CAF Urbos

The CAF Urbos is a family of trams, streetcars, and light rail vehicles built by CAF. The Spanish manufacturer CAF previously made locomotives, passenger cars, regional, and underground trains. In 1993, CAF started building trams for Metrovalencia, with the delivery of 16 trams until 1999. This was a variant of a Siemens design and some components were delivered by Siemens, including bogies and traction motors. This design was also sold to Lisbon Trams in 1995; CAF then decided to design and build the Urbos in-house.

There are three generations of the CAF Urbos, namely the Urbos 1, Urbos 2, and Urbos 3. The first generation was ordered by the Bilbao tram operator, who received eight trams between 2002 and 2004. The second generation was sold to other operators in Spain, and the third generation is sold in Spain, elsewhere in Europe, the United States, Australia and in the UK. Manufacturing locations include Beasain, Zaragoza and Linares, Spain; Elmira, New York, USA; Hortolandia, Brazil; Newport, UK; Huehuetoca, Mexico; and Bagnères-de-Bigorre, France.^[1]

CAF Urbos 1

Urbos 1 tram in Bilbao

This series was only sold to Euskotren Tranbia to operate tram services in Bilbao.^[2] The original Bilbao tram system was shut down in 1964 and the second generation opened in December 2002 with extensions in 2004.^[3]

• Bilbao tram: 8 bidirectional trams, numbered 401–408^[3] and locally designated the Euskotren 400 series. 70% low-floor trams with 3 bogies on 1,000 mm (3 ft 3+3⁄8 in) metre gauge.^[4]

CAF Urbos 2

Urbos 2 operating on Seville Metro line 1

In operation

Location	System	Entered service	Gauge	Car body construction	Quantity	Notes[citation needed]
Bilbao and Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain	Bilbao tram and Vitoria-Gasteiz tram	2008	Metre	Aluminium	11	3 units operate in Bilbao, while 8 operate in Vitoria-Gasteiz. Locally designated the Euskotren 500 series.
Seville, Spain	Seville Metro - Line 1	2009	Standard	Steel	21	5 units transferred from MetroCentro 3 units transferred from Sydney
Antalya, Turkey	AntRay			Aluminium	14	Standard gauge variation of the Bilbao/Vitoria-Gasteiz version

Withdrawn

Location	System	In service	Quantity	Notes[citation needed]
Vélez-Málaga, Spain	Vélez-Málaga Tram	2006–2012	3	Transferred to Sydney
Seville, Spain	MetroCentro	2007–2011	5	4 units transferred to Metro line 1 1 unit transferred to Sydney
Sydney, Australia	L1 Dulwich Hill line	Mar–Jul 2014	4	Transferred to Seville Metro line 1

CAF Urbos 3

CAF Urbos 3
Urbos 3 tram in Besançon
Manufacturer	Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles
Constructed	2011–present
Predecessor	CAF Urbos 2
Capacity	129-327 seated and standing total, depending on tram length
Specifications
Train length	18–56 m (59 ft 1 in – 183 ft 9 in)
Width	2,300–2,650 mm (7 ft 6+9⁄16 in – 8 ft 8+5⁄16 in)
Floor height	356 mm (14 in)
Low-floor	70–100%
Doors	8-20, depending on tram length
Articulated sections	2-9[5]
Maximum speed	70–80 km/h (43–50 mph)
Weight	34,860 kg (76,850 lb) (3-car tram)[6]
Traction system	IGBT–VVVF
Electric system(s)	600–750 V DC from overhead catenary Internal supercapacitor (Kaohsiung)
Current collector(s)	Pantograph
Bogies	fixed
Minimum turning radius	18 m (59 ft 1 in) (3-car tram)
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge or 1,000 mm (3 ft 3+3⁄8 in) metre gauge

Urbos 100, designated SL18, in Oslo

The CAF Urbos 3 is the successor of the Urbos 2; all new sales are of Urbos 3. The standard variants, the Urbos 100 and Urbos 70, have either a 100% or 70% low floor design, respectively, and a maximum speed of 80 kilometres per hour (50 mph). The tram type is offered in metre gauge and standard gauge and allows for a tram width of 2,300, 2,400 or 2,650 mm (7 ft 6+9⁄16 in, 7 ft 10+1⁄2 in or 8 ft 8+5⁄16 in). Trams can be assembled from 3, 5, 7 or (only for the Urbos 100) 9 modules, with the length ranging between 23 and 56 metres (75 and 184 ft).^[7]

CAF has developed an option to build 'Greentech Freedrive' lithium-ion supercapacitors and batteries into the Urbos 3,^[8] allowing brief operation without an external electrical supply.^[9] This ACR system (Acumulador de Carga Rápida) allowed the tramway operator in Seville to remove the overhead wires in key locations during Holy Week 2011.^[10] It has also been used in Luxembourg, Granada, Zaragoza and the West Midlands.^[11]

