The Tatra T5C5 is a single-car

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 ...

built by

ČKD Tatra ČKD (Českomoravská Kolben-Daněk) () was one of the largest engineering companies in the former Czechoslovakia and today's Czech Republic. It is famous for the Tatra T3, a tramcar that sold 13,991 units worldwide. History ČKD was formed in ...

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and List of cities in the Czech Republic, largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 milli ...

in the late 1970s and early 1980s. In 1978, two

prototypes A prototype is an early sample, model, or release of a product built to test a concept or process. It is a term used in a variety of contexts, including semantics, design, electronics, and software programming. A prototype is generally used to ...

were tested in Prague and

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...

. They differed in many ways to earlier Tatra products, most notably that the vehicle was controlled by a hand lever rather than a foot pedal. Between 1978 and 1984, 322 vehicles were supplied to Budapest and, as of September 2020, all are in service with 2 of them being used exclusively for driver training purposes.

Modernizations

Between 2002 and 2004 80 T5C5 units were extensively refurbished : the old drive system (resistor and series-parallel control) was replaced by chopper control using IGBT transistors. These trams have been renamed as "T5C5K". These units have been further modernized from 2009, their current type name is T5C5K2. A new program started in 2014, which refurbishes all remaining classic T5C5 units to the technical standards of T5C5K2. The 80 units that were refurbished between 2002 and 2004 are further being upgraded to the same technical specifications as the examples refurbished since 2014. As of September 2020, only 34 T5C5s are left in original condition with this number expected to decline further as more units are refurbished. With the introduction of FUTÁR traffic control system at BKK, all T5C5 and T5C5K2 units got the FUTÁR controller and on-board unit, and new visual displays (1 front, 2 side, 1 inside). Some pins on the electrical coupling between units have been reused for FUTÁR's communication.

Production

Note: This is the list of first owners. Stock may have later been resold to other cities not on this list.

Photo gallery

File:Tatra T5C5 tram under 4000 number in Budapest.jpg, Prototype T5C5 (nr. 4000) in

File:Tatra_T5C5K.jpg, Tatra T5C5K in Széll Kálmán square, Budapest. File:Budapest_Tram.jpg

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:CKD Tatra T5C5 Tatra trams Tram vehicles of Hungary