The CAF Urbos is a family of
tram
A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport ...
s,
streetcar
A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport ...
s, and
light rail vehicles built by
CAF. The Basque manufacturer CAF previously manufactured locomotives, passenger cars, regional, and underground trains. In 1993, CAF started building trams for
Metrovalencia, with the delivery of 16 trams until 1999. This was a variant of a
Siemens design and some components were delivered by Siemens, including bogies and traction motors. This design was also sold to
Lisbon Trams in 1995; CAF then decided to design and build the Urbos in-house.
There are three generations of the CAF Urbos, namely the Urbos 1, Urbos 2, and Urbos 3. The first generation was ordered by the
Bilbao tram operator, who received eight trams between 2002 and 2004. The second generation was sold to other operators in Spain, and the third generation is sold in Spain, elsewhere in Europe, the United States, Australia and in the UK. Manufacturing locations include
Beasain
Beasain is a town and municipality located in the Goierri region of the province of Gipuzkoa, in the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country, northern Spain. It has an important industry of railway vehicles and related equipment ( CAF) ...
,
Zaragoza
Zaragoza, also known in English as Saragossa,''Encyclopædia Britannica'"Zaragoza (conventional Saragossa)" is the capital city of the Zaragoza Province and of the autonomous community of Aragon, Spain. It lies by the Ebro river and its tribut ...
and
Linares Linares may refer to:
People
*Fernando de Alencastre, 1st Duke of Linares (1641–1717), Spanish nobleman and military officer; viceroy of New Spain from 1711 to 1716
*Andreu Linares (born 1975), Spanish futsal player
* Art Linares, American polit ...
, Spain;
Elmira, New York
Elmira () is a city and the county seat of Chemung County, New York, United States. It is the principal city of the Elmira, New York, metropolitan statistical area, which encompasses Chemung County. The population was 26,523 at the 2020 census ...
, USA;
Hortolandia, Brazil;
Newport
Newport most commonly refers to:
*Newport, Wales
*Newport, Rhode Island, US
Newport or New Port may also refer to:
Places Asia
*Newport City, Metro Manila, a Philippine district in Pasay
Europe
Ireland
*Newport, County Mayo, a town on the ...
, UK;
Huehuetoca, Mexico; and
Bagnères-de-Bigorre
Bagnères-de-Bigorre (, literally ''Bagnères of Bigorre''; oc, label= Gascon, Banhèras de Bigòrra ) is a commune and subprefecture of the Hautes-Pyrénées Department in the Occitanie region of southwestern France.
Name
The town was kn ...
, France.
CAF Urbos 1
This series was only sold to
Euskotren Tranbia to operate
tram services in
Bilbao
)
, motto =
, image_map =
, mapsize = 275 px
, map_caption = Interactive map outlining Bilbao
, pushpin_map = Spain Basque Country#Spain#Europe
, pushpin_map_caption ...
.
The original Bilbao tram system was shut down in 1964 and the second generation opened in December 2002 with extensions in 2004.
*
Bilbao tram: 8 bidirectional trams, numbered 401–408
and locally designated the Euskotren 400 series. 70% low-floor trams with 3
bogie
A bogie ( ) (in some senses called a truck in North American English) is a chassis or framework that carries a wheelset, attached to a vehicle—a modular subassembly of wheels and axles. Bogies take various forms in various modes of tr ...
s on .
CAF Urbos 2
In operation
Withdrawn
CAF Urbos 3
The CAF Urbos 3 is the successor of the Urbos 2; all new sales are of Urbos 3. The standard variants, the Urbos 100 and Urbos 70, have either a 100% or 70%
low floor
Accessibility is the design of products, devices, services, vehicles, or environments so as to be usable by people with disabilities. The concept of accessible design and practice of accessible development ensures both "direct access" (i. ...
design, respectively, and a maximum speed of . The tram type is offered in
metre gauge
Metre-gauge railways are narrow-gauge railways with track gauge of or 1 metre.
