A low-floor tram is a tram that has no stairsteps 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.[1]
An accessible platform-level floor in a tram can be achieved either by using a high-floor vehicle serving high-platform tram stops, or with a true low-floor vehicle interfacing with curb level 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 stops in urban centres.
Entry door of a low-floor tram, with "roll-in" level floor accessibility.
Entry door of a high-floor tram. Stair steps are visible just inside the door.
Trams traditionally had high floors, and these designs evolved into the tram with a low-floor centre section. Examples of this design are Amsterdam 11g/12g-trams and the Kusttrams in Belgium.
The most common design of 100% low floor vehicles uses short carbody sections for the wheels and longer suspended sections. Examples of this are the Alstom Citadis and Combino. A similar, but somewhat older technique is one that has been developed by MAN. In 1990, it was the first 100% low floor tram. These trams are found in ten German cities (such as Bremen and Munich) and in the Swedish city Norrköping. In many other German cities there are trams with low floor between the outer bogies and single axle bogies under the centre section.
"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. A more radical approach has been adopted for the City Class LRV (Citytram), where the main low floor section is only 300 mm above the rail. The low floor runs right through the articulation of both the 29 m long and 38 m Super Citytram version. In both, the corridor through the articulation is wide enough for seated passengers and a wheelchair to pass through. The City Class has been designed to turn on 15 m radius curves and to climb 10% gradients.
In Austria, Porsche Design designed Ultra Low Floor (ULF) Trams can "kneel" at the curbside, reducing the height from the road to only 180 mm.
Wheelchair access ramp in Protram 205 WrAs tram. Low floor is approximately 360 mm high
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.[2] Among the problems observed is that the missing bogies result in a higher level of wear and tear.
Many low floor trams have fixed bogies[3] which increase track wear and tear, while decreasing the speed at which a tram can drive through a curve (usually 4–15 km/h in 20 m radius curve).[4] The Škoda ForCity and the newest Alstom Citadis X04 try to counter the effect with low floor 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
Brisbane Hedley-Doyle Stepless tram, No. 301
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.[5] 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 cars, public welfare cars, and sow bellies.[6]
^"The joy of high ceilings (also called low floors)". Human Transit. Retrieved 2010-02-22.
^Prof. Dr. Ing. Thomas Siefer (March 2010). (PDF). Institut für Verkehrswesen, Eisenbahnbau und -betrieb (TU Braunschweig). p. 111. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-02-22. Retrieved 2012-02-18. Eine weitere Erknenntnis der Unternehmem, die sowohl Hochflur-, als auch Niederflurfahrzeuge im Einsatz haben, ist der direkte Kostenvergleich beider Systeme. Für die Wartung und Instandhaltung der Fahrzeuge werden im Mittel Mehrkosten in Höhe von 20% genannt. Für die Wartung und Instandhaltung der Infrastruktur werden beim Einsatz von Niederflurfahrzeugen um 15% höhere Kosten ermittelt.
^(PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-07-18. Retrieved 2010-05-12.
^ ab"A Novelty in Car Construction, The "Stepless" type of the New York Railways Company". Brill Magazine. J. G. Brill Company. VI (3): 73–84. 1912. Retrieved 2012-08-17.
^(PDF). pp. 24–25. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-05-06. Retrieved 2012-08-17.
