Tramway sur pneumatiques

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Tramway sur pneumatiques according to the Translohr system in Clermont-Ferrand

Tramway sur pneumatiques or Tramway sur pneus for short is the French name for a local transport system that can be described as a hybrid of a tram and a trolleybus . The German equivalent is tram on rubber tires or rubber- tire tram , in Switzerland it is called a pneumatic tram . However,such a system does not exist, is under construction or plannedin the German-speaking area . Tramways sur pneus are currently in use in France , Italy , the People's Republic of China and Colombia .

Characteristic

The Tramway sur pneumatiques is a completely (System Translohr ) or predominantly (System TVR) by means of a guide or guide rail embedded in the middle of the roadway, track-guided traffic system analogous to the track bus .

The Tramway de Nancy (TVR) is strongly reminiscent of classic trolleybus systems . Power is supplied via two pantographs to ensure compatibility with the previous trolleybus network and to enable driving on the external routes without a guardrail and auxiliary diesel drive . Lane guidance only takes place in the inner city area; it ends before the two end sections of the single line. Up to the final stops, the vehicles drive around 40 percent of the total route without lane guidance like trolleybuses controlled by the driver in the street space.

Due to its different type of power supply, the Tramway de Caen (also TVR ) was somewhat more reminiscent of a classic tram. As with modern trams, power was supplied by means of single-arm pantographs , and it was returned via the guide rail. The two lines of the system were completely provided with the lane guidance, only the journeys to and from the depot were freely steered in the street space.

The Translohr system, of which eight systems currently exist, is even more closely related to the conventional tram. Due to the type of lane guidance, the Translohr vehicles can only run using guardrails. In contrast to the TVR system, they are bidirectional and capable of multiple traction .

history

O-Bahn

The O-Bahn designed by Daimler-Benz in the late 1970s can be described as the predecessor of Tramway sur pneus . The vehicles were forcibly guided by means of lane guide bars on the side of the road. It was a modular system that was diesel-powered in the basic version and could be electrified by means of a one- or two-pole overhead contact line if required.

GLT

The predecessor GLT (Guided Light Transport) of the TVR system was introduced in 1985 by the Belgian company BN ( La Brugeoise et Nivelles ), which was merged into the Bombardier company in 1988 . It operated occasionally in tourist traffic on a disused section of the SNCB between Han-sur-Lesse and Jemelle in the Ardennes . In the area of ​​this route, the vehicles moved in track-guided mode on two concrete lanes along a centrally installed Vignole rail, which, in addition to the lane guidance, also ensured the return of the traction current. The current (600 volts direct current) was drawn from a contact wire using a pantograph. On a section of the 6-kilometer route to the terminal in Han-sur-Lesse, the bimodal vehicles with diesel-electric drives ran on the road.

The trial operation, which ran from 1987 to the end of 1990, was intended to develop a hybrid of buses and trams, which would be interesting for medium-sized cities with 40 percent (expected) lower costs compared to the latter. Two vehicles were built, a 18.30 meter long articulated bus and a 25.30 meter long double articulated bus.

TVR

TVR with guidance in Nancy
TVR Nancy without lane guidance at the foot of the steep section in Vandœuvre , in the background the start of the guardrail
Front and rear view of the TVR in Caen

The TVR (Transport sur voie réservée) system was developed by Bombardier as the successor to the GLT. TVR is a registered trademark of ANF Industries, a French subsidiary of Bombardier. Bombardier noted in a June 20, 2007 statement that it no longer considered the acronym TVR as proprietary to its system after it bought out ANF ​​in 1988.

Like the GLT, the TVR can be tracked along a guide rail mounted in the middle of the driveway, and it can also be steered around the street by the driver by means of an auxiliary drive, independently of the external power supply. The track is guided by two guide rollers arranged one behind the other on each vehicle axle; all axles are steerable.

The system exists or existed - the TVR Caen was discontinued in 2017, the discontinuation of the TVR Nancy should follow soon - only in the two French cities of Nancy and Caen . In both cities, the routes and vehicles are referred to as "tramway" (streetcar), but this naming is popular and is rarely used in the professional world.

The operators Service de transport de l'agglomération nancéienne in Nancy and Compagnie des Transports de l'Agglomération Caennaise in Caen use largely similar vehicles from Bombardier. These are 24.50 meters long and 2.50 meters wide, three-part one-way vehicles with double joints. They are driven by asynchronous motors with an output of 300 kW from Alstom , the auxiliary diesel motor for autonomous journeys has a maximum output of 200 kW. At a top speed of 70 km / h, 40 passengers can be carried on seats and up to 138 standing.

While the vehicles in Caen received their electricity via single-arm pantographs and dissipated through the guardrail, similar to the GLT , the vehicles in Nancy were supplied via two pantographs . Like the GLT, the latter are partly driven by the driver in passenger operation in the street area, which in Caen only occurs when driving to and from the depot .

criticism

The cost reductions of 40 percent expected with the GLT compared to a conventional tram system turned out to be unrealistic with the TVR. In Nancy, where a “Tramway sur pneus” was put into operation in 2000 as the first city in the world, problems arose repeatedly, which ultimately led to a year-long interruption of the regular service. There were even injuries when derailing in tight bends.

