BOMBARDIER Transportation has supplied the first of 28 articulated SN2001 70% low-floor bogie trams to the German city of Schwerin. The 2·65m wide unidirectional vehicles are from the same family as 27 trams built for Kassel and 34 for Essen. Costing DM3·2m each, the Schwerin cars are due to be delivered by autumn 2003; there are options for a further 10 cars.
The three-section welded stainless steel body has a glued aluminium sandwich roof made by Danish firm LM Glasfiber. Tinted double-glazed windows are glued to the superstructure.
The end cars rest on the central car via a ball articulation, with an undamped triangle articulation support on the roof. Double corrugated gangway bellows are fitted. The body rests on GRF guiding plates on the bolster, connected with a king-pin. The bogies have chevron-type primary suspension guiding the axles in the driven bogies, and longitudinal external linkages connect the bolster to the bogie frame. Hydropneumatic secondary suspension and horizontal shock absorbers are fitted. The unpowered bogies are similar, but have loose wheels. Each portal axle is guided by longitudinal linkages.
The motor, gear and disc brake assembly is suspended from the bogie, with two suspension points on the inner side and one on the outer side. The hollow axle is connected by a cardan coupling to the axle.
Knorr supplied the braking systems, and Kiepe Elektrik’s standard electrical equipment is used, with full redundancy. Each three-phase motor has its own IGBT inverter, mounted on the roof of the end cars along with the auxiliary inverter, brake resistors and a Hoeppecke nickel-cadmium battery. A new design of roof-mounted heating and ventilation system has been developed, with floor-level ducts replacing under-seat heaters. The cab is air-conditioned.
During test running the first tram was remarkably quiet, showing excellent riding qualities on tight curves and at 70 km/h on Vignoles track.
TABLE: Technical specifications of the design family
Operator KVG, Kassel EVAG, Essen NVS, Schwerin
Number of cars 22+5BD 34 28
Gauge mm 1435 1000 1435
Axle notation Bo’2’2’Bo’ Bo’2’2’Bo’ Bo’2’2’Bo’
Car body length m 28·8 27·48 29·18
Width m 2·4 2·3 2·65
Low-floor height mm 350 360 360
Door widths mm 1 x 650, 3 x 1300 3 x 1300 2 x 650, 3 x 1300
Wheel diameter, new mm 590 590 600
Empty weight tonnes 38 36·5 39·5
Continuous power kW 4 x 125 4 x 100 4 x 125
Maximum speed km/h 80 70 70
Seats 89 70 95
Standees at 4/m2 101 91 107
Mechanical parts Bombardier, Bautzen Bautzen Bautzen
Electrical parts Kiepe Elektrik Bombardier Kiepe Elektrik
Motors Skoda Bombardier Skoda
Weight kg/m2 548 577 511
