Flexity Swift

Bombardier Flexity Swift
A Porto Metro low-floor 2010 Bombardier Flexity Swift
Manufacturer	Bombardier Transportation
Number built	1000+ [1]
Specifications
Train length	See tables
Width	See tables
Articulated sections	2
Maximum speed	100 km/h (62 mph) [2]
Weight	See tables
Minimum turning radius	25 m (82 ft) [3]
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge

The Bombardier Flexity Swift is a series of urban and inter-urban tram, light rail, and light metro vehicles manufactured by Bombardier Transportation. It is part of the Bombardier Flexity family of rail vehicles, and like the others, Flexity Swift vehicles can be customized to suit the needs and requirements of customers including legacy designs from its acquisition of Adtranz.^{[ citation needed ]}

Railly News reported that, by the end of 2015, more than 1,000 Flexity Swift vehicles had been sold. ^[1]

Overview

Vehicles in the Flexity Swift family vary in length, but are all articulated, usually with three sections. In most cases, the centre section is very short, but can be replaced with a longer section in order to increase capacity. The trams can also be coupled together into trains. Nevertheless, they are all bi-directional with cabs at both ends and doors on both sides. An emphasis is placed on speed with units capable of safely reaching speeds of 80 km/h (50 mph) when running on dedicated lines.

Most vehicles typically weigh between 35 and 40 tonnes (34.4 and 39.4 long tons; 38.6 and 44.1 short tons), though the ones made for the Minneapolis line are heavier due to stricter crashworthiness requirements in the United States (particularly buff strength) and the vehicles in Rotterdam and Karlsruhe are also heavier due to their use on a full, high-capacity rapid transit network and on mainline railway tracks, respectively.

The Flexity Swift family comes in two distinct versions with a 70% low-floor version to allow access to those in wheelchairs without requiring the construction of high platforms in city streets and a high-floor version with level boarding at raised platforms, generally to retain compatibility with stations built for older trams or trains. While they typically use DC overhead lines for power collection, the Rotterdam vehicles are also equipped with third rail power capability for use on the central sections of the network, while the Karlsruhe tram-trains are compatible with AC electrification which is used on the mainline railways.

Both the low and high-floor models were originally developed for use on the Cologne Stadtbahn in Germany. Other uses of Flexity Swift vehicles include London Tramlink, Manchester Metrolink, ^[4] the tram networks in Istanbul and Melbourne, Rotterdam Metro, Karlsruhe Stadtbahn, Bonn Stadtbahn, Stockholm light rail lines 12 and 22, and the Metro Light Rail in Minneapolis-Saint Paul, Minnesota. The scrapped Merseytram plan for Liverpool in Merseyside planned to use the same model as London.

The Flexity Swift's closest competitors are the Alstom Citadis family (particularly the RegioCitadis, Citadis Dualis, and Citadis Spirit variants), Siemens's S70/Avanto, SD100/SD160, SD400/SD460 and S200, and Sirio from AnsaldoBreda. Compared to Bombardier's other Flexity vehicles, these vehicles are not designed for streetcar operation with extensive mixed-traffic operations, although they do operate as such on a number of systems such as in London, Manchester, and Melbourne.

Technical specifications

Low-floor versions

City	Operator	Image	Type designation	Manufactured	Number of vehicles	Length	Width	Weight (empty)	Maximum power
Cologne, Germany	KVB		K4000	1995–1999, 2002	124	28.40 m (93 ft 2+1⁄8 in)	2.65 m (8 ft 8+3⁄8 in)	35.50  t (34.94 long tons ; 39.13 short tons )	4 x 120  kW (160  hp )
			K4500	2004–2007	69	28.50 m (93 ft 6 in)		37.40 t (36.81 long tons; 41.23 short tons)
London, England	TfL (Tramlink)		CR4000	1998–2000	24	30.10 m (98 ft 9 in)		36.30 t (35.73 long tons; 40.01 short tons)
Istanbul, Turkey	Metro İstanbul		A32	2003	55	29.70 m (97 ft 5+1⁄4 in)		39.20 t (38.58 long tons; 43.21 short tons)
Karlsruhe, Germany	AVG and VBK		ET 2010 (Tram-train)	2011–2013	30	37 m (121 ft 4+3⁄4 in)		62.5 t (61.5 long tons; 68.9 short tons)	4 x 150 kW (200 hp)
Melbourne, Australia	Yarra Trams		E	2012–2015	50	33.45 m (109 ft 8+7⁄8 in)		62 t (61 long tons; 68 short tons)	6 x 85 kW (114 hp)
			E2	2016–2021	50
Minneapolis, Minnesota (Metro Light Rail), United States	Metro Transit		Type 1 LRV	2003–2007	27	28.65 m (94 ft 0 in)		48.50 t (47.73 long tons; 53.46 short tons)
Porto, Portugal	Porto Metro		Traintram	2010	30	37.07 m (121 ft 7+1⁄2 in)
RijnGouweLijn, Netherlands	NS		A32	1999–2003	6(sold to Stockholm June 2010)	29.70 m (97 ft 5+1⁄4 in)		37.50 t (36.91 long tons; 41.34 short tons)	4 x 120 kW (160 hp)
Stockholm, Sweden	SL			1999–2008	31, additionally 6 second hand