External links
Strassenbahn-Online ((in German))
January 06, 2023
floor, tram, floor, tram, tram, that, stairsteps, between, more, entrances, part, passenger, cabin, floor, design, improves, accessibility, tram, public, also, provide, larger, windows, more, airspace, floor, trams, alstom, citadis, bombardier, flexity, classi. A low floor tram is a tram that has no stairsteps 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 1 Two low floor trams an Alstom Citadis 302 and Bombardier Flexity Classic in Adelaide South Australia An accessible platform level floor in a tram can be achieved either by using a high floor vehicle serving high platform tram stops or with a true low floor vehicle interfacing with curb level 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 stops in urban centres Contents 1 Low floor tram configurations 2 Historic examples 3 Typical floor heights 4 List of low floor trams by country manufactured and manufacturers 4 1 Belarus 4 2 Canada 4 3 Croatia 4 4 Czech Republic 4 5 France 4 6 Germany 4 7 Ireland 4 8 Italy 4 9 Japan 4 10 Poland 4 11 Romania 4 12 Russian Federation 4 13 Spain 4 14 Switzerland 4 15 Turkey 4 16 Ukraine 4 17 Other trams 5 See also 6 References 7 External linksLow floor tram configurations Edit Entry door of a low floor tram with roll in level floor accessibility Entry door of a high floor tram Stair steps are visible just inside the door Trams traditionally had high floors and these designs evolved into the tram with a low floor centre section Examples of this design are Amsterdam 11g 12g trams and the Kusttrams in Belgium The most common design of 100 low floor vehicles uses short carbody sections for the wheels and longer suspended sections Examples of this are the Alstom Citadis and Combino A similar but somewhat older technique is one that has been developed by MAN In 1990 it was the first 100 low floor tram These trams are found in ten German cities such as Bremen and Munich and in the Swedish city Norrkoping In many other German cities there are trams with low floor between the outer bogies and single axle bogies under the centre section 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 A more radical approach has been adopted for the City Class LRV Citytram where the main low floor section is only 300 mm above the rail The low floor runs right through the articulation of both the 29 m long and 38 m Super Citytram version In both the corridor through the articulation is wide enough for seated passengers and a wheelchair to pass through The City Class has been designed to turn on 15 m radius curves and to climb 10 gradients In Austria Porsche Design designed Ultra Low Floor ULF Trams can kneel at the curbside reducing the height from the road to only 180 mm Wheelchair access ramp in Protram 205 WrAs tram Low floor is approximately 360 mm high 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 2 Among the problems observed is that the missing bogies result in a higher level of wear and tear Many low floor trams have fixed bogies 3 which increase track wear and tear while decreasing the speed at which a tram can drive through a curve usually 4 15 km h in 20 m radius curve 4 The Skoda ForCity and the newest Alstom Citadis X04 try to counter the effect with low floor 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 Edit Brisbane Hedley Doyle Stepless tram No 301 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 5 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 cars public welfare cars and sow bellies 6 Typical floor heights EditSee also Railway platform height To put things into perspective here are some typical floor heights for public transport vehicles old and new Ultra Low Floor tram 180 mm 7 inches Low floor tram 300 mm to 350 mm 11 8 to 13 78 inches High floor tram more than 600 mm 23 62 inches Heavy rail rapid transit 800 mm 31 5 inches to 1200 mm 47 25 inches North American inter city rail passenger cars 1350 mm 51 inches List of low floor