The metre gauge is used in around of tracks around the world. It was used by European colonial powers, such as the French, British and German Empires. In Europe, la ...
and
standard gauge and allows for a tram width of . Trams can be assembled from 3, 5, 7 or (only for the Urbos 100) 9 modules, with the length ranging between .
CAF has developed an option to build 'Greentech Freedrive'
lithium-ion
A lithium-ion or Li-ion battery is a type of rechargeable battery which uses the reversible reduction of lithium ions to store energy. It is the predominant battery type used in portable consumer electronics and electric vehicles. It also see ...
supercapacitors
A supercapacitor (SC), also called an ultracapacitor, is a high-capacity capacitor, with a capacitance value much higher than other capacitors but with lower voltage limits. It bridges the gap between electrolytic capacitors and rechargeabl ...
and batteries into the Urbos 3, allowing brief operation without an external electrical supply. This ACR system (''
Acumulador de Carga Rápida
Acumulador de Carga Rápida (ACR) () is a battery electric tram system marketed by Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles (CAF) of Spain. Trams equipped with ACR are fast-charged while at stops; elsewhere they require no overhead line, which ...
'') allowed the tramway operator in Seville to remove the overhead wires in key locations during Holy Week 2011. It has also been used in
Luxembourg
Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small land ...
, Granada, Zaragoza and the West Midlands.
Urbos 70 and Urbos 100
Design flaws
In December 2017, the
Besançon Tramway in
Besançon
Besançon (, , , ; archaic german: Bisanz; la, Vesontio) is the prefecture of the department of Doubs in the region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté. The city is located in Eastern France, close to the Jura Mountains and the border with Switzerla ...
,
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...
, discovered cracks in their
Urbos 3s vehicles around the
bogie
A bogie ( ) (in some senses called a truck in North American English) is a chassis or framework that carries a wheelset, attached to a vehicle—a modular subassembly of wheels and axles. Bogies take various forms in various modes of tr ...
box area of the bodies, which in December 2020 CAF paid for remedial work to be performed with each unit affected requiring one month downtime for the work to be completed.
On 11 June 2021, the
West Midlands Metro
The West Midlands Metro (originally named Midland Metro) is a light-rail/tram system in the county of West Midlands, England. Opened on 30 May 1999, it currently consists of a single route, Line 1, which operates between the cities of Birmi ...
(operating between
Birmingham
Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the We ...
and
Wolverhampton
Wolverhampton () is a City status in the United Kingdom, city, metropolitan borough and administrative centre in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. The population size has increased by 5.7%, from around 249,500 in 2011 United ...
,
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...
) were forced to suspend their services due to similar cracks being discovered in the
bogie
A bogie ( ) (in some senses called a truck in North American English) is a chassis or framework that carries a wheelset, attached to a vehicle—a modular subassembly of wheels and axles. Bogies take various forms in various modes of tr ...
box areas of their
Urbos 3s vehicles, with ongoing investigations continuing to identify any other issues relating to the cracks and to find options for remedial works to be performed.
Following on from these instances, in November 2021 the
New South Wales
)
, nickname =
, image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates:
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, es ...
transport minister
Rob Stokes announced that the
Sydney L1 Dulwich Hill Line would be decommissioned for up to 18 months, due to serious design flaws in all 12 of the CAF
Urbos 3s tram sets that were running on the line. Stokes stated that the flaws (in the bogie boxes) were likely to be far broader in scope than those identified in Sydney due to the thousands of the same tram type operated around the world.
Similar issues relating to cracks in the bogie box area are currently being discovered in the Urbos 3 vehicles supplied to the
Belgrade Tramway Network.
The discovery of further cracks in the West Midlands trams lead to the service being suspended again from 12 November 2021 to December 2021.
Following vehicle inspections, services in the West Midlands were again suspended on 20 March 2022 until further notice due to cracks described by the operator as 'bodywork cracks'. Midland Metro was working directly with the manufacturer to assess the safety and operational impact.