High-floor versions

City	Operator	Image	Type designation	Built in	Number of vehicles	Length	Width	Weight (empty)	Maximum power
Bonn, Germany	SWB		K5000	2003	15	28.4 m (93 ft 2+1⁄8 in)	2.65 m (8 ft 8+3⁄8 in)	37.80  t (37.20 long tons ; 41.67 short tons )	4 x 120  kW (160  hp )
Bursa, Turkey	Bursaray		U5-2010 Bursa	2010–2011	30	28 m (91 ft 10+3⁄8 in)		38.00 t (37.40 long tons; 41.89 short tons)
Cologne, Germany	KVB		K5000	2002–2003	59	28.4 m (93 ft 2+1⁄8 in)		37.80 t (37.20 long tons; 41.67 short tons)
			K5200	2010–2011	15
				2020–2021	20
Düsseldorf, Germany	Rheinbahn		HF6	2017–2020	42	28 m (91 ft 10+3⁄8 in)
Frankfurt am Main, Germany	VgF		U5-25 (Bi-directional)	2008–2017	94	25.02 m (82 ft 1 in)		37.20 t (36.61 long tons; 41.01 short tons)	4 x 130 kW (170 hp)
			U5-50 (Uni-directional)		130	24.764 m (81 ft 3 in)		36.15 t (35.58 long tons; 39.85 short tons)	4 x 130 kW (170 hp)
			U5-KR (non-driving)	2018– ?	22	?		?	?
İzmir, Turkey	İzmir Metro		MD	Ordered 2001	30	23.5 m (77 ft 1+1⁄4 in)		32.00 t (31.49 long tons; 35.27 short tons)	4 x 75 kW (101 hp)
			M		15
Manchester, England	Metrolink		M5000	2009–2022	147	28.4 m (93 ft 2+1⁄8 in)		39.70 t (39.07 long tons; 43.76 short tons)	4 x 120 kW (160 hp)
Rotterdam, Netherlands	RET		MG2/1, SG2/1	1998–2002	81	30.5 m (100 ft 3⁄4 in)	2.664 m (8 ft 8+7⁄8 in)	44.20 t (43.50 long tons; 48.72 short tons)	6 x 85 kW (114 hp)
			RSG3, SG3, HSG3	2007–2016	86	42 m (137 ft 9+1⁄2 in)		64.30 t (63.28 long tons; 70.88 short tons)	8 x 130 kW (170 hp)

See also

• Flexity Freedom

References

1. "Bombardier to Supply Six Additional FLEXITY Swift Vehicles for Rotterdam". Railly News. 23 December 2015. Archived from the original on 24 December 2015. To date more than 1,000 FLEXITY Swift light rail vehicles have been sold worldwide. About 5,000 Bombardier trams and LRVs are in revenue service or on order in Europe, Asia, Australia and North America.
2. "Metro do Porto / Flexity Swift". Metro do Porto. Retrieved 3 March 2024.
3. Williams, Tony (25 October 2016). "Bombardier M5000, New Vehicles for Metrolink". Light Rail Transit Association. Archived from the original on 22 June 2017. Retrieved 28 July 2017.
4. Light Rail Transport Association Archived 17 October 2010 at the Wayback Machine since the first on 25 June 2008.

External links

• Flexity official site
• About London's trams (unofficial)