European Tramdriver Championship

Last updated

European Tramdriver Championship
TRAMEM Wortmarke.svg
Tournament information
Location Tramway networks of changing host cities
Established29 September 2012 (2012-09-29)
Number of
tournaments
11
Website www.tramem.eu
Current champion
Flag of Hungary.svg Budapest (3rd Championship victory)

The TRAM-EM European Tramdriver Championship is the European championship for competitive tram driving.

Contents

History

In 2012, the first Tram-EM (German: Tram-Europameisterschaft, or Tram European Championship) was created for the 140th anniversary of the Dresden tram network. The championship is hosted yearly in Europe by rotating local transit companies in cooperation with the Dresden-based production company that created the concept.

TRAM-EM has been a registered trademark since 2014.

Concept

Tram skittles, European Tramdriver Championship, Rue de la Regence-Regentschapsstraat, Brussels, 4 May 2019 Tram skittles, European Tramdriver Championship, Rue de la Regence-Regentschapsstraat, Brussels, 4 May 2019.jpg
Tram skittles, European Tramdriver Championship, Rue de la Régence-Regentschapsstraat, Brussels, 4 May 2019

The Tram-EM competition is a team competition where each team consists of one female tram driver, one male tram driver and one team supervisor. The competition is open to European public transport agencies, who may submit one team each. [1]

The championship is split into two rounds, with each driver taking the wheel once. Each round consists of 6 disciplines. The disciplines could be stopping at a target, emergency braking, measuring side clearance during a curve, stopping exactly at a tram stop, speed estimation with a hidden speedometer, precision driving past a gate, "tram billiards," or "tram bowling." The skill at each discipline, in addition to the time to complete each discipline, influences the score. The event includes a team procession, practice rounds, social events for drivers, competition, and award ceremony.

The competitions have long been tied-in to public celebrations of the hosting transit agency, such as the 140th anniversary of the Dresden tram network, the 10th anniversary of the Barcelona tram network, and the 150th anniversary of the Viennese tram network. The goal of the competition is to give tram operators an international platform to share experience.

Events

YearHost countryLocationWinning countryWinnerDate
2012Flag of Germany.svg Germany Dresden Flag of Hungary.svg Hungary Budapest 29–30 September 2012
2013Flag of Hungary.svg Hungary Budapest Flag of France.svg France Paris 24 November 2013
2014Flag of Spain.svg Spain Barcelona [2] Flag of Spain.svg Spain Parla 22 November 2014
2015Flag of Austria.svg Austria Vienna Flag of the Netherlands.svg Netherlands Rotterdam 25 April 2015
2016Flag of Germany.svg Germany Berlin Flag of Hungary.svg Hungary Budapest 23 April 2016
2017Flag of Spain.svg Spain Tenerife Flag of France.svg France Paris [3] 4 June 2017
2018Flag of Germany.svg Germany Stuttgart Flag of Sweden.svg Sweden Stockholm [4] 5 May 2018
2019Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Belgium Brussels [5] Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Belgium Brussels [6] 4 May 2019
2020Flag of Romania.svg Romania * Oradea *
2021
2022Flag of Germany.svg Germany Leipzig [7] Flag of Germany.svg Germany Hanover [8] 21 May 2022
2023Flag of Romania.svg Romania Oradea [9] Flag of Austria.svg Austria Vienna 3 June 2023
2024Flag of Germany.svg Germany Frankfurt [10] Flag of Hungary.svg Hungary Budapest 14 September 2024
2025Flag of Austria.svg Austria Vienna [11] 13 September 2025

* originally postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but eventually cancelled

2023 edition

The 2023 edition was hosted in Oradea, Romania, after the planned 2020 edition had to be postponed and ultimately canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

PositionCountryCityPoints
1Flag of Austria.svg Austria Vienna 4300
2Flag of Sweden.svg Sweden Göteborg 4180
3Flag of the Czech Republic.svg Czech Republic Prague 3630
4Flag of Sweden.svg Sweden Stockholm 3590
5Flag of Croatia.svg Croatia Zagreb 3450
6Flag of Ireland.svg Ireland Dublin 3430
7Flag of Norway.svg Norway Oslo 3280
8Flag of the Netherlands.svg Netherlands Rotterdam 3250
9Flag of Hungary.svg Hungary Szeged 3200
10Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg  Switzerland Basel 3090
11Flag of Slovakia.svg Slovakia Kosice 3050
12Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Belgium Brussels 3050
13Flag of Poland.svg Poland Warsaw 3030
14Flag of Romania.svg Romania Oradea 3020
15Flag of Germany.svg Germany Leipzig 2940
16Flag of Hungary.svg Hungary Debrecen 2900
17Flag of France.svg France Bordeaux 2850
18Flag of Spain.svg Spain Barcelona 2840
19Flag of Germany.svg Germany Nuremberg 2810
20Flag of Germany.svg Germany Hanover 2690
21Flag of Germany.svg Germany Berlin 2610
22Flag of Spain.svg Spain Málaga 2450
23Flag of Italy.svg Italy Florence 2410
24Flag of Ukraine.svg Ukraine Kyiv 2330
25Flag of Germany.svg Germany Dresden 2300

