Flexity Swift

Flexity Swift
A low-floor 2010 Flexity Swift from Metro do Porto in Porto, Portugal.
Manufacturer	Bombardier Transportation
Specifications
Train length	See tables
Width	See tables
Height	(?)
Articulated sections	2
Maximum speed	80 km/h (50 mph)
Weight	See tables
Steep gradient	(?)
Minimum turning radius	25 m (82 ft)[1]
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in)

The Flexity Swift is a series of urban and inter-urban tram, light rail and light metro vehicles manufactured by Bombardier Transportation. It is part of Bombardier's Flexity family of rail vehicles, and like the others, Flexity Swift vehicles can be customized to suit the needs and requirements of customers including legacy designs from its acquisition of Adtranz.

Railly News reported that, by the end of 2015, more than 1000 Flexity Swift vehicles had been sold.^[2]

Overview

Vehicles in the Flexity Swift family vary in length, but are all articulated, usually with three sections. In most cases, the centre section is very short, but can be replaced with a longer section in order to increase capacity, as London is considering doing for future lines. The trams can also be coupled together into trains. Nevertheless, they are all bi-directional with cabs at both ends and doors on both sides. An emphasis is placed on speed with units capable of safely reaching speeds of 80 km/h (50 mph) when running on dedicated lines.

Most vehicles typically weigh between 35 and 40 tonnes (34 and 39 long tons; 39 and 44 short tons), though the ones made for the Minneapolis line are heavier due to stricter crashworthiness requirements in the United States (particularly buff strength) and the vehicles in Rotterdam and Karlsruhe are also heavier due to their use on a full, high-capacity rapid transit network and on mainline railway tracks, respectively.

The Flexity Swift family comes in two distinct versions with a 70% low-floor version to allow access to those in wheelchairs without requiring the construction of high platforms in city streets and a high-floor version with level boarding at raised platforms, generally to retain compatibility with stations built for older trams or trains. While they typically use DC overhead lines for power collection, the Rotterdam vehicles are also equipped with third rail power capability for use on the central sections of the network, while the Karlsruhe tram-trains are compatible with AC electrification which is used on the mainline railways.

Both the low and high-floor models were originally developed for use on the Cologne Stadtbahn in Germany. Other uses of Flexity Swift vehicles include London Tramlink, Manchester Metrolink,^[3] the tram networks in Istanbul and Melbourne, Rotterdam Metro, Karlsruhe Stadtbahn, Stockholm light rail lines 12 and 22, and the METRO Light Rail in Minneapolis-Saint Paul, Minnesota. The scrapped Merseytram plan for Liverpool in Merseyside planned to use the same model as London.

The Flexity Swift's closest competitors are Alstom's Citadis family (particularly the RegioCitadis, Citadis Dualis, and Citadis Spirit variants), Siemens's S70/Avanto, SD100/SD160, SD400/SD460 and S200, and Sirio from Ansaldobreda. Compared to Bombardier's other Flexity vehicles, these vehicles are not designed for streetcar operation with extensive mixed-traffic operations, although they do operate as such on a number of systems such as in London, Manchester, and Melbourne.

