New Trams for Vitoria-Gasteiz

Vitoria-Gasteiz, the capital of the Basque country, is beautifully located in the foothills of the Pyrenees in the north of Spain. Just under 252,000 people live in this green city amid 1,000 hectares of park and green belt. Vitoria-Gasteiz also impresses with sustainable mobility as was recognised by the European Commission who awarded the city the title European Green Capital 2012.

Sustainable mobility is provided primarily by the city’s tram service which has been running since December 2008. A second line was opened in July 2009. An extension of the second line in 2012 increased the Y-shaped line network to twelve kilometres. Permanent full-capacity utilisation of the vehicles (8.3 million passengers in 2018) encouraged operator EuskoTren to expand both line and fleet.

A 1.4-km line extension was opened mid February 2020 and a further new 2.5-km line arm with five stations is to be added in the course of this year. The line extension will improve the connection between the university and the southern part of the city.

To better cater for the already large numbers of passengers and to serve the newly created catchment areas, the fleet had to be enlarged. The ten existing Urbos 2 trams will be converted from 5-module to 7-module vehicles. Spanish car builder CAF was also appointed to construct three new Urbos 100 trams. A short time later, the scope of the order was increased from three to seven vehicles.

HANNING & KAHL is supplying the braking system for the new vehicles. With numerous joint project experiences with the Urbos 100 vehicle platform, we successfully adapted the braking system to customer requirements. Static commissioning of the braking system took place on the first vehicle at CAF in Irun (about 120 kilometres from Vitoria-Gasteiz near the French-Spanish border) in December 2019. Dynamic commissioning and braking distance measurements were performed in the end customer’s line network. Integration of the HANNING & KAHL braking system into the vehicle environment is tested during dynamic commissioning. All operating modes, braking states and wheel-slide protection were recorded and evaluated.

Braking distance measurements are performed in line with DIN EN 13452. All braking types are triggered at different defined starting speeds. Braking distance, deceleration and jerk are determined and evaluated. All measurements have to be performed with empty vehicles initially and then with loaded vehicles. Measurements were successfully completed immediately before the inauguration of the first new line section in February 2020. What a home game for CAF in Basque Country!