Low floor light rail vehicles

What is light rail, and why is it relevant to British Columbia?

It is seeming more and more likely that light rail will arrive in Vancouver some time in the next 10 years, starting with a Broadway-Lougheed line. There are also long term plans for light rail in Victoria.

“Light rail” refers to a type of rail system which uses short trains (often a single vehicle) made of vehicles lighter than are used for main line rail systems. Light rail lines almost universally use an overhead wire (usually electrified at 600 or 750 volts DC), with the rails at ground potential. The vehicles use a “pantograph” which pushes up against the wire. (For more information see the article on electric vehicle technologies).

Why low floor?

“Conventional” light rail vehicles (LRVs) have a continuous floor at a height above the top of the wheels plus an allowance for suspension travel – this is typically about one metre (three feet) above the top of rail (TOR). Unless platforms are built at this height at each stop, passengers must board the LRV by climbing steps up to the floor level. Even with high platforms it is necessary to provide steps and a ramp up to the platform level from street level.

Climbing steps slows boarding for most and makes boarding impossible for some. Slower boarding means a slower trip, which affects everyone.

Over the last decade there has been a dramatic trend towards LRVs with low floors, most notably in Europe.

How do you make the floor lower?

How do you go about making the floor height lower than the top of a wheel? One way is to allow the vehicle to have two floor heights, with steps between the two levels. The low floor section (typically at a level of 350mm, or 14 inches, above TOR) would exist between two sets of wheels. This solution has been used to retrofit existing single articulated conventional LRVs, turning them into double articulated LRVs with a central low floor section. The low floor section is a small percentage (15%) of the total floor area of the LRV. Nevertheless, it is now possible for parents with strollers and people in wheelchairs to board quickly by rolling up a ramp from curb level – it’s just that they are confined to a small area, and must board at one designated set of doors.

For a larger percentage of low floor space it is necessary to pursue more unconventional solutions. One possibility is to make an articulated vehicle with powered trucks (a truck is a set of four wheels) at each end and an unpowered truck in the middle. The unpowered truck can be designed to allow a “gangway” between the wheels at the low floor height. Now, approximately two thirds of the vehicle has a low floor, with steps at each end to the high floor area over the conventional powered trucks.

Getting rid of the two floor levels requires unconventional power trucks. Many different solutions exist, ranging from trucks with motors mounted on the hubs and seated areas above each wheel (leaving the rest of the floor at the low level) all the way to mounting the motors vertically in the walls of the LRV.

What’s out there today?

The following lists major types of standard gauge low floor light rail vehicles in use today. Each description includes the manufacturer, city or cities in which the LRV is used, the date the LRV type was first delivered, the total number in service or on order, the percentage of floor area that is low floor, high and low floor heights (for less than 100% low floor) or floor height and entrance height (for 100% low floor), the LRV’s length, width and mass, the number of motors and total power, and the number of seats and total capacity including standees (at 4 standees per square metre).

This information is from “Applicability of Low-Floor Light Rail Vehicles in North America”, a Transit Cooperative Research Program report.

100% low floor

AEG (MAN) GT6N
Berlin, Braunschweig, Bremen, Frankfurt-an-der-Oder, Halle, Munich, Zwickau, 1990, 255
100% low floor, 350 mm (13.8 inches), 300 mm (11.8 inches)
26.5 m (86.9 feet) x 2.3 m (7.5 feet)
26.8 tonnes (59 100 pounds)
3 motors, 252 kW (338 hp)
Seats 60, total 163
(Munich version (70 on order, 1994) is slightly longer and heavier)

AEG (MAN) GT8N (8 axle version of the GT6N)
Bremen, Jena, 1993, 71
100% low floor, 350 mm (13.8 inches), 300 mm (11.8 inches)
35 m (114.8 feet) x 2.3 m (7.5 feet)
34 tonnes (75 000 pounds)
4 motors, 376 kW (504 hp)
Seats 89, total 226

Bombardier (BN), GEC Alsthom, ACEC Transport Tram2000
Brussels, 1994, 51
100% low floor, 350 mm (13.8 inches), 350 mm (13.8 inches)
22.8 m (74.8 feet) x 2.3 m (7.5 feet)
31.9 tonnes (70 300 pounds)
8 motors, 352 kW (472 hp)
Seats 32, total 127

ABB Henschel, LHB Variotram
Chemnitz, Sydney, 1993, 61
100% low floor, 350 mm (13.8 inches), 290 mm (11.4 inches)
30.9 m (101.4 feet) x 2.65 m (8.7 feet)
28.3 tonnes (62 400 pounds)
8 motors, 360 kW (483 hp)
Seats 88, total 212

Duewag, Siemens
Frankfurt am Main, 1993, 20
100% low floor, 350 mm (13.8 inches), 300 mm (11.8 inches)
27.2 m (89.2 feet) x 2.35 m (7.7 feet)
33 tonnes (72 800 pounds)
8 motors, 400 kW (536 hp)
Seats 61, total 170

ABB, Socimi Eurotram
Strasbourg, 1994, 26
100% low floor, 350 mm (13.8 inches), 350 mm (13.8 inches)
32.5 m (106.6 feet) x 2.4 m (7.9 feet)
29 tonnes (63 900 pounds)
12 motors, 408 kW (547 hp)
Seats 49, total 213

