbahn vehicle * Wiper moved to the right * Automatic adjustment of couplers after decoupling * Additional brake resistor on the roof * Preparations to add additional seats at the middle door (was never carried out)


Changes in Series 3

* IBIS equipment delivered ex-factory, retrofit to Series 1 and 2 vehicles until 1987 * Mandatory selection of "steps high" and "steps low" setting before doors can be opened, retrofit to all prior vehicles


Changes in Series 4

* Skylight windows on one side only * GTO chopper control with 8085 microprocessor * Fire protection (tested on 6147 from January 1987): ** new sheet metal roof in the passenger compartment ** plastic light covers replaced by steel lamellas ** roof and side handles in joint area replaced with cast plastic handle * Additional tail lights


Changes in Series 5

* Adjusted size of door windows * Wider door seals


Changes in Series 6

* Double doors without handrail in the midsection, new lock mechanism (tested on 6083, partly retrofit to older vehicles)


Refurbishment

An invitation of tenders for a refurbishment programme began in 2018. About 40 sets are slated for refurbishment, which includes LED lighting and repainting. The first refurbished set was presented in 2019.


TW 6000 in Budapest

After Hanover had upgraded its fleet with TW 2000s on the occasion of the
Expo 2000 Expo 2000 was a World Expo held in Hanover, Germany from 1 June to 31 October 2000. It was located on the Hanover Fairground (Messegelände Hannover), which is the largest exhibition ground in the world. Initially, some 40 million people were ...
World's Fair,
Üstra üstra Hannoversche Verkehrsbetriebe AG is the operator of public transport in the city of Hanover, Germany. The company is a member of the Großraum-Verkehr Hannover (GVH) transport association. From 2003 to 2006, it had outsourcing, outsourc ...
offered part of its used TW 6000 rolling stock for sale. Hungarian company BKV, operator of the tram network in the capital of
Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...
, bought the majority of it. In 2000 Budapest had an aging tram fleet including more than 300 UV and UV trailer cars, 40–60 years old, still in operation. The last mass purchase had been the Tatra T5C5 cars in 1980-84. The TW6000 would arrive in good condition and had a highly favorable price compared to new trams. Nevertheless, it was often disputed if Budapest really had to rely on used trams, and the contradictory feelings were so strong that the leading party of the Budapest council ( SZDSZ), including mayor
Gábor Demszky Gábor Demszky (, born 4 August 1952) is a Hungarian politician, lawyer and sociologist by qualification. Demszky was the Mayor of Budapest from 1990 to 2010. He was a founding member of the Alliance of Free Democrats (SZDSZ) between 1988 and ...
, voted against the purchase. Preceded by lengthy political debates, the city council of Budapest provided 7 billion forints for the purchase of 68 units altogether. The first cars (6061 and 6070) arrived at BKV in 2001 to begin their test run. The first run in passenger operation on the tramline number 3 was in October 2001. The cars got new numbers in Budapest, beginning with 1500. The BKV soon decided to buy 8 additional trams. The cars got an overhaul in Hanover and were repainted into the orange yellow livery used on the BKV trams (earning the nickname "banana" for having arrived green and consumed yellow); the inner side of the doors were originally left green, but later repainted to white. They were retrofitted with windows that can slide open to better adjust to hotter continental summers. A doorbell was added that rings before departure. The automatic closing of the doors after 4 seconds was deactivated for a time but was later reintroduced. As part of the regular maintenance cycle, a small revamp at BKV's rail vehicle maintenance company (BKV VJSz) saw the cars retrofitted with internal and external Vultron LED displays.


Further purchases

The positive experience of TW6000 operation in Budapest convinced BKV to purchase further cars of the same type. In 2011, another 16 TW6000 cars arrived to Budapest partly from Hanover and partly from The Hague (see below). A further four cars arrived to BKV VJSz in order to provide spare parts. An additional shipment was due from late 2011, also including cars from the 6100 series. The last shipment was in 2015-2016. Today, most of the TW 6000 tramcars that have been built are owned by BKV: 113 vehicles excluding the four at BKV VJSz. However, the arrival of low-floor CAF Urbos 3 trams to the Budapest network allowed for the withdrawal of many
Ganz CSMG The (), known in official records as , or sometimes known as , is a series of tramcars which was manufactured by Hungary, Hungarian companies ("Ganz-MÁVAG Locomotive, Carriage and Machine Factory") and ("Ganz Electric Factory"). The tramcars ...
trams from regular service. Low-floor service was introduced on line 3, and TW6000's showed up on other lines. From 2016 January onwards, TW6000's operate on tramlines 3 (partially), 24 (partially), 28 (partially), 28A (partially), 37, 37A, 42, 50, 51, 51A, 52, 62, 62A, 69. Nowadays, the main concern about these cars is their high floor level and moving stairs with mechanical sensors that do not fulfill accessibility requirements and make it difficult for the elderly, and people with prams, to get on and off. Despite this, its heated passenger compartment, good noise insulation, vibration damping and seamless acceleration mean a higher standard of comfort than some other tram types in Budapest can provide. From February 2024 revamped cars have the moving stairs eliminated among other changes as there are no high platforms in the tram network. In October 2024 BKV has started to officially explore the idea of running TW6000 trains on some HÉV lines, replacing the outdated and ageing rolling stock.


TW 6000 in the Netherlands


The Hague

In 2002, eight TW 6000 units were sold to HTM, the public transport operator of
The Hague The Hague ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the c ...
in the
Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...
, where they were in service on tram line 11 to
Scheveningen Scheveningen () is one of the eight districts of The Hague, Netherlands, as well as a subdistrict () of that city. Scheveningen is a modern seaside resort with a long, sandy beach, an esplanade, a pier, and a lighthouse. The beach is popular ...
. They were withdrawn in 2005 and stored at Depot Lijsterbesstraat. They were eventually sold to BKV of Budapest, the last TW 6000 leaving The Hague on October 7, 2010.


Houten

Earlier, in 2000, HTM ordered two TW 6000 units to operate a temporary NS service in Houten, connecting Houten station with the new station Houten Castellum. The service, operated by HTM of The Hague on behalf of NS, ran from January 2001 until December 2008. One unit (6016) has since been scrapped, the other (6021) sold to BKV of Budapest, where it is in service with new number 1585.


TW 6000 in Tampere

TW 6148 will be transferred from Hanover to
Tampere, Finland Tampere is a city in Finland and the regional capital of Pirkanmaa. It is located in the Finnish Lakeland. The population of Tampere is approximately , while the metropolitan area has a population of approximately . It is the most populous mu ...
by Škoda Transtech, where it will be used as a testing vehicle.


References


External links


Üstra fleet information - TW 6000
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tw 6000 Light rail vehicles Tram vehicles of Germany Tram vehicles of Hungary Tram vehicles of the Netherlands Transport in Hanover Transport in Budapest Duewag tram vehicles 600 V DC multiple units