The Škoda 10 T, or Skoda 10T, the latter being the common English-language form, is a three-carbody-section low-floor bi-directional

tram A tram (also known as a streetcar or trolley in Canada and the United States) is an urban rail transit in which Rolling stock, vehicles, whether individual railcars or multiple-unit trains, run on tramway tracks on urban public streets; some ...

, developed by

Škoda Transportation Škoda Transportation Akciová společnost, a.s. is a Czech Republic, Czech manufacturer of vehicles for public transport, including Tram, trams, Electric multiple unit, electric multiple units, and Bus, buses. The company was formerly a divisio ...

. It was in production from 2000 to 2002. The vehicle is four-axled, and is based on the

Škoda 03 T The Škoda 03 T (sold as Škoda Astra, later Škoda Anitra (''Asynchronní nízkopodlažní tramvaj''; Asynchronous Low-floor Tram)) is a three-section low-floor tram developed by Škoda Transportation and Inekon Trams, Inekon Group. The design wa ...

, which is a uni-directional model operating in a few cities in the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

. The low-floor area represents 50% of the entire vehicle floor. The 10T was originally part of Skoda's ''Astra'' model line, although in the United States it was referred to only as the 10T. However, it was later made part of the company's ''Elektra'' model line, after that new line of models was created, around 2010.

Production

In total, 10 trams of this model were manufactured by Škoda and delivered to: *

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

: **

Portland, Oregon Portland ( ) is the List of cities in Oregon, most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon, located in the Pacific Northwest region. Situated close to northwest Oregon at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, ...

: 7 cars, for the

Portland Streetcar The Portland Streetcar is a streetcar system in Portland, Oregon, that opened in 2001 and serves areas surrounding downtown Portland. The NS Line runs from Northwest Portland to the South Waterfront via Downtown and the Pearl District. Th ...

system, built in 2000–2002 **

Tacoma, Washington Tacoma ( ) is the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. A port city, it is situated along Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, southwest of Bellevue, Washington, Bellevue, northeast of the state capital, Olympia ...

: 3 cars, for the

Tacoma Link The T Line, formerly known as Tacoma Link, is a light rail line in Tacoma, Washington, part of the Link light rail system operated by Sound Transit. It travels and serves 12 stations between Tacoma Dome Station, Downtown Tacoma, and Hi ...

system, built in 2002 Those ten trams were constructed at a Škoda factory in the Czech Republic and shipped complete to the USA, under a

joint venture A joint venture (JV) is a business entity created by two or more parties, generally characterized by shared ownership, shared returns and risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint ventures for one of four reasons: to acce ...

between Škoda and Inekon Group, with Inekon having been responsible for most of the mechanical design, as well as marketing and shipping, and with Škoda having manufactured the vehicles. Their propulsion control equipment was supplied by an Austrian company,

Elin EBG Traction Elin or Elín is a name, variation of Ellen (given name), Ellen and Helene (name), Helene used in Scandinavian and Celtic languages. Notable people with the name include: *Elin Andersdotter (died 1569), Swedish lady-in-waiting and political conspi ...

, and braking systems by Knorr, under subcontracts. However, the relationship between Škoda and Inekon deteriorated, and the partnership collapsed in 2001. Škoda 10T cars that had been ordered in 2000 or 2001 were delivered by Inekon to Portland and Tacoma in 2002, which was already after the Škoda-Inekon joint venture had effectively been dissolved. Inekon Group formed a new venture, named DPO Inekon, selling a slightly modified version of the 10T (which it named 12 Trio),''

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 ...

'' magazine, September 2003, p. 347.

Light Rail Transit Association The Light Rail Transit Association (LRTA), formerly the Light Railway Transport League (LRTL), is a non-profit organisation whose purpose is to advocate and encourage research into the retention and development of light rail and tramway/streetc ...

(UK). while Škoda continued to offer the 10T.

Related model built under license

In 2006, Škoda entered into an agreement with a US company to permit the latter to construct a 10T tram (streetcar) under license. Oregon Iron Works (OIW), a specialized manufacturing company based in

Clackamas, Oregon Clackamas ( ) is an unincorporated community and former census-designated place (CDP) in Clackamas County, Oregon, United States, and is a suburb of Portland. The population was approximately 7,000 . Clackamas is home to Camp Withycombe, whi ...

(an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...

in the southeastern suburbs of

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: *Portland, Oregon, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon *Portland, Maine, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maine *Isle of Portland, a tied island in the English Channel Portland may also r ...

), signed an exclusive technology transfer agreement with Škoda in February 2006, and in January 2007 it was awarded a contract to build one 10T streetcar for the Portland Streetcar system. OIW created a new subsidiary named

United Streetcar United Streetcar, LLC, was an American manufacturer of modern streetcars, located in the Clackamas, Oregon, Clackamas area in the southeastern suburbs of Portland, Oregon, founded in 2005. It was the only U.S. company building modern streetcars� ...

