Longer trams for Zürich?

Zürich is eagerly awaiting the first appearance in service of the Tango demonstrator which is now being prepared for its debut in the VBZ workshops. The choice of routes the tram can work on is somewhat limited though: The tram is 45m long, whereas the longest combinations currently operating are just short of 43m. Some stops are unable to accomodate the long trams and special provisons may be necessary.

VBZ meanwhile has a similar problem of its own. The conversion of route 10 to Cobra (coinciding with the opening of the airport extension) has rendered many Sänfte trams surplus. Some have been redeployed on route 4E, the peak-only route strengthening routes 4 and 13 between Escher-Wyss-Platz and Hauptbahnhof. However, the total number required is still reduced. VBZ are therefore interested in pairing these trams with 24xx Pony four-axle cabless trailers. Such a combination would also be too long for some stops. As a remedy, VBZ is considering removing the couplings at the outer extremities. The resulting set would still be 20cm longer than 43m, the greatest officially acceptable length. Watch this space for further developments.

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this item was added on 19.03.2009 (5509 days ago)
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