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A rubber-tyred tram (also known as tramway on tyres, french: tramway sur pneumatiques) is a development of the
guided bus
Guided buses are buses capable of being steered by external means, usually on a dedicated track or roll way that excludes other traffic, permitting the maintenance of schedules even during rush hours. Unlike trolleybuses or rubber-tired tra ...
in which a vehicle is guided by a
fixed rail in the
road surface
A road surface (British English), or pavement (American English), is the durable surface material laid down on an area intended to sustain vehicular or foot traffic, such as a road or walkway. In the past, gravel road surfaces, hoggin, cobbles ...
and draws current from overhead electric wires (either via
pantograph
A pantograph (, from their original use for copying writing) is a mechanical linkage connected in a manner based on parallelograms so that the movement of one pen, in tracing an image, produces identical movements in a second pen. If a line dr ...
or
trolley pole
A trolley pole is a tapered cylindrical pole of wood or metal, used to transfer electricity from a "live" (electrified) overhead wire to the control and the electric traction motors of a tram or trolley bus. It is a type of current collector. Th ...
s).
Two incompatible systems using physical
guide rails exist, the
Guided Light Transit (GLT) designed by
Bombardier Transportation
Bombardier Transportation was a Canadian-German rolling stock and rail transport manufacturer, headquartered in Berlin, Germany.
It was one of the world's largest companies in the rail vehicle and equipment manufacturing and servicing industry ...
, and the
Translohr from
Lohr Industrie
Lohr Industrie is a French manufacturer. With a track record in the manufacture of high-tech car transporter systems (primarily for road haulage), this manufacturer has developed the Translohr tram cars and Modalohr road/rail transfer system, an ...
(currently made by
Alstom
Alstom SA is a French multinational rolling stock manufacturer operating worldwide in rail transport markets, active in the fields of passenger transportation, signalling, and locomotives, with products including the AGV, TGV, Eurostar, Avelia ...
and FSI). There are no
guide bar
The rubber-tyred metro systems that incorporate track have angle irons as guide bars, or guiding bars, outside of the two roll ways. The Busan Subway Line 4, that lacks a rail track, has I-beams installed as guide bars. The flanges are vert ...
s at the sides but there is a central
guidance rail that differs in design between the systems. In the case of Translohr, this rail is grasped by a pair of metal guide wheels set at 45° to the road and at 90° to each other. In the GLT system, a single double-
flange
A flange is a protruded ridge, lip or rim (wheel), rim, either external or internal, that serves to increase shear strength, strength (as the flange of an iron beam (structure), beam such as an I-beam or a T-beam); for easy attachment/transfer of ...
d wheel between the rubber tires follows the
guidance rail
Rail or rails may refer to:
Rail transport
*Rail transport and related matters
*Rail (rail transport) or railway lines, the running surface of a railway
Arts and media Film
* ''Rails'' (film), a 1929 Italian film by Mario Camerini
* ''Rail'' ( ...
. In both cases, the weight of the vehicle is borne by rubber tires to which the guide wheels are attached, which make contact with the road on concrete
roll way
A roll way or running pad is the pad placed on a concrete slab or on the ties on the outside of the conventional track along both running rails of a rubber-tyred metro or along the unconventional track of a tram. The rubber-tyred wheels roll d ...
s designed to minimize impact on the ground. Power is usually supplied by
overhead line
An overhead line or overhead wire is an electrical cable that is used to transmit electrical energy to electric locomotives, trolleybuses or trams. It is known variously as:
* Overhead catenary
* Overhead contact system (OCS)
* Overhead equipmen ...
s, rechargeable
batteries, or
internal combustion engine
An internal combustion engine (ICE or IC engine) is a heat engine in which the combustion of a fuel occurs with an oxidizer (usually air) in a combustion chamber that is an integral part of the working fluid flow circuit. In an internal combus ...
s where there are no overhead wires.
Characteristics
The Translohr system operates as a guided vehicle at all times, while with the Bombardier system the vehicles can be driven independently as requirements dictate, such as journeys to the depot. Consequently, the Bombardier vehicles are legally considered buses, and must bear
rear-view mirror
A rear-view mirror (or rearview mirror) is a flat mirror in automobiles and other vehicles, designed to allow the driver to see rearward through the vehicle's rear window (rear windshield).