2024 edition

The 2024 edition was held in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. 26 teams of two members each (at least one woman for each team) took part. The rolling stock used was Bombardier Flexity Classic which are designated Baureihe S by the Frankfurt tramway operator. Each competitor partook in six tasks worth a maximum of 500 points each with the overall time taken worth another 500 points. Each team of two participants did the whole tournament once each, resulting in a total theoretical maximum of 7,000 points per team. Here are the final results: [12]

PositionCountryCityPoints
1Flag of Hungary.svg Hungary Budapest 3850
2Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Belgium Brussels 3800
3Flag of Poland.svg Poland Kraków 3100
4Flag of the Netherlands.svg Netherlands Rotterdam 2900
5Flag of France.svg France Paris 2800
6Flag of Austria.svg Austria Vienna 2700
7Flag of Italy.svg Italy Milan 2650
8Flag of Sweden.svg Sweden Gothenburg 2600
9Flag of Sweden.svg Sweden Stockholm 2550
10Flag of Germany.svg Germany Berlin 2450
10Flag of the Czech Republic.svg Czech Republic Prague 2450
12Flag of Finland.svg Finland Tampere 2400
13Flag of Luxembourg.svg Luxembourg Luxembourg 2250
14Flag of the United Kingdom.svg UK Birmingham 2150
14Flag of Slovakia.svg Slovakia Bratislava 2150
16Flag of Germany.svg Germany Frankfurt am Main 2100
17Flag of Germany.svg Germany Leipzig 2000
18Flag of Ukraine.svg Ukraine Kyiv 1900
18Flag of Ireland.svg Ireland Dublin 1900
18Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg  Switzerland Zurich 1900
21Flag of Spain.svg Spain Barcelona 1850
22Flag of Norway.svg Norway Oslo 1800
22Flag of the United Kingdom.svg UK Edinburgh 1800
24Flag of Romania.svg Romania Oradea 1750
25Flag of France.svg France Lyon 1700
26Flag of Croatia.svg Croatia Zagreb 1600

Plans for a World Championship

Wiener Linien announced on their website in 2024 that they plan to host the event in 2025 and to turn it into a World Championship by inviting teams from Africa, South America, Southeast Asia and Australia. [13] [14]

References

  1. "Participation". TRAM EM - English. Retrieved 1 June 2022.
  2. "Metro Ligero Oeste achieves third place in the III Tram Drivers European Championship". OHLA Progress Enablers. 25 November 2014. Retrieved 14 September 2024.
  3. Giaimo, Cara (4 June 2017). "Europe Holds an Annual Tram-Driver Olympics". Atlas Obscura. Retrieved 14 September 2024.
  4. Pearson, Alexander (5 May 2018). "Stockholm drivers win tram championship". Deutsche Welle. Retrieved 14 September 2024.
  5. Benkert, Jonas. "What a day!". TRAM EM - English. Retrieved 1 June 2022.
  6. "Tram bowling: Hundreds gather in Brussels for European Tram Driver Championship". Chester and District Standard. 5 May 2019. Retrieved 14 September 2024.
  7. "So war die Tram EM 2022 der LVB". www.l.de (in German). Retrieved 1 June 2022.
  8. "Deutsches Team gewinnt Straßenbahn-Europameisterschaft in Leipzig | MDR.DE". www.mdr.de (in German). Retrieved 1 June 2022.
  9. "Tram-EM in Leipzig: 47.000 Leute waren bei dem Spektakel dabei!". TAG24 (in German). Retrieved 1 June 2022.
  10. Fofana, Aida (13 September 2024). "West Midlands tram drivers compete in championship". BBC News. Retrieved 14 September 2024.
  11. Hall, Linda (29 September 2024). "Budapest has Europe's best tram drivers". Euro Weekly News. Retrieved 2 October 2024.
  12. https://www.tramem.eu/blog/de-budapest-ist-strassenbahn-europameister-2024-en-budapest-is-european-tramdriver-champion-2024-fr-budapest-championne-deurope-du-tramway-2024
  13. https://www.wienerlinien.at/news/wien-veranstaltet-2025-erste-tram-weltmeisterschaft
  14. https://www.instagram.com/reel/DNpycKZTyXT/?igsh=MXN2ZmNpOHl5bWRhdw==