Innovative trams, streetcars, and light rail vehicles

SFMTA has ordered 219 newly-developed light rail vehicles to help connect the great places throughout San Francisco. The vehicles were designed for a roomier seating configuration, modern signage, and advanced reliability to reduce delays. 

These Muni LRV4, which are based on Siemens Mobility´s Model S200, are especially energy-efficient thanks to a light-weight drive system that recuperates braking energy.

The first vehicles began passenger service in November 2017 and over the next 10 years will replace the previous Muni fleet as well as support the light rail expansion plans.

In June 2017, the German operator Bremer Straßenbahn AG (BSAG) has ordered 67 Avenio 4-car trams from Siemens. In January 2018, BSAG exercised the first option by ordering 10 additional vehicles from Siemens.

Painted in the traffic red corporate color, plus a design reference to former trams of Bremen, the vehicles will be clearly recognizable as new members of the BSAG fleet.

The Avenios for Bremen will be the first vehicles to be equipped ex works with the “Siemens Tram Assistant”, the innovative driver assistance system designed by Siemens to prevent collisions.

Siemens will deliver 29 four-car Avenio trams,  rail electrification, signaling, communication, workshop equipment, overall project management and system integration as well as maintenance services for 15 years. The tram line will consist of 28 kilometers of double track with 29 stations.

This project will strengthen green transportation in Copenhagen. Once commissioned in 2024, the project will support Copenhagen’s goal to become the world’s first carbon-neutral capital city by 2025.

In November 2015, Potsdam’s transportation company (Verkehrsbetrieb Potsdam, ViP) ordered an extension of 2 additional cars for each of 8 vehicles in the Combino fleet. These were part of a 1996 order for 16 Combino trams. 

Despite the advanced age of the fleet (in operation since 1998) and after 20 million kilometers in service, the Combino vehicles still offer consistently high reliability and availability of more than 99%.

In addition to partial refurbishment of the older modules, the Combino – extended to a 7-section tram – can now accommodate up to 214 passengers, up from 175 in the past. The two new cars, a bogie and suspended intermediate module, are from the new Avenio M family. 

In May 2015, Ulm‘s municipal unitility (Stadtwerke Ulm) ordered 12 trams from Siemens to meet the demand for additional vehicles on the new No. 2 line. 

Vehicles of the Avenio M-series combine the proven multi-articulated concept with the experiences of the Avenio platform, which is seeing successful implementation in The Hague and Munich. 

The four independent brake systems are enhanced by a special assistance system to safely run on the long slopes in Ulm’s network. The vehicles have a driver assistance for automatic collision prevention.

Munich’s municipal utility Stadtwerke München has ordered eight trams in 2012 from Siemens in order to modernize and expand its existing vehicle fleet. In the meantime, it has ordered another 22 vehicles in 2015 as well as another 73 additional vehicles in 2019.

The new trams reach the comfort level, which is ranked as very comfortable according to DIN EN 12299 standard. 

In a passenger survey, 47 percent of the users rated the Avenio Munich as “very good” and another 50 percent as “good.”

Qatar Foundation has commissioned Siemens to build a tram system that operates without overhead contact lines for Education City, home to the branch campuses and research centers of some of the world’s most prestigious educational institutions.

In addition to 19 vehicles, Siemens is also delivering signalling equipment, communications system, power supply, supervisory control and data acquisition system, operations control center, traffic light control, depot and workshop equipment.

The trams are equipped with the Sitras HES energy storage system from Siemens – charging takes place at the stations.

In December 2011, HTM (Haagsche Tramweg-Maatschappij) ordered 40 trams from Siemens for The Hague’s network.

A transparent partition between the driver’s cab and the passenger area gives passengers a unique riding experience. 

In the following years, HTM exercised contract options which bring the total fleet size to 70 Avenios, with a capacity of 232 passengers per vehicle.

By 2017, 330 of the approx. 400 trams operated by Wiener Linien were ultra low floor trams from Siemens.

The ULF Vienna tram has the lowest entrance height in the world, at only 19.7 cm.

The short trams provide space for 136 persons, the long trams for 207 persons.

The city of Calgary ordered the delivery of 63 vehicles of the S200 high-floor light rail platform from Siemens to address the increased ridership of the growing metropolis.

The vehicles were specially developed for the harsh climatic conditions in Canada, for example, with heatable couplers and windshields.

Each S200 vehicle can transport up to 247 passengers and offers two wheelchair spaces as well as two multifunctional areas.

In Minnesota, United States, 59 Siemens S70 low-floor light rail vehicles help bring the Twin Cities of St. Paul and Minneapolis closer together.

The vehicles have been specially adapted to the Twin Cities’ requirements, such as increased insulation for noise reduction and greater comfort in summer and winter.

For the route expansion project in the southwestern region of the Twin Cities, in 2016 the city council commissioned Siemens to build another 27 light rail vehicles, which are in passenger service since 2019.