Helsinki tram
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| Basic information | |
| Country | Finland |
| city | Helsinki |
| opening | 1891 |
| electrification | 4th September 1900 |
| operator | HKL |
| Transport network | HSL |
| Infrastructure | |
| Route length | 45.2 km |
| Gauge | 1000 mm ( meter gauge ) |
| Power system | 600 V DC overhead line |
| business | |
| Lines | 11 |
| statistics | |
| Passengers | 55,600,000 (2005) |
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The Helsinki tram is operated by the Helsingin kaupungin liikennelaitos (HKL) municipal transport company. It is part of the transport system organized by the regional transport association HSL .
history
The tram operation in Helsinki first began as a horse-drawn tramway in 1891. It was soon switched to electric operation and in 1901 the last horse-drawn carriage was taken out of service. However, no changes were made to the gauge , so that the tram runs on 1000 mm narrow gauge to this day . New routes have not been built for decades, but the existing network has been continuously maintained and, if necessary, modernized with additional tracks or new sections. On August 10, 2008, after a long time, the first new line, the section of the new line 9 between the Helsinginkatu stop and Itä-Pasila, was reopened. The line expansion continued in 2012. On January 1, 2012, the extension of line 8 went into operation. It is almost a kilometer long and leads south from Salmissaari over the Crusell bridge to Jätkäsaari . This created the three new stops Länsisatamankatu, Crusellinsilta and the new Saukonpaasi terminal.
Line network
| line | Drives away | Travel time | Stops |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Eira - Käpylä | 43 min | 32 |
| 2 | Olympiaterminaali - Länsi-Pasila | 26 min | 18th |
| 3 | Olympiaterminaali - Meilahti | 31 min | 24 |
| 4th | Katajanokka - Munkkiniemi | 27 min | 22nd |
| 5 | Katajanokka (terminaali) - Rautatieasema | 8 min | 8th |
| 6th | Hietalahti - Arabia | 31 min | 22nd |
| 6T | Länsiterminaali - Arabia | 40 min | 25th |
| 7th | Länsiterminaali - Pasila | 41 min | 29 |
| 8th | Jätkäsaari - Arabia | 33 min | 23 |
| 9 | Jätkäsaari - Pasila | 31 min | 21st |
| 10 | Kirurgi - Pikku Huopalahti | 25 min | 17th |
Line routes have also been reorganized through new construction sections (including to Länsiterminaali T 2 and a new section along the Valimerenkatu for line 8). Until August 14, 2017, the following network was in effect with 12 tram lines, which in total had slightly fewer passengers than the Helsinki Metro :
- 1 Kauppatori - Käpylä (not in high season )
- 1A Eira - Kauppatori - Käpylä (only in high season)
- 2 Kaivopuisto (from line 3) - Kauppatori - Kampin keskus - Töölö - Eläintarha (further than line 3)
- 3 Kaivopuisto (from line 2) - Eira - Kallio - Eläintarha (further than line 2)
- 4 Katajanokka - Munkkiniemi
- 5 Katajanokan terminaali - Rautatieasema
- 6 Hietalahti - Arabia
- 7A Senaatintori - Töölö - Pasila - Senaatintori (ring line, opposite direction to line 7B)
- 7B Senaatintori - Pasila - Töölö - Senaatintori (ring line, opposite direction to line 7A)
- 8 Jätkäsaari - Salmisaari - Töölö - Arabia
- 9 Länsiterminaali - Itä-Pasila
- 10 Kirurgi - Pikku-Huopalahti
Further new lines are under construction (including the two large extensions to Espoo ), are about to start (line to Kartano) or are in an advanced project stage (new lines southwest of the city center).
Technology and infrastructure
The tram is a tram in the classic sense (not a light rail ), all routes run over streets, sometimes on their own track bed next to the street or in its middle. There is a separate track for both directions of travel. The track width is 1000 millimeters ( meter gauge ). The power supply with 600 volts direct current comes from an overhead line .
