VBZ Be 5/6

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Be 5/6 "Cobra"
Zurich Be 5-6 Cobra 3002 Letzistrasse.jpg
Numbering: 3001-3088
Number: 88 railcars
Manufacturer: Bombardier Transportation , Alstom
Year of construction (s): 2001, 2006-2010
Gauge : 1000 mm ( meter gauge )
Length over coupling: 36,000 mm
Height: 3600 mm
Width: 2400 mm
Empty mass: 39.2 t
Top speed: 70 km / h
Hourly output : 5 × 125 kW = 625 kW
Power system : 600 V DC
Power transmission: Overhead line
Train control : Integra «train stop» (ZST 90)
Operating mode: Unidirectional locomotive
Seats: 96
Standing room: 142
Floor height: 35 cm (entry)
Low floor: 100%
inside view

The VBZ articulated motor vehicle Be 5/6 is a motorized, low-floor tram vehicle operated by Verkehrsbetriebe Zürich (VBZ), commonly referred to as the Cobra tram .

The tram, which was specially developed for the Zurich tram from 1995 , has been running in a prototype series ( pilot series ) since 2001 . The series production of the vehicles that have been in use at VBZ since spring 2006 has been running since the end of 2005.

VBZ articulated motor vehicle Be 5/6

development

After Vevey Technologies, together with Duewag and Brown, Boveri & Cie. (BBC) had developed a partially low-floor tram that was used in Berne and Geneva from 1987, the “Züri-Tram” rolling stock consortium also began developing its own low-floor tram. Behind the consortium were the long-standing Zurich house suppliers Schindler Waggon (SWP; car body , mechanical parts), Schweizerische Industrie-Gesellschaft (SIG; chassis) and BBC or Asea Brown Boveri (ABB; traction equipment, electrical parts). During the development, the focus was on the standard components of the Zurich and Basel tram networks, where the customers for the vehicle were located.

The specifications from Zurich required a fully low-floor tram with the previous wheel diameters in order to be able to cope with maximum gradients of up to 77 per thousand in any weather and the drivability of curve radii of 14.0 meters. Due to a few short stops (e.g. at the Kunsthaus), a variant with a maximum vehicle length of 37 meters was required, which should now have a car body width of 2400 mm. The very similar Basel specifications required an even smaller minimum curve radius of 11.8 meters; With a Basel variant, however, the usual car body width of 2300 mm would have had to be adhered to, but there were no restrictions on the vehicle length.

For the testing of the new chassis, which should have the required features, the prototype Be 4/4 401 “Muni”, built in 1966, was taken over by the Bern Municipal Transport Authority (SVB) and supplemented by a new middle part with SIG “Cobra” chassis . The test tram with the new name “Munico” was tested between 1993 and 1995 and was tested on the rail network in Zurich and Basel, among others.

To save weight, it was originally planned to manufacture the car body using plastic winding technology. During the development it became apparent that the innovative concept would not have become sufficiently stable, as there was simply too little load-bearing material, especially due to the large windows and doors. The design of the car body then had to be completely revised for the first time, which led to delays in delivery of the Zurich prototypes that had already been ordered. The new box in aluminum hybrid technology, which was developed together with Alusuisse , was also designed to save weight and costs and only has screw and adhesive connections. With the screwed aluminum box, the vehicle had to be modified in such a way that the boxes hanging between the chassis were shortened and the chassis part boxes were lengthened in order to control the body forces.

When the VBZ put new tram vehicles out to tender in 1995, the “Züri-Tram” consortium submitted an offer. Since the tram only existed as a concept, it could be fully adapted to the VBZ's specification on the basis of the tender. The new chassis had already been tested to the satisfaction of the VBZ's technical department. The traction equipment from ABB was a further development based on the "Tram 2000" , which had been in production since 1976, and which has been brought up to date several times over the years. Due to the largely problem-free procurement of the "Tram 2000" without prototype vehicles, prototypes were not explicitly required in this tender either, but contrary to the trend, a pre-series was requested, as no complete vehicle existed and the plastic car body planned at the time was classified as an uncertainty factor .

delivery

The tender previously carried out was rejected in 1996 in favor of the “Züri-Tram” consortium and its new development with “Cobra” chassis. On December 20, 1996, the basic contract was signed with SWP, Fiat-SIG and ABB / Adtranz. The first contract for 17 vehicles included the delivery of a so-called pilot series of 6 prototype vehicles and a first main series of 11 vehicles, the construction of which should be approved after a two-year trial phase.