trams by country manufactured and manufacturers Edit AKSM 843 in Kazan Belarus Edit BelkommunmashAKSM 743 Third Generation tram on Minsk tramway AKSM 843 Fourth generation tram on Minsk tramwayCanada Edit Bombardier Transportation are subtypes and more Bombardier Flexity Outlook in Toronto Bombardier Cobra in Zurich E class Melbourne tram Type 1 LVR Flexity Swift in Minneapolis Minnesota K5000 in Bonn A32 Flexity Swift Citytram Cobra CR4000 Flexity Swift GT8 100D 2S M ET 2010 Flexity Swift Tram train E class Melbourne tram Flexity Swift Flexity 2 Flexity 2 version for Blackpool Flexity Berlin Incentro family Flexity Classic Flexity Freedom Flexity Link Flexity Outlook Eurotram Flexity Outlook Cityrunner Flexity Outlook Olympic Line Flexity Outlook version for Toronto GT8 100D 2S M HF6 Flexity Swift not low floor but due to the high platform is wheelchair accessible Incentro Incentro AT6 5 version for Nottingham K4000 Flexity Swift K4500 Flexity Swift K5000 Flexity Swift not low floor but due to the high platform is wheelchair accessible K5200 Flexity Swift not low floor but due to the high platform is wheelchair accessible M5000 Flexity Swift not low floor but due to the high platform is wheelchair accessible Traintram Flexity Swift Type 1 LVR Flexity Swift T2000 Bombardier VariobahnCroatia Edit CROTRAM TMK 2200 K in Zagreb TMK 2200 NT 2200 TMK 2200 K TMK 2300Czech Republic Edit CKD Tatra Two Tatra KT8D5R N2P cars in Prague K3R N reconstruction with low floor middle section K3R NT reconstruction with low floor middle section KT8D5N with low floor middle section KT8D5R N1 reconstruction with low floor middle section KT8D5R N2 reconstruction with low floor middle section KT8D5R N2P reconstruction with low floor middle section KTNF6 reconstruction with low floor middle section KTNF8 reconstruction with low floor middle section RT6N1 RT6N2 RT6S Satra III reconstruction with low floor middle section Aliance TW Team Tatra T3R PLF first car in Prague Tatra T3R PLF nicknamed wana Czech for bath newly built with low floor middle section Tatra T3R SLF wana VarioLF wana VarioLF plus wana VarioLF plus o wana VarioLF2 VarioLF2 plus VarioLF2 2 IN VarioLF3 VarioLF3 2 EVO1 EVO2 VV60LF tow tramcar Skoda Transportation Skoda 19T Electra in Wroclaw 03T Astra Anitra Elektra 05T Vektra 06T Elektra 10T Elektra 13T Elektra 14T Elektra 15T ForCity Alfa 16T Elektra 19T Elektra 26T ForCity Classic 27T 28T ForCity Classic 29T ForCity Plus 30T ForCity Plus Artic ForCity SmartInekon Trams Inekon 12 Trio in Portland 01 Trio 04 Superior 11 Pento 12 TrioFrance Edit Alstom Citadis 302 in Lyon Tramway Francais Standard 2 vehicle in Grenoble ATM Class 6000 Citadis 100 Citadis 202 on Melbourne tramway locally designated C class Citadis 301 Citadis 301 CIS numbers 71 801 Citadis 302 on Melbourne tramway locally designated C2 class Citadis 401 Citadis 402 Citadis 403 Citadis 502 Citadis X 04 204 304 404 Citadis X 05 205 305 405 Regio Citadis Citadis Dualis Citadis Compact Citadis Spirit Tatra KTNF8 in Gera Tramway Francais Standard TFS 1 low floor added at a later date TFS 2 Translohr vehicles TW 2000 not low floor but due to the high platform is wheelchair accessible Germany Edit Allgemeine Elektricitats Gesellschaft AG AEG ATAC Class 9000 in Rome ATAC Class 9000Duewag Duewag Vevey Be 4 6 in Geneva Duwag GT8N in Freiburg MGT6D in Erfurt Duwag Vevey Be 4 6 Duwag Vevey Be 4 8 GT6 70D N GT8 100C 2S GT8 100D 2S M GT8N reconstruction with low floor middle section GT8Z reconstruction with 73 low floor GT10 NC DU reconstruction with low floor middle section MGT6D M8C not low floor but due to the high platform is wheelchair accessible M8C NF reconstruction with low floor middle section MGT6D Moderus Beta MF 01 MF 13 MF 14 AC BD MF 18 reconstruction with low floor middle section M97 reconstruction with low floor middle section N8C not low floor but due to the high platform is wheelchair accessible Stadtbahnwagen B not low floor but due to the high platform