The tram has its own traffic lights that display symbols instead of colors: A vertical arrow stands for “Free travel”, a line for “Caution” and the letter S for “Stop / Halt”. In some cases there is a telematics priority circuit over individual traffic .
All tram routes are designed for one-way operation; d. That is, they have a turning loop or triangle at the end of the route. Since the new Variotrams are also furnishing railcars, nothing will change in the near future. However, there are two terminal stops at which no turning loop is required, as the vehicles on one line transfer to another. These are Länsi-Pasila and Olympiaterminaali .
vehicles
The HKL fleet includes around 130 rail vehicles for regular services.
High-floor car
The majority of the trains in use date from the 1970s and 1980s. They were built by Valmet in Finland . Numerous components such as bogies , axle drives and folding doors correspond to the standard wagons from Düwag . Inside, they are equipped with padded bucket seats and visual stop displays, but there are no acoustic stop announcements. Overall, the interior is designed in various shades of green and blue.
Since the Variobahns have not proven themselves and are to be scrapped if they cannot be sold, the existing VALMET vehicles are to be upgraded again for a longer period of use.
No. I / MNLRV 1
With 40 vehicles, the 20-meter-long six-axle two-part articulated wagons of type No. I (wagon numbers 31-70) built between 1973 and 1975 made up almost half of the high-floor wagon fleet. These cars are the world's first series-produced tram vehicles with direct current chopper control . In contrast to the rest of Helsinki's fleet of cars, they were delivered in an orange / gray color scheme, which was replaced by the traditional cream / green between 1986 and 1995. Externally, they differ from the successor type No. II by the round taillights. Over the years, the original conductors' seats have been expanded and mainly technical innovations have been implemented in two modernization programs. In many cars, the line number bands were replaced by electronic LCD displays with the line number and destination, in all of the cars, interior stop displays were retrofitted and the seats in the passenger compartment were replaced. As the successor to the ex-Mannheim vehicles that were parked, the 33, 42, 46 and 64 cars became advertising cars; they are pasted with full advertisements alternately about every six months.
The complete decommissioning of type I was for the years from 2014, after the commissioning of Transtech - Niederflurwagen intended. Contrary to these original plans, in January 2012 the order for the modernization and equipping of ten vehicles with low-floor middle parts was placed with the German company VIS in Halberstadt . At the same time, two options for equipping another five vehicles each were agreed. Cars 34, 37, 38, 49, 50, 60, 61, 62, 63 and 68 were selected for the conversion; the options for further modifications were not taken. The converted car got the name MNLRV 1, outwardly striking are the objective indicators of white LEDs . At first they were used under their old numbers. At the end of 2013 they were renumbered in the number group 113-122.
With the series delivery of the articulated low-floor wagons, the Type I wagons, which had not been extended to eight-axles, were taken out of service by the end of 2017 and partially parked outside the tram network in the Helsinki Metro depot. In February 2018, cars 40, 41 and 59 were still operational for driving school use and internal purposes.
No. II / MLNRV 2
The six-axle successor type No. II (car numbers 71–112), which was built in 42 copies between 1983 and 1987, differs only slightly from its predecessor in terms of appearance. Right from the start, the cars were intended to be operated without a conductor and, in accordance with technical progress, were equipped with a more modern vehicle control system. The most noticeable differences to Type No. I are the quieter operating noises of the electronics, the longer roof container on the rear part of the car and the angular tail lights. Up to car number 103, they were also supplied in the color scheme light gray / orange. The last nine vehicles came from the factory in traditional green / beige, the remaining vehicles were also repainted between 1986 and 1995. These cars were also continuously modernized in two programs: LCD target exterior displays were installed (originally only conveyor belts with line numbers), bus stop displays were installed in the passenger compartment and the seats were changed.
Car No. 80 was the first to be extended to an eight-axle vehicle with a low-floor center section in 2006, as was also done in Tallinn , Duisburg , Mannheim and Zurich . Due to the positive experience and the planned long service life, all vehicles of type No. II were converted accordingly from 2008. The converted cars are now 26.5 meters long and have the new type designation MLNRV 2 . The conversion program for this series came to an end in October 2011 with car no. 95. During the conversion, the vehicles kept their original car numbers.