In cars, the rear-view mirror is usually affixed to ...
s,
lights
Light is an electromagnetic radiation, part of which stimulates the sense of vision.
Light or Lights may also refer to:
Illumination
* Light bulb
* Traffic light
Arts and entertainment Music
* Lights (musician) (born 1987), Canadian singer-son ...
and
number plate
A vehicle registration plate, also known as a number plate (British English), license plate (American English), or licence plate (Canadian English), is a metal or plastic plate attached to a motor vehicle or trailer for official identificatio ...
s, and are controlled with
steering wheel
A steering wheel (also called a driving wheel (UK), a hand wheel, or simply wheel) is a type of steering control in vehicles.
Steering wheels are used in most modern land vehicles, including all mass-production automobiles, buses, light and ...
s and
pedals
A pedal (from the Latin '' pes'' ''pedis'', "foot") is a lever designed to be operated by foot and may refer to:
Computers and other equipment
* Footmouse, a foot-operated computer mouse
* In medical transcription, a pedal is used to control p ...
like ordinary buses, though the steering wheel is not used when following the guidance rail. On the other hand, Translohr vehicles operate like standard
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 are ...
s and cannot move without guidance, so they are not classified as buses and are not equipped with
number plates
A vehicle registration plate, also known as a number plate (British English), license plate (American English), or licence plate (Canadian English), is a metal or plastic plate attached to a motor vehicle or Trailer (vehicle), trailer for offi ...
. The ART system can be diverted by virtual track by the driver using a conventional steering wheel.
These systems are intended to offer a more tram or
light rail-like experience than a regular guided bus, and offer some advantages over steel-wheeled trams, such as the ability to climb steeper
gradients
In vector calculus, the gradient of a scalar-valued differentiable function of several variables is the vector field (or vector-valued function) \nabla f whose value at a point p is the "direction and rate of fastest increase". If the grad ...
(up to 13%), and quieter running around corners. The
infrastructure
Infrastructure is the set of facilities and systems that serve a country, city, or other area, and encompasses the services and facilities necessary for its economy, households and firms to function. Infrastructure is composed of public and priv ...
installation can be less complicated than the installation of a complete tram line in an existing street. These systems have been likened to the tram equivalent of
rubber-tyred metro
A rubber-tyred metro or rubber-tired metro is a form of rapid transit system that uses a mix of road and rail technology. The vehicles have wheels with rubber tires that run on rolling pads inside guide bars for traction, as well as traditional ...
s, and they are also less efficient than steel-wheeled light rail vehicles. There is no evidence to prove the superiority of either guidance system. Both Bombardier and Translohr have had
derailment
In rail transport, a derailment occurs when a rail vehicle such as a train comes off its rails. Although many derailments are minor, all result in temporary disruption of the proper operation of the railway system and they are a potentially ...
s during operation.
List of systems in operation
Translohr
*
Clermont-Ferrand tramway, France (STE4, since 2006)
*
Padua tramway, Italy (STE3, since 2007)
*
TEDA Modern Guided Rail Tram
TEDA Modern Guided Rail Tram () is a Translohr Light Rail line in Tianjin Economic-Technological Development Area (TEDA). It is a modern, high speed
rubber-tyred tram line, both first in China & Asia. The line is considered as part of the Ti ...
, Tianjin, China (STE3, since 2007)
*
Mestre-Venice tramway, Italy (STE3, since 2010)
*
Zhangjiang Tram
Zhangjiang Tram is one of the only two tram networks operating in Shanghai today, the other being Songjiang Tram. It utilises a system manufactured by the French Translohr company. Shanghai originally had a steel wheeled electric tramway netw ...
, Shanghai, China (STE3, since 2010)
*
Ile-de-France tramway Line 5, France (STE3, since 2013)
*
Ile-de-France tramway Line 6, France (STE6, since 2014)
*
Ayacucho Tram, Medellin, Colombia (STE5, since 2015)
Bombardier Guided Light Transit (GLT)
*
Nancy Guided Light Transit
The Nancy Guided Light Transit or TVR is a guided bus system in Nancy, France. The system uses Bombardier's TVR (french: Transport sur Voie Réservée) technology. The TVR replaced the trolleybus system in Nancy. The system will be closed in F ...