is wheelchair accessible Supertram TW 6000 not low floor but due to the high platform is wheelchair accessible U2 not low floor but due to the high platform is wheelchair accessible U3 not low floor but due to the high platform is wheelchair accessible U4 not low floor but due to the high platform is wheelchair accessible 6MGT 8MGTMAN N8S NF in Krakow N8C not low floor but due to the high platform is wheelchair accessible N8S NF reconstruction with low floor middle section Siemens Avenio in The Hague GT8 100D 2S M and GT8 100D 2S M in Karlsruhe Avenio on Munich tramway locally designated class T1 Combino on Melbourne tramway locally designated D1 class and D2 class Combino Plus also known as Combino Supra or Combino MkII GT6 70D N GT8 70D N GT8 100D 2S M N8C not low floor but due to the high platform is wheelchair accessible Supertram S70 SD 160 in platform level version not low floor but due to the high platform is wheelchair accessible S200 not low floor but due to the high platform is wheelchair accessible SD 400 not low floor but due to the high platform is wheelchair accessible SD 460 not low floor but due to the high platform is wheelchair accessible Stadtbahnwagen B not low floor but due to the high platform is wheelchair accessible TW 2000 not low floor but due to the high platform is wheelchair accessible Ultra Low Floor ULF in Vienna U2 not low floor but due to the high platform is wheelchair accessible U3 not low floor but due to the high platform is wheelchair accessible U4 not low floor but due to the high platform is wheelchair accessible Adtranz Eurotram in Strasbourg Eurotram on Milan tramway locally designated as Class 7000 GTxN M S on Munich tramway locally designated classes R2 and R3 GT6 70D N GT8 70D N GT8 100D 2S M N8C not low floor but due to the high platform is wheelchair accessible VariobahnVossloh KiepeGTZ8 B Vamos not low floor but due to the high platform is wheelchair accessible N8C not low floor but due to the high platform is wheelchair accessible Stadtbahnwagen BIreland Edit AlstomCitadis 301 Citadis 401 Citadis 402 Citadis 502Italy Edit AnsaldoBreda SL95 in Oslo ATM Class 5000 ATM Class 7100 family Sirio ATM Class 7500 family Sirio ATM Class 7600 family Sirio M32 trams on Gothenburg tramway family Sirio TEB serie 001 014 on Bergamo Albino light rail SL95 T 68 not low floor but due to the high platform is wheelchair accessible T 68A not low floor but due to the high platform is wheelchair accessible T 69Fiat Ferroviaria ATM 6000 in Turin ATM Class 5000 ATM Class 6000 ATAC Class 9100 ATAC Class 9200Societa Costruzioni Industriali Milano Socimi ATAC Class 9000 Eurotram on Milan tramway locally designated as Class 7000 Japan Edit Alna Sharyo Little Dancer Type C in Hakodate Little Dancer Type A Little Dancer Type C Little Dancer Type L Little Dancer Type S Little Dancer Type U Little Dancer Type Ua Little Dancer Type XKinki SharyoGreen Mover Max Green Mover LEX Kinki Sharyo SLRVPoland Edit Konstal Konstal 114Na in Gdansk Konstal 112N Konstal 114Na Konstal 116N 116Na Konstal NGd99 Konstal 116NdModertrans Moderus Beta MF 01 in Gdansk 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 reconstruction with low floor middle section PESA Pesa 122 in Torun 120N Tramicus 120Na Swing 121N Tramicus 121Na Swing 122N Tramicus 122Na Swing 128N Jazz 128NG Jazz 134N Jazz 2010N Twist 2012N Twist Step 2014N Twist Krakowiak 71 414 Twist FokstrotProtram Protram 205WrAs in Wroclaw Protram 205 WrAs Protram 206 WrAs In project phase Protram 405N one prototype produced in 2012 and is used since then in KrakowSolaris Bus amp CoachSolaris TraminoRomania Edit Astra Vagoane Călători Astra Imperio in Arad Astra Autentic Astra Auntenic In Galati Astra Imperio Astra imperio in cluj napoca Astra Imperio In Oradea Astra Imperio Metropolitan Astra Imperio Metropolitan In Bucharest Imperio Civitas Imperio Civitas In Arad URAC BucharestBucur LF 65 low floor V3A 93 CH CA PPC Green Tram V3A 93 CH PPC In Bucharest V3A 93 