SGP, Elin ULF197-4
Vienna, 1995, 100
100% low floor, 197 mm (7.8 in), 152 mm (6 inches)
23.61 m (77.5 feet) x 2.4 m (7.9 feet)
23 tonnes (50 700 pounds)
6 motors, 360 kW (483 hp)
Seats 51, total 151

SGP, Elin ULF197-6 (6 axle version of the ULF197-4)
Vienna, 1995, 50
100% low floor, 197 mm (7.8 in), 152 mm (6 inches)
34.87 m (114.4 feet) x 2.4 m (7.9 feet)
32.5 tonnes (71 600 pounds)
8 motors, 480 kW (644 hp)
Seats 79, total 231

Less than 100% low floor

Duewag, AEG-Westinghouse, Siemens
Kassel, 1990, 25
70% low floor, 700 mm (27.6 inches), 350 mm (13.8 inches)
28.75 m (94.3 feet) x 2.3 m (7.5 feet)
30.2 tonnes (66 600 pounds)
2 motors, 360 kW (483 hp)
Seats 80, total 185

Siemens-Duewag
Portland, 1996, 46
66% low floor, 980 mm (38.6 inches), 355 mm (14 inches)
28.04 m (92 feet) x 2.654 m (8.7 feet)
44 tonnes (97 000 pounds)
4 motors, 560 kW (751 hp)
Seats 72, total 188

GEC Alsthom, De Dietrich
Grenoble, Paris, Rouen, Val de Seine, 1987, 107
65% low floor, 875 mm (34.4 inches), 345 mm (13.6 inches)
29.4 m (96.5 feet) x 2.3 m (7.5 feet)
43.9 tonnes (96 800 pounds)
2 motors, 550 kW (738 hp) or 4 motors, 1000 kW (1341 hp)
Seats 54, total 174

Duewag, Siemens
Bonn, 1994, 24
65% low floor, 560 mm (22 inches), 350 mm (13.8 inches)
28.62 m (93.9 feet) x 2.3 m (7.5 feet)
31.5 tonnes (69 400 pounds)
4 motors, 360 kW (483 hp)
Seats 72, total 172

Duewag, ABB
Leipzig, 1994, 25
61% low floor, 560 mm (22 inches), 300 mm (11.8 inches)
27.8 m (91.2 feet) x 2.2 m (7.2 feet)
32 tonnes (70 500 pounds)
4 motors, 320 kW (429 hp)
Seats 77, total 181

Duewag, ABB
Karlsruhe, 1994, 20
61% low floor, 580 mm (22.8 inches), 390 mm (15.4 inches)
28.82 m (94.6 feet) x 2.65 m (8.7 feet)
34.5 tonnes (76 100 pounds)
4 motors, 500 kW (671 hp)
Seats 91, total 191

LHB, Deutsche Waggonbau AG, ABB
Magdeburg, 1995, 120
60% low floor, 570 mm (22.4 inches), 350 mm (13.8 inches)
29.0 m (95.1 feet) x 2.3 m (7.5 feet)
34 tonnes (75 000 pounds)
4 motors, 320 kW (429 hp)
Seats 71, total 167

Bombardier (Rotax), Duewag, Kiepe, Elin
Vienna, 1992, 68
60% low floor, 530 mm (20.9 inches), 440 mm (17.3 inches)
26.8 m (87.9 feet) x 2.65 m (8.7 feet)
34.7 tonnes (76 500 pounds)
4 motors, 400 kW (536 hp)
Seats 58, total 194

Fiat (Firema)
Turin, 1989, 54
56% low floor, 870 mm (34.3 inches), 350 mm (13.8 inches)
22.2 m (72.8 feet) x 2.3 m (7.5 feet)
30 tonnes (66 100 pounds)
2 motors, 300 kW (402 hp)
Seats 51, total 143

Duewag, ABB, Siemens
Rostock, 1994, 50
50% low floor, 560 mm (22 inches), 350 mm (13.8 inches)
30.4 m (99.7 feet) x 2.3 m (7.5 feet)
30.4 tonnes (67 000 pounds)
4 motors, 320 kW (429 hp)
Seats 91, total 186

Duewag, Siemens
Sheffield, 1993, 25
34% low floor, 880 mm (34.6 inches), 480 mm (18.9 inches)
34.75 m (114 feet) x 2.65 m (8.7 feet)
46 tonnes (101 400 pounds)
4 motors, 1000 kW (1341 hp)
Seats 88, total 238

GEC Alsthom
Nantes, 1992, 46
17% low floor, 350 mm (13.8 inches), 850 mm (33.5 inches)
39.15 m (128.4 feet) x 2.3 m (7.5 feet)
51.9 tonnes (114 400 pounds)
2 motors, 550 kW (738 hp)
Seats 74, total 252

Bombardier (BN), Holec
Amsterdam, 1989, 45
9% low floor, 870 mm (34.3 inches), 280 mm (11 inches)
25.63 m (84.1 feet) x 2.35 m (7.7 feet)
36.9 tonnes (81 400 pounds)
8 motors, 308 kW (413 hp)
Seats 63, total 153

James Strickland