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]

Bombardier Flexity Swift
A Porto Metro low-floor 2010 Bombardier Flexity Swift
ManufacturerBombardier Transportation
Number built1000+[1]
Specifications
Train lengthSee tables
WidthSee tables
Articulated sections2
Maximum speed100 km/h (62 mph)[2]
WeightSee tables
Minimum turning radius25 m (82 ft)[3]
Track gauge1,435 mm (4 ft 8+12 in) standard gauge

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

Overview

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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

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Low-floor versions

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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+18 in) 2.65 m (8 ft 8+38 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+14 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+34 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+78 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+12 in)
RijnGouweLijn, Netherlands NS   A32 1999–2003 6(sold to Stockholm June 2010) 29.70 m (97 ft 5+14 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

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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+18 in) 2.65 m (8 ft 8+38 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+38 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+18 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+38 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+14 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+18 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 34 in) 2.664 m (8 ft 8+78 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+12 in) 64.30 t (63.28 long tons; 70.88 short tons) 8 x 130 kW (170 hp)

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b "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.
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