CH PPC In Bucharest V3A 2010 CA In Bucharest low floor middle section V3A 93 PPC V3A 93 M2000 PPC In Bucharest V3A 93 PPC In Bucharest reconstruction with low floor middle section Russian Federation Edit PTMZ Peterburgskij tramvajno mechaniceskij zavod 71 154M in Volgograd LVS 2005 LVS 2008 LVS 2009 71 154 and 71 154MUKVZ Ust Katavskij vagonstrojitelnyj zavod imeni Sergeje Mironovice Kirova KTM 23 71 623 KTM 24 71 624 KTM 25 71 625 KTM 30 71 630 KTM 31 71 631 Tver Carriage Works 71 931M Vityaz M in Moscow 71 911E in Rostov on Don 71 911 City Star 71 931 Vityaz and 71 931M Vityaz M Spain Edit Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles CAF Urbos 70 or 100 in Budapest Urbos 1 Urbos 2 Urbos 3 version Urbos 70 Urbos 3 version Urbos 100 Urbos 3 version Urbos AXL Urbos 3 version Urbos TT Urbos 3 version Urbos LRVVossloh EspanaBritish Rail Class 398 Citylink British Rail Class 399 Citylink NET 2012Switzerland Edit ABB GroupGT8 100C 2S not low floor but due to the high platform is wheelchair accessible Tram 2000 Be 4 8 low floor middle section VariobahnStadler Rail Tango Model Basel in Zurich Tango Model Bochum Tango Model Basel Variobahn on Munich tramway locally designated class S Turkey Edit DurmazlarDurmaray Panorama Durmaray SilkwormBozankayaUkraine Edit Electrontrans Electron T5L64 in Lviv Electron T3L44 experimental Electron T5L64 experimental Electron T5B65Tatra YugK 1M6 experimental K 1M8 K 1MOther trams Edit AKSM 843 BKM 843 Siemens S70Konstal 116NAvanto aka Siemens S70 BKM 85300M DL6WA mark Dalianren meaning Dalian people manufactured by Tram Factory of Dalian in Dalian Boston MBTA Type 8 Trolley Brookville Liberty Modern Streetcar Cegielski 118N Puma gt 60 low floor Tram Power Trampower City Class UK Hedley Doyle Stepless car 1912 5 Imperio used on the Arad Romania tram network RTE 2009 SEPTA PCC II loading platform Transtech Oy Artic Trams United Streetcar trams Tram 2000 Be 4 6 not low floor but due to the high platform is wheelchair accessible GTZ8 B Vamos HCP Puma M31 on Gothenburg tramway reconstruction with low floor middle section Fukui Railway F1000 ja福井鉄道F1000形電車 Hiroden 1000 series II ja 広島電鉄1000形電車 2代 Hiroden 5100 series ja 広島電鉄5100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 9200 ja 岡山電気軌道9200形電車 ja SWIMO Toyama Chiho Railway 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 Newag Nevelo NGT6DD ER on Dresden tramway Serie 3800 de FGV on Valencia tramway CCFL fleet series 501 510 on Lisbon tramwaySee also Edit Trains portalAccessibility Low floor bus Railway platform heightReferences Edit The joy of high ceilings also called low floors Human Transit Retrieved 2010 02 22 Prof Dr Ing Thomas Siefer March 2010 Abschlussbericht Entwicklung des Stadtbahnnetzes Hannover Studie zum Einsatz von Niederflurfahrzeugen PDF Institut fur Verkehrswesen Eisenbahnbau und betrieb TU Braunschweig p 111 Archived from the original PDF on 2014 02 22 Retrieved 2012 02 18 Eine weitere Erknenntnis der Unternehmem die sowohl Hochflur als auch Niederflurfahrzeuge im Einsatz haben ist der direkte Kostenvergleich beider Systeme Fur die Wartung und Instandhaltung der Fahrzeuge werden im Mittel Mehrkosten in Hohe von 20 genannt Fur die Wartung und Instandhaltung der Infrastruktur werden beim Einsatz von Niederflurfahrzeugen um 15 hohere Kosten ermittelt Zelingr Heptner PDF Retrieved 2010 05 12 permanent dead link CVUT cz Capek Kolar PDF Archived from the original PDF on 2011 07 18 Retrieved 2010 05 12 a b A Novelty in Car Construction The Stepless type of the New York Railways Company Brill Magazine J G Brill Company VI 3 73 84 1912 Retrieved 2012 08 17 San Diego Electric Railway San Diego Class I Electric Streetcar Bodies No 126 128 amp 138 PDF pp 24 25 Archived from the original PDF on 2012 05 06 Retrieved 2012 08 17 External links EditStrassenbahn Online in German Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Low floor tram amp oldid 1124757834, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