Low-floor car
Variobahn
Between 1998 and 2003, a total of 40 new, 5-part low-floor articulated wagons of the Variobahn type were purchased from the manufacturer Adtranz in two series (wagon numbers 201–240). They replaced the 59 series cars that had been in motion since 1959, the last of which disappeared in 2003.
The interior is mainly light gray, the seats are harder than those of the Valmet cars and are covered with orange fabric. In the middle there are two small tables on which the current free newspaper metro can be found every day . The Variobahn wagons for Helsinki were equipped with underfloor heating - for the first time in trams. The personal settings for the driver's seat and exterior mirrors are saved on a chip card and are set automatically when personnel change.
After a short period of use, it turned out that the vehicles were not up to the climatic conditions in Finland. Due to technical problems, they had to be withdrawn from circulation again and again. This led to long negotiations with the Bombardier company , which had meanwhile bought the Adtranz company. All Variobahn wagons have been serviced by Bombardier since 2007; Accident repairs are excluded. The contract was concluded for ten years and also stipulated that if the availability rate fell below 35 vehicles, the entire series could be returned to Bombardier for at least three months. Extensive repairs were made by the manufacturer. The availability of the Variobahn has increased significantly as a result of this measure, but the maintenance effort is still very high.
At the end of August 2017, HKL announced that a settlement had been reached with Bombardier, according to which the purchase of the Variobahn would be reversed after the maintenance contract expired at the beginning of 2018. It was discussed in detail whether the vehicles could even meet the demanding requirements in Helsinki. It is certain that they can still have a long and successful life in other cities in Central Europe. A few weeks earlier, cars 234 and 237 had been brought to Ludwigshafen to check whether they could be adapted for temporary use on loan in the Rhein-Neckar-Verkehr GmbH network . In addition to car 209, which has been parked in an accident-damaged manner since 2014, cars 219 and 228 have also been parked from September 2017. (As of February 2018). In the summer of 2018, Line 1 was still partially operated with Variobahn.
Artic / MLNRV 3
On March 25, 2011, the HKL announced the result of a tender for forty new low-floor articulated wagons ("Artic") using bogie technology. The vehicles, worth 113 million euros, were to be manufactured and delivered by the Finnish company Transtech . Initially, two prototypes were produced from 2013 and tested in regular operation, including in winter. The series delivery of a further 38 wagons began in January 2016 and should lead to the replacement of the high-floor wagons of type no. An option for 90 additional cars was also agreed. A design study of the vehicles was exhibited in June 2012 at the “HiDesign” trade fair in Helsinki.
The prototypes 401 and 402 were subjected to extensive tests from 2013 under different climatic conditions and on all lines in Helsinki. Even during the driver training, one of the cars in regular service was subjected to the judgment of the passengers on individual days, accompanied by a large campaign in the media and social networks.
After the takeover of Transtech by Škoda Transportation , series delivery of the remaining 38 vehicles began in January 2016. The vehicles in the series only differ from the prototypes in minor details, the most striking is the change in the bogie panels. The 401-412 cars were delivered in October 2016. From car 411 they have the Škoda logo on the front and rear.
The interior of the vehicles is brightly designed, the seats and headrests of the passenger seats are covered with red suede. A stylized tram route network map was woven into the gray backrests of the seats. Most of the seats are on pedestals, but the floor of the vehicle is also stepless, with slight inclines over the bogies. A folding ramp for wheelchairs is attached to the first double door. The passenger compartment is air-conditioned and equipped with underfloor heating, illuminated by LEDs and equipped with stop displays and screens for the combined information and advertising system used in Helsinki. The outside displays are also made by white LEDs. Instead of exterior mirrors, the cars have cameras, and the entrances are also monitored by several cameras.
The vehicles are considered to be extremely easy to maintain and have pleasant driving characteristics in the Helsinki network, even on poor tracks.