Disadvantages of the system are:

  • The guide rails and rollers are heavily used. They are subject to high levels of wear and tear and quickly show signs of wear.
  • Conversely, the high pressure of the guide rollers on the guardrail reduces the friction of the rubber tires on the wet road surface, which leads to adhesion problems. For this reason, Nancy decided not to build a continuation line over a 13 percent gradient to Brabois. It was precisely this incline that was an argument in favor of the TVR system and against the construction of a conventional tram.
  • However, the pressure of the guide rollers is not sufficient to prevent the first guide roller from derailing at higher speeds in curves. This is why the vehicles sometimes only run at walking speed in front of and around bends.
  • An object (bolt, pebble, etc.) in the shaft of the guide rail can lead to the vehicle derailing.
  • Since all wheels are articulated and therefore follow the same track, the route is heavily used by the 26.9 tonnes (empty weight) vehicles. The formation of ruts is encouraged in the road space.
  • When building the route, roughly the same infrastructure measures (e.g. laying canals, erecting catenary masts) are required as for the tram, the cost savings are low.
  • The projected service life of the vehicles is shorter than that of trams.

The city of Caen decided on December 14, 2011 to convert its system into a conventional tram system, as Bombardier had previously announced that it would no longer pursue the TVR concept. The TVR system was decommissioned on December 31, 2017. The new Caen tram went into operation on July 27, 2019.

In February 2017, the Nancy City Council also decided to follow suit and replace the Tramway sur pneumatiques with a tram in 2022. The main reason is the expected lack of spare parts for the TVR vehicles.

Translohr

Translohr in Medellín

The Translohr system was developed by the French company Lohr Industrie in the 1990s. On June 11, 2012, the "tram division" was sold to Alstom and the Fonds stratégique d'investissement .

Although the development of the Translohr took place at about the same time as the TVR, the project stagnated for many years. It was not until Clermont-Ferrand , the seat of the Michelin tire factory and thus interested in rubber-tyred traffic systems, that the local traffic system made its breakthrough with a first installation in 2006. Michelin had already developed rubber-tyred rail vehicles ( Micheline ) at the end of the 1920s and had also contributed to the rubber- tyred metro and VAL systems.

Like the O-Bahn test vehicle O 305 GG , the Translohr vehicles carried out so far are bidirectional cars. Power is supplied via the roof pantograph from a classic contact line , and the return via the guardrail. In contrast to TVR, no turning loops are required, and there is also the option of multiple traction. Three to six-part vehicles with lengths of 25 to 46 meters are possible. At 2.20 meters, the vehicle is 30 centimeters narrower than the TVR, and the top speed is the same at 70 km / h.

Translohr lane guidance device, here in a raised position on a "Cityval" railcar for the Métro Rennes

The Translohr vehicles cannot leave their guardrail and also need them in the depot. The track is guided by two inclined wheels, each with only one flange , which are at an angle of 90 degrees to each other and laterally enclose the guide rail . In contrast to TVR, this favors the friction conditions between the rubber tires and the roadway, as no pressure has to be exerted on the rail, and the vehicle is more secure against derailment.

While no other TVR systems are planned or under construction apart from the two existing TVR systems, a total of seven Translohr systems have existed in four countries since 2015. In addition to the Clermont-Ferrand Translohr , these are the T5 and T6 lines in the Paris area, Padua and ( Venice -) Mestre in Italy, Tianjin and Shanghai in the People's Republic of China and the Ayacucho Tram Medellín in Colombia.

The Translohr tracking device was also adopted for the Neoval system.

System overview

TVR in Nancy TVR in Caen Translohr
principle TVRGeleiding.svg TVRGeleiding.svg TranslohrGuideRail.svg
Lane guidance partially continuous, except for access to the depot continuous
Overhead line bipolar unipolar unipolar
Return current via guide rail No Yes Yes
Pantograph two poles Einholm Einholm
Operating mode Furniture trolley Furniture trolley Bidirectional car
structure three-part three-part three, four, five or six parts
Articulated portal No No Yes
Multiple traction possible No No yes, double traction
Vehicle registration number Yes Yes no, except in Shanghai
Auxiliary drive diesel diesel battery
Use without guide rail yes, freely steerable
(with overhead line or auxiliary drive)
yes, freely steerable
(only with auxiliary drive)
no, not freely steerable

See also

literature

  • Christoph Groneck, Robert Schwandl: Tram Atlas France . 1st edition. Robert Schwandl Verlag, Berlin 2014, ISBN 978-3-936573-42-8 , pp. 31-33 and 92-94 .
  • Vukan R. Vuchic: Urban Transit Systems And Technology . John Wiley & Sons Inc, 2007, ISBN 978-0-471-75823-5 , pp. 624 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. Mercedes-Benz O 305 G Spurbus at mercedes-benz-publicarchive.com, accessed on May 6, 2019
  2. Guided bus to tram plan confirmed. In: Railway Gazette. February 5, 2016, accessed January 15, 2017 .
  3. Blickpunkt Tram 3/2017, p. 121