, France (since 2001) 40% of the line runs as a driver steered trolley bus. The entire route is to be converted after 2020 to light rail by 2023 (though the project has recently been converted to a
trolleybus
A trolleybus (also known as trolley bus, trolley coach, trackless trolley, trackless tramin the 1910s and 1920sJoyce, J.; King, J. S.; and Newman, A. G. (1986). ''British Trolleybus Systems'', pp. 9, 12. London: Ian Allan Publishing. .or troll ...
-only system because of the cost).
["Worldwide Review egular news section (November 2017). '']Tramways & Urban Transit
''Tramways & Urban Transit'' ''(TAUT'' or ''T&UT)'', also known as ''Modern Tramway'', is a British monthly magazine about tramways and light rail transport, published continuously since 1938. Its content is orientated both to tramway enthusi ...
'', p. 431. UK: LRTA Publishing. .
*
Caen Guided Light Transit
The Caen guided light transit or Caen ''TVR'', locally known as "the Tram", was an electrically powered guided bus system in Caen, France, which uses Bombardier Guided Light Transit (''TVR'' in French) technology.
After a construction time la ...
, France (2002—2017) GLT closed in 2017 and converted to light rail which opened in 2019.
["Alstom trams to replace Caen TVR" (January 2017). '']Tramways & Urban Transit
''Tramways & Urban Transit'' ''(TAUT'' or ''T&UT)'', also known as ''Modern Tramway'', is a British monthly magazine about tramways and light rail transport, published continuously since 1938. Its content is orientated both to tramway enthusi ...
'', p. 7. UK: LRTA Publishing. .
Proposed systems
Translohr
*
Ljubljana tram, Slovenia (proposed)
*
Antananarivo
Antananarivo ( French: ''Tananarive'', ), also known by its colonial shorthand form Tana, is the capital and largest city of Madagascar. The administrative area of the city, known as Antananarivo-Renivohitra ("Antananarivo-Mother Hill" or "An ...
, Madagascar (proposed)
Other
*
Cambridge
Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...
,
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
. One of the three systems under consideration for the proposed
Cambridge Autonomous Metro
The Cambridgeshire Autonomous Metro (CAM) was a rapid transit proposal in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It suggested that the project would be delivered between 2023 and 2029. Proposed by Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority mayor James ...
utilises a "fully autonomous, battery-powered road transport vehicle". (The other options are a
personal rapid transit
Personal rapid transit (PRT), also referred to as podcars or guided/railed taxis, is a public transport mode featuring small low-capacity automated vehicles operating on a network of specially built guideways. PRT is a type of automated guideway ...
and a
guided bus
Guided buses are buses capable of being steered by external means, usually on a dedicated track or roll way that excludes other traffic, permitting the maintenance of schedules even during rush hours. Unlike trolleybuses or rubber-tired tra ...
. An upgrade bus service is also being considered.)
See also
*
Autonomous Rail Rapid Transit
Autonomous Rail Rapid Transit (ART) is a LiDAR guided articulated bus system for urban passenger transport. Developed by CRRC Zhuzhou Institute Co Ltd, it was unveiled in Zhuzhou in the Hunan province on June 2, 2017.
ART has been describ ...
*
Budd–Michelin rubber-tired rail cars
*
Flat tire
A flat tire (British English: flat tyre) is a deflated pneumatic tyre, which can cause the rim of the wheel to ride on the tire tread or the ground potentially resulting in loss of control of the vehicle or irreparable damage to the tire. The mos ...
*
Outline of tires
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to tires:
Tire (North American) or tyre (British) – ring-shaped covering that fits around a wheel rim to protect it and enable better vehicle performance by p ...
*
Rubber-tyred metro
A rubber-tyred metro or rubber-tired metro is a form of rapid transit system that uses a mix of road and rail technology. The vehicles have wheels with rubber tires that run on rolling pads inside guide bars for traction, as well as traditional ...
*
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 are ...
References
{{Reflist