From the agreed option, the order was increased by twenty vehicles in December 2016 and another ten vehicles in June 2018, so that a total of 70 vehicles have now been ordered. In July 2018, 50 cars were in use.
Used purchases
From 2004 to 2007 HKL bought ten different cars from Mannheim and Ludwigshafen am Rhein (see the individual subsections). All cars were technically overhauled and fitted with a new dashboard. Radio in the driver's cab and a windscreen washer system were retrofitted. The originally only half-height door to the driver's cab was extended by an upper part. The direction of actuation of the manually operated drive switches was changed according to the usual way in Helsinki ( driving in Helsinki clockwise , braking counterclockwise - in Mannheim and Ludwigshafen this was reversed). Between 2008 and 2009, the drive switches were equipped with a servo control, which greatly simplifies operation for the driver. The crank has not been attached since then and is only used as an emergency drive in the event of a malfunction. The purchases were only used sporadically after the significantly improved availability of the Variobahn wagons. Usually one or two cars ran Monday to Friday at peak times in regular service. By December 2014, with the exception of the charter cars 150 and 166, they were taken out of service and either handed in or scrapped.
The types in detail:
Car no.150
In 2004, HKL acquired the Düwag eight-axle truck No. 150 from the Ludwigshafen am Rhein transport company . This was used to test whether the structurally similar, own vehicles could be expanded to eight-axle vehicles without amplifying the drives and would meet the requirements in the urban network. The car was used in scheduled service until July 2005 and then used as an operating reserve. It has been used as a party car since mid-2006. For this purpose, golden decorative stripes were attached and the interior of the car was equipped with curtains, fabric-upholstered seats, carpets, a music system and a bar at the former pram area. The car is the only eight-axle vehicle in Helsinki with a high-floor, doorless middle section.
"Mannheim Type" cars 151 to 154
In spring 2005, HKL bought the four discarded Düwag six-axle vehicles 453, 456, 457 and 455 of the Mannheim type from the city that gave it its name and added them to their own fleet in this order as cars 151 to 154. The purpose of the purchase was to compensate for the failures caused by the repair times for the Variobahn wagons - especially with regard to the 2005 World Athletics Championships . Later the car 451 was bought as a replacement donor. It had already been used in Mannheim to extract parts and was scrapped in 2008 after the necessary spare parts had been removed. The four articulated trolleys in Helsinki never had the traditional green / cream color scheme, but instead were covered with full advertisements that changed every six months to annually. In contrast to the local tram cars, on which advertisements are only displayed very sparingly, they were very noticeable in the street scene.
Vehicles 151 and 152 were taken out of service in June 2012, cars 153 and 154 in September and October 2013. Car 154 returned to Mannheim in December 2013 in order to be preserved as a historic vehicle by the community of local traffic Rhein-Neckar eV . The three remaining cars were scrapped in 2013.
Cars 161 to 166
Due to the persistent difficulties with the Variobahn wagons, from 2007 onwards the six Mannheim conversion eight-axle vehicles with low-floor middle section No. 517, 519, 523, 503, 507 and 510 were purchased and they were lined up in this order under the numbers 161 to 166 the fleet. These cars were built between 1962 and 1964 as six-axle vehicles and were extended to eight-axle vehicles in 1991 and 1992. This made them by far the oldest line vehicles in the HKL fleet. Before being used for the first time in Finland, every car was subjected to an extensive overhaul, so that the last cars actually only went into operation after the "Variobahn crisis".
The most extensive conversion was carried out on car 166 (ex 510). The interior has been completely redesigned with new, inclined seats in the rear section, small seating groups in the front section, color-adjustable LED interior lighting and monitors on the ceiling. The outside of the car body was covered with a metal foil that shimmers in different colors depending on the amount of sunlight and the direction of view, and an illuminated sculpture was mounted on the roof in front of the pantograph. As a “culture tram”, the car was on the road from September 2010 at certain times on defined routes. During the journey, music, cabaret or other artistic performances were performed on a small stage in the low-floor middle section. The work as a cultural tram ended on December 21, 2012, after which the train could be rented individually as a charter car. But such missions were rare.