Urbos AXL
Vehicles in the Urbos AXL series have larger modules and railway-style
pivoting axle
An axle or axletree is a central shaft for a rotating wheel or gear. On wheeled vehicles, the axle may be fixed to the wheels, rotating with them, or fixed to the vehicle, with the wheels rotating around the axle. In the former case, beari ...
bogie
A bogie ( ) (in some senses called a truck in North American English) is a chassis or framework that carries a wheelset, attached to a vehicle—a modular subassembly of wheels and axles. Bogies take various forms in various modes of tr ...
s. With a maximum speed of , it is designed for high-capacity, mass
rapid transit
Rapid transit or mass rapid transit (MRT), also known as heavy rail or metro, is a type of high-capacity public transport generally found in urban areas. A rapid transit system that primarily or traditionally runs below the surface may be c ...
systems.
This type of trams are currently in use only in two Northern European countries:
*
Tallinn
Tallinn () is the most populous and capital city of Estonia. Situated on a bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, Tallinn has a population of 437,811 (as of 2022) and administratively lies in the Harju '' ...
,
Estonia
Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and t ...
, (20 trams)
*
Stockholm,
Sweden (22)
Urbos TT
The Urbos TT series is built with
tram-train
A tram-train is a type of light rail vehicle that meets the standards of a light rail system (usually an urban street running tramway), but which also meets national mainline standards permitting operation alongside mainline trains. This al ...
technology, connecting existing
heavy rail infrastructure directly to
urban tramway systems.
*
Cádiz
Cádiz (, , ) is a city and port in southwestern Spain. It is the capital of the Province of Cádiz, one of eight that make up the autonomous community of Andalusia.
Cádiz, one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in Western Europe, ...
, Spain (7 vehicles)
Urbos LRV
A three-section articulated car supported by three bogies, the LRV variant of Urbos is designed for the
North American market and is customizable.
*
Houston
Houston (; ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in Texas, the Southern United States#Major cities, most populous city in the Southern United States, the List of United States cities by population, fourth-most pop ...
, Texas, USA (39 vehicles)
LRTA 13000 class (Metro edition)
The LRTA 13000 class is a high-floor light rail vehicle variant of the Urbos, with 120 units were ordered for the
LRT Line 1 medium-capacity rail system
A medium-capacity system (MCS), also known as light rapid transit or light metro, is a rail transport system with a capacity greater than light rail, but less than typical heavy-rail rapid transit. MCS’s trains are usually 1-4 cars, or 1 lig ...
in
Metro Manila
Metropolitan Manila (often shortened as Metro Manila; fil, Kalakhang Maynila), officially the National Capital Region (NCR; fil, link=no, Pambansang Punong Rehiyon), is the capital region, seat of government and one of three List of metrop ...
,
Philippines
The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no),
* bik, Republika kan Filipinas
* ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas
* cbk, República de Filipinas
* hil, Republ ...
. It was designed by CAF along with
Mitsubishi Corporation
is Japan's largest trading company ( sogo shosha) and a member of the Mitsubishi keiretsu. As of 2022, Mitsubishi Corporation employs over 80,000 people and has ten business segments, including finance, banking, energy, machinery, chemicals, a ...
and were built in CAF's facility in
Huehuetoca, Mexico. The first two trainsets of 8 cars have arrived in January 2021. These are expected to enter service by 2022 and the delivery for all 120 units shall be completed by 2022. Once all the trainsets have entered service, they will eventually replace the aging
LRTA 1000 class LRVs which are nearing 40 years old.
References
External links
{{Commons category, CAF Urbos
CAF website
Electric multiple units of the United States
Tram vehicles
Light rail vehicles
CAF rolling stock
Train-related introductions in 2002
Tram vehicles of Serbia
600 V DC multiple units
750 V DC multiple units
Rolling stock of the Philippines
Multiple units of Sweden
Electric multiple units of Spain