The Real Comet XL

Nice! Looks like a Bus that went through "Pimp my Ride" on the first look...

I think this (or similar model) is what they call "tram-killer" in Gothenburg, Sweden.

Yep Västtrafik, the regional operator of western Sweden, runs these kinds of double-articulated Volvos in Gothenburg. I much prefer them to the trams, especially since our politicians can't buy nice trams but only italian Sirio-garbage from AnsaldoBreda.

The oldest trams are five years old and already 30% of the fleet is broken down and out of traffic. The undercarriage rust, they do not work in snow, the airconditioning system is reversed (no heat in winter, no cool in summer), brakes jam, they're uncomfortable, has no suspension and does not work well with sharp turns. Given that the tram network is filled with sharp turns, one might think that this would have been given some thought when designing the tram, but no. The reason is simple, AnsaldoBreda put in a silly offer, several hundred million below any competitor, and the city bought it. The saying "you get what you pay for" has never been more true. And in the end, buying cheap is expensive. While buying quality trams from say Bombardier or Alstom costs more initially, it would have paid off by now. Stockholm bought Bombardier trams and they have not had any problems.

Busses on the other hand work well, they're not as noisy (just a nice diesel clatter), the ride is better (the power delivery is gradual, not ON/OFF as with trams) and they are much more flexible as they don't need tracks. And with Gothenburg being the home of Volvo, it'd be financially sound buy more buses rather than trams, supporting domestic jobs and economy rather than giving money to Silvio Berlusconi (AlsandoBreda is owned by the Italian government).

[video=youtube;BTSUQrxC6l4]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BTSUQrxC6l4[/video]

Before you ask, yes, you can reverse with it too. Only takes a bit of practice.

Nice XXL buses. We in Hungary have the Combino Supra trams for the 4-6 line in Budapest. Some polls say that, this is the busiest tram line in Europe.(I'm not sure about that, the trams are usually not crowded that much, although they travel in <5 minutes intervals.

Mass: 69 700 kg
Length: 53 990 mm
Width: 2400 mm
Heigth: 3562 mm
Capacity: 350 db
Number of seats: 64 db

ps.: I strongly advise anyone from buying trams/metros/trains from Alstom. You couldn't believe how sh*tty metros the have tried to sell us. In 10 our of 40 tests, from the same speed the train wouldn't stop properly (half of the front car passed the platform), but the doors would open, no emergency exits were built in, etc.
Our Siemens and Bombardier vehicles are working great. The Volvo buses have a design flaw: they weren't designed for the pothole filled streets of Budapest, because of this they need frequent maintenace.

Interesting info molace. I guess as always if you want something that works, get the germans to do it

mippzon said:

I think this (or similar model) is what they call "tram-killer" in Gothenburg, Sweden.

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The single articulated bus in London is called the "for christ sake why are these things still allowed don the road". I'd dread to think of having one of the doubles here!

Wow, your woes with Breda could probably be copied verbatim for the models they sold to us here. I thought it might just be the special requirements that were imposed on them for our network, but no, they just suck.

You people and your modern streetcars...



In service since 1977!

You'd think Bombardier give us Canadians a discount, considering you know, we're in same country. But noo, we gotta use the same crappy old streetcars

The Alstom Strasbourg Trams are nice in my opinion :


I don't know if they work well or not...
All I know is that they have more problems with the tracks and the heat (the joint melt in summer...)

bostonchicken said:

Wow, your woes with Breda could probably be copied verbatim for the models they sold to us here. I thought it might just be the special requirements that were imposed on them for our network, but no, they just suck.

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Yesterday cracks were found in the joints connecting the hanging sections to the wheeled ones so now even more Sirios are out of commission than when I first posted. Also I didnt mention the 50 month delay then (yes, the last vehicles were delivered five years late).

AnsaldoBreda also got the contract for new trams in Oslo, an original construction known as the SL95. That didnt go well, you can read all about it on the link, but in summary, they were delayed, did not work, rusted, all the same problems we've had with ours. And now you say Boston also have Breda trams that don't work. It can't just be a coincidence.

Three60Mafia said:

You people and your modern streetcars...

In service since 1977!

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I can do better than that!


The M28, in service since 1965.

Todge said:

The single articulated bus in London is called the "for christ sake why are these things still allowed don the road". I'd dread to think of having one of the doubles here!

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Who doesnt dread of being on the road in London? It's filled with people driving straight at you in the wrong lane! It's madness! :rofl:
But seriously, London is a special city since it's so narrow as a result of "ad-hoc" building since the beginning of time (London existed before a guy called Jesus died). My city was built by the dutch under contract from the King, who wanted a bastion that annoyed Denmark, in the early 1600's.

Constal 13n. Designed based on the 1950s Czech Tatra trams. We're getting rid of them from Warsaw for good sometime this year. They are horrible but I'll miss them somehow.

Switching to those thugish-looking PESAs:

Do want T_T

Dont complain about your old transports, in munich they even use the old Trams from 1967 again, even due to some nostalgia too. anyone interested heres an interesting page that lists all trams in use in Munich in german: http://www.tram-muenchen.de/fahrzeuge/index.html

Pics of 1967 modell in use today: http://www.tram-muenchen.de/fotos/p-wagen.html

And here are some historic ones not used anymore in regular service: http://www.tram-muenchen.de/fahrzeuge/altwagen.html

molace said:

Nice XXL buses. We in Hungary have the Combino Supra trams for the 4-6 line in Budapest. Some polls say that, this is the busiest tram line in Europe.(I'm not sure about that, the trams are usually not crowded that much, although they travel in <5 minutes intervals.

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HEY! I rode that tram last year!

Also, I like seeing some posts of these old trams. I rode some old ones in Prague. The ones that run up Bělehradská towards downtown are pretty old.
But I think the ones in Bratislava, Slovakia were even older. BUT they were very powerful hill climbers. I was pretty amazed. Someone I was touring with told me they had similar ones in Sofia, Bulgaria. Old, but can be very fast and powerful.

Heh, in my hometown of Odessa, Ukraine, they still use "modernised" (if that is even possible. All they do is update the paint and digital display panel) Tatras.

"Modernised" Tatra



"Old-school" Tatra with original paintscheme and whatnot. As you can see, they have seen better days.



And on topic of Trolleybuses, same city. New and old machines.

I wnat to play!

We have these:


And these:

The newer ones are much better. Expescially for parents with kids who have to haul prams and children up the steps on the old ones.

The old DDR trams still appear at christmas as the Glühwein express, taking people from the station to the Christmas market and getting them drunk on the way!

We have some old stuff in France too.

Those are 1965's models, and they're still active on three regular lines in Paris (they're called "petits gris" / "little greys") :

PCCs originally purchased in 1945. Still in operation (rebuilt and restored of course).

Old article but still the case: http://www.railroad.net/articles/railfanning/mbtatrolley/index.php