Karia HM V

HM V
An HM V class tram on the now-defunct line 2 in Helsinki
In service	Yes
Manufacturer	Karia
Built at	Karis
Constructed	1959
Entered service	1959
Refurbishment	2004–07 (only two cars refurbished as of August 2008)
Scrapped	1993 onwards
Number built	15
Number in service	6 (mostly in reserve)
Number scrapped	9
Fleet numbers	1–15, 175
Capacity	29 seated, 69 standing (as built) 31 seated, 57 standing (one-person operation)
Operator(s)	Helsinki City Transport (HKL)
Line(s) served	All Helsinki tram lines
Specifications
Car length	13.5 m (44 ft)
Width	2.3 m (7.5 ft)
Height	3.6 m (12 ft) with pantograph
Weight	20 metric tons
Traction system	4 × Strömberg GHAU-672 4 × ABB M2CF 250S 4B30E (number 11 from 1995 onwards)
Power output	50 kW 55 kW (number 11 from 1995 onwards)
Braking system(s)	hand/air/electric/track
Track gauge	1,000 mm (3 ft 3 3⁄8 in) metre gauge

HM V is a class of two-bogie four-axle (Bo′Bo′ wheel arrangement) tram operated by Helsinki City Transport (Finnish: Helsingin kaupungin liikennelaitos, abbreviated HKL; Swedish: Helsingfors stads trafikverk, abbreviated HST) on the Helsinki tram network. All trams of this type were built by the Finnish tram manufacturer Karia in 1959.

The first trams of this type were withdrawn from service in 1993. As of 2008 six trams (numbers 9, 11–14 and 175) remain in operational condition. Of these, two have been extensively repaired and are occasionally used in normal service (numbers 9 and 12), one has been converted into a restaurant tram (former no. 15, now no. 175 "Spårakoff") and one is used as a non-passenger carrying advertisement tram (no. 14).

The HM V type trams, alongside the near-identical RM 3 type produced at the same time by Valmet, were the last development in a series of five near-identical tram types produced by Karia and Valmet for operations on the Helsinki and Turku tram network during the 1950s (the previous types being HM IV and RM 1 for Helsinki and RM 2 for Turku).

HKL ordered the HM V type trams from Karia, a subsidiary company of Suomen Autoteollisuus, in 1957. The series designation stands for Helsingin moottorivaunu, viides sarja (English: Helsinki motor tram, series five). Karia built the bodies and assembled the trams, while Sisu (another subsidiary company of Suomen Autoteollisuus) supplied the bogies and Strömberg the electronics.

The first HM V tram, number 1, was delivered to the HKL on 27 April 1959, with number 15 delivered last in the series on 23 October 1959. Coinciding with the delivery of these new trams the HKL had decided to reset their numbering scheme. Therefore, the HM V trams were numbered starting from one and not from 376, as they would have been had the old numbering been continued. The HM V trams were built to be compatible with the HP II type trailers that had been constructed in 1958–59, also by Karia. The usage of trailers in Helsinki ended in 1983, although the couplers needed for hauling trailers were retained in the HM V type trams for many years afterwards, number 14 being the last tram to have one, with the coupler removed only in 2006.