The use of the ex-Mannheim low-floor eight-axle vehicles turned out to be very different. The scheduled service of the advertising-free vehicles only lasted for a short time: from 2009, the 161, 163 and 165 cars were only in regular service for 14, 15 and 9 months respectively. City tours were carried out with car 161 for a short time from 2010, before it was used as a spare parts dispenser from around 2011. Car 163 was used sporadically for rented trips and for driving school services, car 165 remained parked from mid-2011, officially as a reserve, but without further use. The 162 and 164 cars, like the Mannheim type cars, were given changing full advertisements and were therefore used regularly until 2014.
With the end of the conversion program for the Valmet wagons and the purchase of the Artic low-floor articulated wagons, the two advertising wagons became obsolete. A buyer for four cars was found on the Łódź tram in Poland , where six similar cars from Mannheim were already in use. In May 2014, the 163 and 165 wagons that had been parked for years were handed over to Łódź; they were followed by advertising cars 162 and 164 in January 2015. Car 161 was scrapped in Helsinki. In March 2018, the last used car from Mannheim that remained in Helsinki, the Kulturtram 166, was sold to Łódź.
swell
- Suomen Raitiotieseura ry (Finnish / English)
Web links
- Official homepage of the Helsinki tram (English)
- Tram network map on city map
- Schematic tram network plan
- Finnish Tramway Society website (Finnish / English)
- Pictures of the tram in Helsinki at public-transport.net
Individual evidence
- ↑ HSL traffic bulletin of December 29, 2011 on the extension of line 8 ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ Raitio magazine , issue 1/2012, pp. 14-17. Helsinki, February 2012.
- ↑ Route network map and individual description see maps of the transport company, accessed on September 29, 2017.
- ↑ Timetables. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on August 20, 2013 ; Retrieved August 12, 2013 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ HSL - Aikataulut - Helsinki 5. (No longer available online.) In: aikataulut.reittiopas.fi. Archived from the original on October 24, 2016 ; accessed on October 24, 2016 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ a b c BEKUS (d. I. Bernhard Kußmagk): Finland: Helsinki - new construction routes and other artics. In: Straßenbahn Magazin , issue 8/2017, p. 15.
- ↑ New major order from Helsinki gives VIS a sigh of relief ; Volksstimme Magdeburg from January 7, 2012
- ↑ Data sheet type No. I ( Memento of the original from November 26, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (Finnish / English)
- ↑ http://transphoto.ru/list.php?serv=0&mid=3719&cid=140 , accessed on July 4, 2016.
- ↑ a b Datasheet Type No. II ( Memento of the original dated December 3, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (Finnish / English)
- ↑ Data sheet type MLNRV ( Memento of the original from November 26, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (Finnish / English)
- ↑ Variobahn data sheet ( Memento of the original from October 14, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (Finnish / English)
- ↑ HKL and Bombardier conclude a settlement agreement together. City of Helsinki, August 29, 2017; Retrieved August 31, 2017 (Finnish).
- ↑ HKL: MOTOR TRAMS 201–240. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on October 14, 2017 ; Retrieved February 28, 2018 (Finnish). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ On July 14, 2018, the carriages 215, 217, 223, 226 and 232 were in use on Line 1, the day before at least 214, 217 and 220.
- ↑ HKL press release: HKL and Transtech conclude sales contract for trams ( memento of the original from August 7, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (Finnish)
- ↑ Low-floor trolleys on the Transtech website (English)
- ↑ Photo of the design study on finland.fi ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Transtech Artic data sheet ( Memento of the original from October 7, 2013 in the web archive archive.today ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (Finnish / English)
- ↑ HKL will purchase 10 new Artic trams. City of Helsinki, June 14, 2018, accessed June 16, 2018 (Finnish).
- ↑ Kulturtram data sheet ( Memento of the original dated November 29, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (Finnish / English)
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