LLC A limited liability company (LLC) is the United States-specific form of a private limited company. It is a business structure that can combine the pass-through taxation of a partnership or sole proprietorship with the limited liability of a ...

for this venture. This prototype tram, which could be considered an eleventh Škoda 10T but is more accurately described as the first United Streetcar 10T, was completed and delivered to Portland Streetcar in spring 2009. It was designated as model 10T3 by United Streetcar,"United Streetcar ... US manufacturer established for new trams". (April 2007). ''

'', p. 146. Ian Allan Publishing/Light Rail Transit Association (UK). but that company changed the model designation to "100" for the production-series cars it built later."United Streetcar gears up for series production". ''

'' magazine, November 2010, p. 406. The prototype US-built 10T was presented to the public and media at a ceremony held on 1 July 2009 in Portland, but it did not enter service until September 2012,"Portland Opens New Line" (November 2012). ''

'' magazine, p. 409. delayed first by problems that came to light during acceptance testing and later by a decision to replace its propulsion-control system with a new one built by a US company, in order to increase the US content. In August 2009, Portland signed a

US$ The United States dollar (Currency symbol, symbol: Dollar sign, $; ISO 4217, currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States and International use of the U.S. dollar, several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introdu ...

20 million contract with United Streetcar for the supply of six more streetcars, but the city decided in 2010 to modify the OIW/United Streetcar contract for these six cars, to substitute equipment from Elin EBG Traction for the originally planned Škoda equipment.''

'', August 2010, p. 313. LRTA Publishing (UK). (They did not receive the experimental system with which the 10T3 prototype was fitted.) They were delivered in 2013 and 2014. In 2010, the city of

Tucson, Arizona Tucson (; ; ) is a city in Pima County, Arizona, United States, and its county seat. It is the second-most populous city in Arizona, behind Phoenix, Arizona, Phoenix, with a population of 542,630 in the 2020 United States census. The Tucson ...

, placed an order with United Streetcar for seven similar trams for a new tram line to be built there, named

Sun Link Sun Link, also known as the Tucson Streetcar, is a single-line streetcar system in Tucson, Arizona, United States, that began service in July 2014. The system's route connects the Arizona Health Sciences Center (including University Medical ...

. An eighth was added to the order in July 2012."Worldwide Review" (September 2012). ''

'' magazine, p. 356. Designated as model 200, differing from the 100 in having more powerful

air conditioning Air conditioning, often abbreviated as A/C (US) or air con (UK), is the process of removing heat from an enclosed space to achieve a more comfortable interior temperature, and in some cases, also controlling the humidity of internal air. Air c ...

systems, they were delivered in 2013 and 2014. In April 2012, the

District of Columbia Department of Transportation The District Department of Transportation (DDOT, stylized as d.) is an agency of the government of the District of Columbia, in the United States, which manages and maintains publicly owned transportation infrastructure in the District of Colu ...

, in

Washington, DC Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and Federal district of the United States, federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from ...

, placed an order for two model 100 streetcars for use on the

DC Streetcar The DC Streetcar is a surface streetcar network in Washington, D.C. that consists of a single line running in mixed traffic along H Street and Benning Road in the city's Northeast quadrant. The streetcars are the first to run in the Distri ...

's H Street/Benning Road Line, under construction for opening in 2015, and the order was expanded to three cars in August 2012. The three cars were delivered between January 2014 and June 2014.''

'' magazine, July 2014, p. 305. The orders from all three cities were completed in 2014, the last car being delivered to Portland in November of that year. With no standing orders at that time, United Streetcar ceased production. Its tramcar manufacturing facilities in Oregon were repurposed by its parent company, OIW, and United Streetcar was formally dissolved in December 2018.

Gallery

Portland Streetcar Škoda-Inekon 10T car 006 at 5th & Montgomery stop in 2015.jpg, Portland Streetcar tram, with the logos of both Škoda and Inekon on the front Skoda 10T car 1003 of Tacoma Link on Pacific Ave (2008).jpg, Tacoma Link tramcar Interior_of_a_Tacoma_Link_streetcar_-b.jpg, Interior of a Tacoma Link tram Wheelchair Ramp for a Tacoma Link streetcar.jpg, Wheelchair ramp for a Tacoma Link car Portland Streetcar car 021 at west end of Broadway Bridge.jpg, United Streetcar-built tram built for Portland under license from Škoda DCstreetcar test.JPG, A United Streetcar tram for

References

External links

Škoda page about the 10 T
as archived in 2010 in the

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American 501(c)(3) organization, non-profit organization founded in 1996 by Brewster Kahle that runs a digital library website, archive.org. It provides free access to collections of digitized media including web ...

Tramcar Elektra Portland
current Škoda page for what had been called the 10 T {{DEFAULTSORT:Skoda 10 T Streetcars of the United States Škoda trams 750 V DC multiple units Electric multiple units of the United States Train-related introductions in 2000

Production

Related model built under license

Gallery

See also

References

External links