The delivery of the pilot series (Be 5/6 3001–3006) took place after a long history of suffering, determined by the upheaval in the rolling stock industry. The vehicles were originally ordered from the main supplier, Schindler Waggon Pratteln (SWP). The Schindler Holding sold in 1997 its rolling stock subsidiary Schindler Waggon at Adtranz , which in turn 2000/2001 of Bombardier Transportation has been adopted. SIG Holding, which had already merged its rail vehicle division in a joint venture with the Fiat Group, later sold its shares in Fiat SIG Rail Vehicles AG , which was ultimately taken over by Alstom along with the entire Fiat rail vehicle division .

On the night of May 17-18, 2001, the first “Cobra” was delivered to VBZ by low-loader, another four vehicles followed in autumn 2001. The vehicles in the pilot series were withdrawn from circulation very quickly because the cast housing was damaged the single wheel drives proved too weak; The Be 5/6 3006 was therefore retained in Pratteln and only brought to Zurich in autumn 2002. In December 2002, the six vehicles with improved drives and modifications aimed at reducing noise in the interior were put back into operation on tram lines 4 and 9. The doors supplied by a third-party company, which had to be revised several times, turned out to be a chronic teething problem .

The procurement of a total of 70-100 vehicles was planned, for which, however, with the exception of the pilot series (6 vehicles) and the first main series (11 vehicles), no binding contracts had yet been concluded. When it became foreseeable at the end of 2003 that there would be further delays and that Bombardier wanted to set a significantly higher price for the vehicles that were not yet contractually secured, the contracts were renegotiated. On June 29, 2004, a new contract was signed with Bombardier and Alstom, which instead of a planned second main series (58 vehicles) now includes a global offer for 68 series vehicles and the alignment of the pilot series with the series vehicles.

The delivery of the first series vehicles, which was last scheduled for summer 2004 after long delays, fell victim to the so-called Combino crisis at the beginning of 2004 . The screwed aluminum car body, which served as a replacement for the non-feasible plastic box, was developed together with Alusuisse Rail & Road. The latter also sold its development to Siemens Transportation Systems , which used the design in a similar form on the Combino. For this reason, the car body was recalculated again; In addition, the existing construction was checked in an external report. Based on the results and the required vehicle life of 35–40 years, it was decided not to screw the car body but to weld it.

The Be 5/6 3007 was presented as the first series vehicle in November 2005 at the Villeneuve plant , where production had to be completely restarted after the Pratteln site was closed. At the same time, VBZ agreed an option with Bombardier to deliver up to 35 additional vehicles for foreseeable future network expansions ( Glattalbahn , Zurich West tram ).

The 3007 car was delivered on the road to Zurich in March 2006; since July 2006 (from number 3010) the trams in the Villeneuve factory area have been loaded onto a newly purchased, standard-gauge roller bogie and brought to Zurich by SBB Cargo , where they are located in the VBZ central workshop in Altstetten.

The vehicles up to number 3020 were delivered at the end of 2006. As early as the end of October, four years after commissioning, the 3006 was taken out of service and will be the first vehicle in the pilot series to be brought into line with the series vehicles. For this purpose, car 3006 was completely dismantled by the central workshop in November, and a new assembly is being carried out in Villeneuve using parts that have not been reworked in the meantime. The remaining five vehicles of the pilot series were taken out of service in February 2008 and put back into service in summer 2009 at the same level as the other series vehicles.

In the second half of 2007, VBZ reordered a further 14 cars based on the option agreed with Bombardier, which were delivered from autumn 2009, bringing a total of 88 vehicles to VBZ by the end of May 2010.

Series designation

The designation Be 5/6 means

  • B   for 2nd class,
  • e   for e lektrischen drive
  • 5/6   Six axles, five of which are powered

The Swiss nomenclature was created at a time when there were only continuous axes . Therefore the name is not exactly applicable. In fact, the vehicle has 6 driven wheels on the left, there is no space for motors on the right because of the doors, so only 4 of the 6 wheels are driven. (4 + 6 driven wheels) divided by (6 + 6 wheels) with 2 wheels per axle and shortened it gives 5/6.

literature

Web links

Commons : VBZ Be 5/6  - Collection of images, videos and audio files