Technical specifications

Low-floor versions

City	Operator	Image	Type designation	Manufactured	Number of vehicles	Length m (ft)	Width m (ft in)	Weight (empty) t (LT; ST)	Maximum power kW (hp)
Cologne, Germany	KVB		K4000	1995–1999, 2002	124	28.40 m (93.2 ft)	2.65 m (8 ft 8 in)	35.50 t (34.94 long tons; 39.13 short tons)	4 x 120 kW (160 hp)
			K4500	2004–2007	69	28.50 m (93.5 ft)	2.65 m (8 ft 8 in)	37.40 t (36.81 long tons; 41.23 short tons)	4 x 120 kW (160 hp)
London, England, United Kingdom	TfL (Tramlink)		CR4000	1998–2000	24	30.10 m (98.8 ft)	2.65 m (8 ft 8 in)	36.30 t (35.73 long tons; 40.01 short tons)	4 x 120 kW (160 hp)
Istanbul, Turkey	ITC		A32	2003	55	29.70 m (97.4 ft)	2.65 m (8 ft 8 in)	39.20 t (38.58 long tons; 43.21 short tons)	4 x 120 kW (160 hp)
Karlsruhe, Germany	AVG and VBK		ET 2010 (Tram-train)	2011-2013	30	37 m (121 ft)	2.65 m (8 ft 8 in)	62.5 t (61.5 long tons; 68.9 short tons)	4 x 150 kW (200 hp)
Melbourne, Australia	Yarra Trams		E	2013-2017	50	33 m (108 ft)	2.65 m (8 ft 8 in)		6 x 85 kW (114 hp)
			E2	2017-2019	30
Minneapolis, Minnesota (METRO Light Rail), United States	Metro Transit		Type 1 LRV	2003–2007	27	28.65 m (94.0 ft)	2.65 m (8 ft 8 in)	48.50 t (47.73 long tons; 53.46 short tons)
Porto, Portugal	Metro do Porto		Traintram	2010	30	37.07 m (121.6 ft)	2.65 m (8 ft 8 in)
RijnGouweLijn, Netherlands	NS		A32	1999–2003	6 (sold to Stockholm June 2010)	29.70 m (97.4 ft)	2.65 m (8 ft 8 in)	37.50 t (36.91 long tons; 41.34 short tons)	4 x 120 kW (160 hp)
Stockholm, Sweden	SL		A32	1999–2008	31, additionally 6 second hand	29.70 m (97.4 ft)	2.65 m (8 ft 8 in)	37.50 t (36.91 long tons; 41.34 short tons)	4 x 120 kW (160 hp)

High-floor versions

City	Operator	Image	Type designation	Built in	Number of vehicles	Length	Width	Weight (empty)	Maximum power
Bonn, Germany	SWB		K5000	2003	15	28.4 m (93 ft)	2.65 m (8.7 ft)	37.80 t	4 x 120 kW
Bursa, Turkey	Bursaray		U5-2010 Bursa	2010 – 2011	30	28 m (92 ft)	2.65 m (8.7 ft)	38.00 t	4 x 120 kW
Cologne, Germany	KVB		K5000	2002–2003	59	28.4 m (93 ft)	2.65 m (8.7 ft)	37.80 t	4 x 120 kW
			K5200	2010-2011	15	28.4 m (93 ft)	2.65 m (8.7 ft)	37.80 t	4 x 120  kW
				2020-2021	20	28.4 m (93 ft)	2.65 m (8.7 ft)	37.80 t	4 x 120  kW
Düsseldorf, Germany	Rheinbahn		HF6	2017-2020	42	28 m (92 ft)	2.65 m (8.7 ft)
Frankfurt am Main, Germany	VgF		U5-25 (Bi-directional)	2008–2017	94	25.02 m (82.1 ft)	2.65 m (8.7 ft)	37.20 t	4 x 130 kW
			U5-50 (Uni-directional)	2008–2017	130	24.764 m (81.25 ft)	2.65 m (8.7 ft)	36.15 t	4 x 130 kW
İzmir, Turkey	İzmir Metro		MD	Ordered 2001	30	23.5 m (77 ft)	2.65 m (8.7 ft)	32.00 t	4 x 75 kW
			M	Ordered 2001	15	23.5 m (77 ft)	2.65 m (8.7 ft)		4 x 75 kW
Greater Manchester, England	Metrolink		M5000	2009 - 2017	120	28.4 m (93 ft)	2.65 m (8.7 ft)	39.70 t	4 x 120 kW
Rotterdam, Netherlands	RET		MG2/1, SG2/1	1998 - 2002	81	30.5 m (100 ft)	2.664 m (8.74 ft)	44.20 t	6 x 85 kW
			RSG3, SG3, HSG3	2007 - 2016	86	42 m (138 ft)	2.664 m (8.74 ft)	64.30 t	8 x 130 kW

References

External links

• Flexity official site
• About London's trams (unofficial)