Berlin Urbanliner tram in service at last

BVG, the public transport operator in the German capital, ordered up to 117 Bombardier trams in December 2020 (Bombardier was taken over by Alstom in February 2021). At the moment there are firm orders of 65 of these 100% low-floor trams, the longest (50.89m) and heaviest (63.5t unladen) ever used on the Berlin network. They can carry up to 303 passengers (88 seated). The first was delivered in June 2024 and commissioning, trial runs and training followed with the hope they could enter service in the first quarter of 2025. It seems software problems with the communications equipment had to be fixed first. However as always in Germany the entry into passenger service requires certification from the TAB (Technical Supervisory Authority) that for a new design can take some time, and is route specific. Intended for line M4 the problem that became evident was the load bearing capacity where the tramway crosses the shallow U-Bahn lines at Alexanderplatz. With a 6.35t axle load the Urbanliner exerts more downward pressure than the coupled GT6 sets it is replacing (5.2t axle load). Its 16 traction motors have a combined output of 880kW (GT6 set 600kW) increasing the dynamic load on the tracks. So additional supports had to be installed at Alexanderplatz before the TAB would sign off on the Urbanliner. Finally this was achieved at the end of June and the first two trams were put into service on the M4 on 8 July. 

 

At a 15 July ceremony alongside Senator for MobilitybUte Bonde, BVG CEO Henrik Falk said, ‘As the BVG team we acted quickly and decisively clearing the last obstacles. Now all the prerequisites are in place to bring a new dimension to Berlin’s road transport. With these new vehicles we are ensuring that, following the U-Bahn, our tram fleet will also be high-performing for the next decades’.