Citytram
The Tram Power City Class Light Rail Vehicle (also referred to as the Citytram) is a prototype two-car articulated electric tram previously tested on the Blackpool Tramway It operates off a power supply between 550 V and 800 V DC. Blackpool at the time operated at the lower voltage of 550 V DC, whereas most modern tramways use a 750 V DC supply to provide enough power for heavy LRV typically drawing 1500 A on acceleration. The City Class tram is notable for being Blackpool's first LRV, Blackpool having had classic tramcars running since 1885 continuously to the present day. The vehicle, however, failed to complete its testing when, shortly before certification for passenger operation was to be granted, it burst into flames while returning to the depot after a full day of operations; the incident encouraged Blackpool tramway to look to other vehicle manufacturers for its new fleet. The designers Tram Power have sought to market the design and technology as a cheaper alternative to more established manufacturers.
The City Class tram began life as a research paper in 1987, which addressed the question of LRV increasing in weight and cost. Since then a systematic research and development programme has been conducted. This programme was inspired by the PCC development program of 1929–1934 which aimed to create a standardised vehicle that could out perform private automobiles which were threatening the Streetcar systems of the US. The resulting PCC, first operated on the Brooklyn system in 1935, was one of the most successful public transit vehicles, with nearly 30,000 built to the patented designs created by the Transit Research Corporation.
The City Class development programme began with computer simulations, progressed to laboratory and bench testing. A 4 tonne quarter size mock up was built in 1993. The first practical experience was got with a Slave vehicle. This was a redundant 1930s tram in Blackpool, where the original equipment at one end was replaced by the patented City Class running gear. The Slave vehicle ran for 2 years (1995–1997) in Blackpool, before it was withdrawn and the equipment checked for wear and fatigue problems. A full-size 29-metre-long prototype LRV was built in parallel, with the Slave vehicle equipment at one end and an exact copy at the other. This prototype vehicle ran until 2000, when the TRAM GROUP, which had sponsored the project, ran out of money.
In the absence of volume production to reduce costs, the City Class is based on using mass-produced components off the shelf (COTS), where there is a variety of suppliers and compatibility of equipment to offer operators a variety of options for economic long term maintenance. A more fundamental approach to reducing costs has been to address the heavy LRV problem, and design the City Class so that it has a weight per passenger nearer the long-term norm. The City Class prototype is designed for 200 passengers, with 82 seats, 2 wheelchair spaces and 120 standees at 4 per m2. It has a total unladen weight of 22 tonnes, about 110 kg per passenger. On accelerating with a full load at 1.5 m/s/s (5.4 km/h per second; 3.4 mph per second) it draws 600 A.
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