The DT 8, also known as S-DT 8, is a type of light rail vehicle used on the

Stuttgart Stadtbahn The Stuttgart Stadtbahn is a light rail system in Stuttgart, Germany. The Stadtbahn began service on 28 September 1985. It is operated by the Stuttgarter Straßenbahnen AG (SSB), which also operates the bus systems in that city. The Stuttga ...

system, produced in multiple iterations by various manufacturers, including

Duewag Düwag or Duewag, formerly Waggonfabrik Uerdingen, was a German manufacturer of rail vehicles. It was sold in 1999 to Siemens with the brand later retired. History Duewag was founded in March 1898 as Waggonfabrik Uerdingen in Uerdingen an ...

and Stadler, since 1985.

Technical specifications

The trains are formed as two-car sets, with steel car bodies. Up to three sets can operate in multiple.

Variants

First generation: DT8.4 & DT8.S

Testing of three prototype trains began in 1982 on the

Alb Valley Railway The Alb Valley Railway (german: Albtalbahn) is a railway line in southern Germany that runs from Karlsruhe via Ettlingen to Bad Herrenalb with a branch to Ittersbach. The line is owned and operated, as part of the Stadtbahn Karlsruhe, by the Albt ...

. Additional batches of Duewag-built DT8 cars were delivered in 1998, 1989–1990, 1992, 1993, and 1996; these were initially designated DT8.5, DT8.6, DT8.7, DT8.8, and DT8.9, respectively. These variants were all largely identical, aside from the removal of retractable steps from the DT8.6 onward. From 2007 to 2017, the DT8.5, DT8.6, DT8.7, DT8.8, and DT8.9 cars were thoroughly refurbished by Bombardier. The motors on each were replaced with AC motors, and the interiors were redesigned to resemble those of the DT8.10 and DT8.11. Following the refurbishment, all five batches were renumbered (from 3087–3234 to 4087–4234), and officially redesignated as the DT8.S.

Second generation: DT8.10 & DT8.11

The second generation of the DT8, dubbed the DT8.10, was built jointly by ADtranz and

Siemens Siemens AG ( ) is a German multinational conglomerate corporation and the largest industrial manufacturing company in Europe headquartered in Munich with branch offices abroad. The principal divisions of the corporation are ''Industry'', '' ...

. 24 units were ordered, with deliveries beginning in April 1999. Visually, they are largely identical to their predecessors, inside and out, though they include a number of improvements, such as the addition of

IGBT An insulated-gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) is a three-terminal power semiconductor device primarily used as an electronic switch, which, as it was developed, came to combine high efficiency and fast switching. It consists of four alternating lay ...

inverters and

AC motor An AC motor is an electric motor driven by an alternating current (AC). The AC motor commonly consists of two basic parts, an outside stator having coils supplied with alternating current to produce a rotating magnetic field, and an inside rotor ...

s, open gangways,

LCD A liquid-crystal display (LCD) is a flat-panel display or other electronically modulated optical device that uses the light-modulating properties of liquid crystals combined with polarizers. Liquid crystals do not emit light directly but in ...

information displays, and air conditioning. Later, an additional 27 units, designated DT8.11, were ordered from Bombardier. Delivered from 2004 to 2005, they are almost completely identical to the prior DT8.10s.

Third generation: DT8.12 – DT8.15

Built by

Stadler Rail Stadler Rail is a Swiss manufacturer of railway rolling stock, with an emphasis on regional train multiple units and trams. It is also focused on niche products, such as being one of the last European manufacturers of rack railway rolling stock ...

, the third-generation DT8 is based on the company's

Tango Tango is a partner dance and social dance that originated in the 1880s along the Río de la Plata, the natural border between Argentina and Uruguay. The tango was born in the impoverished port areas of these countries as the result of a combina ...

model. Its exterior design differs greatly from prior DT8 variants, with a streamlined, aerodynamic front fascia, though its interior is similar to that of its predecessors. SSB3502 InnoTrans2012

Like the second-generation units, the third-generation DT8 has AC motors, air conditioning, and open gangways between cars. They are equipped with sliding plug doors, a departure from the swinging doors of earlier variants. The first twenty, designated DT8.12, were ordered in 2010. 20 additional sets (DT8.14) were ordered in 2014, followed by twenty more (DT8.15) in 2017. 30 units, tentatively called DT8.16, are currently on order for delivery beginning in 2025; they are intended to replace the remaining original DT8.4 units.

Preserved examples

Two prototype cars were formerly stored at Heslach depot, and were to be moved to the Bad Cannstatt in 2018. File:DT8 Prototypen Zuffenhausen.jpg, Cars 3001 and 3006 at the Straßenbahnmuseum Zuffenhausen in July 2007

References

External links

SSB fleet information
Tram vehicles of Germany Transport in Stuttgart {{Germany-rail-transport-stub 750 V DC multiple units Siemens multiple units Stadler Rail multiple units Adtranz multiple units