Urbos 70 and Urbos 100

9-module Urbos 3 in Budapest

7-module Urbos 3 in Sydney

City, country, (system)	Quantity	Order value	Notes
Europe/America
Antwerp, Belgium	58
Coast Tram, Belgium	48		Delivered 2020–2021[12] Name: Zeelijner
Ghent, Belgium	18
Liège, Belgium		€360 million [13]
Besançon, France	19	€34.4 million	[14]
Nantes, France	8	€22 million	Option for 4 more trams for €10 million[15]
Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany	17		[16][17][18] plus 8 more ordered [19]
Budapest, Hungary	73+20	€90 million	Option for 31 more trams[20][21][22]
Debrecen, Hungary	18		[23]
Luxembourg, Luxembourg	21	€83.0 million	In service since 2017[24]
Amsterdam, Netherlands	72 [25]		Initial order was 63 in 2016.[26] In operation from January 2021.[27]
Utrecht, Netherlands Utrecht sneltram	27		To be operational in 2018[28]
	22		To be operational in 2020
Oslo, Norway	87	kr 4.2 billion[29]	Locally designated as SL18. First two were delivered in 2020. In operation from January 2022, with trial period of 5 months.[30] Option for 60 more.[31]
Lisbon, Portugal	15	€43 million [32]	Delivery began in April 2023 and will be complete during 2024.[33]
Belgrade, Serbia	30	€70 million	[34]
Granada, Spain	13	€43.9 million	Option for 4 more trams
Málaga, Spain	14		[35]
Seville, Spain	5		MetroCentro line, 1 reserved
Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain	7		Locally designated the Euskotren 600 series.
Zaragoza, Spain	21		[36]
Lund, Sweden	7	297 million SEK[37]	In service since December 2020
West Midlands, England, United Kingdom	21[38]	£40 million
Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom	27
Cuiabá, Brazil	40		[39]
Salvador, Brazil
Kansas City, Missouri, United States	6		8 cars on order with multiple extensions being constructed. Total fleet size of 14 by 2025[40][41][42]
Calgary, Alberta, Canada	28		For use on the Green Line. To be delivered in 2027.[43]
Cincinnati, Ohio, United States	5	$25 million	[44]
Seattle, Washington, United States	10	$50 million	[41] Order was canceled in 2019 amid escalating cost projections for the planned new line for which they were intended.[45]
Asia
Kaohsiung, Taiwan	9		ACR system built in; no need for catenary[46]
Jerusalem, Israel	114		For Green Line. To be operational in 2024
Oceania
Canberra, ACT, Australia	14	A$65 million	5-module 100. Delivered 2018, operational April 2019[47]
Newcastle, NSW, Australia	6		5-module 100 supercapacitor wire free. Delivered 2018–19[48]
Sydney, NSW, Australia	16	A$20 million (1st order)	5-module 100. Initial order for 6 trams; subsequently increased to 12.[49] Four more trams for the line were ordered from CAF in June 2021,[50] they entered service in 2023.[51] Operates on the Inner West Light Rail.
	13		7-module 100 battery wire free. Will operate on stage 1 of the Parramatta Light Rail, set to open in May 2024.[52][53]
Africa
Mauritius	18	€100 million	In service since December 2019[54]

Design flaws

In December 2017, the Besançon Tramway in Besançon, France, discovered cracks in their Urbos 3s vehicles around the bogie box area of the bodies, which in December 2020 CAF paid for remedial work to be performed with each unit affected requiring one month downtime for the work to be completed.^[55]

On 11 June 2021, the West Midlands Metro (operating between Birmingham and Wolverhampton, England) were forced to suspend their services due to similar cracks being discovered in the bogie box areas of their Urbos 3s vehicles, with ongoing investigations continuing to identify any other issues relating to the cracks and to find options for remedial works to be performed.^[55]

Following on from these instances, in November 2021 the New South Wales transport minister Rob Stokes announced that the Sydney L1 Dulwich Hill Line would be decommissioned for up to 18 months, due to serious design flaws in all 12 of the CAF Urbos 3s tram sets that were running on the line. Stokes stated that the flaws (in the bogie boxes) were likely to be far broader in scope than those identified in Sydney due to the thousands of the same tram type operated around the world.^[56]

Similar issues relating to cracks in the bogie box area were discovered in the Urbos 3 vehicles supplied to the Belgrade Tramway Network.^[55]

The discovery of further cracks in the West Midlands trams led to service being suspended again from 12 November 2021^[57] to December 2021.^[58]

Following vehicle inspections, services in the West Midlands were again suspended on 20 March 2022 until further notice due to cracks described by the operator as 'bodywork cracks'.^[59] Midland Metro was working directly with the manufacturer to assess the safety and operational impact.

Urbos AXL

Urbos AXL in Stockholm

Vehicles in the Urbos AXL series have longer car-body sections and pivoting bogies. With a maximum speed of 90 kilometres per hour (56 mph), it is designed for high-capacity, mass rapid transit systems.^[7] This type of tram is currently in use only in two Northern European countries:

• Tallinn, Estonia, (20 trams)^[60]
• Stockholm, Sweden (22)^[15][61]

Urbos AXL in Tallinn

Urbos TT

The Urbos TT series is built with tram-train technology, connecting existing heavy rail infrastructure directly to urban tramway systems.^[7]

• Cádiz, Spain (7 vehicles)

Urbos LRV

Urbos LRV in Houston

A three-section articulated car supported by three bogies, the LRV variant of Urbos is designed for the North American market and is customizable.

• Houston, Texas, USA (39 vehicles)^[62]

LRTA 13000 class (Metro edition)

Main article: LRTA 13000 class

13000 class in Santa Cruz, Manila

The LRTA 13000 class is a high-floor light rail vehicle variant of the Urbos. 120 units were ordered for the LRT Line 1 medium-capacity rail system in Metro Manila, Philippines.^[63] It was designed by CAF along with Mitsubishi Corporation and built at CAF's facilities in Corella, Spain, and Huehuetoca, Mexico.^[64] The trains were progressively delivered from 2021 onwards, entering service by 20 July 2023. Once all the trainsets have entered service, they will eventually replace the aging LRTA 1000 class LRVs which are nearing 40 years old.^[65]

References

1. "CAF's major rail projects and facilities worldwide". CAF. Retrieved 8 October 2016.
2. "Revista Vía Libre, mayo 2009" (PDF) (in Spanish). Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 June 2012.
3. "Tranvias de Bilbao ,( tranvia de la 2ª Generación)" (in Spanish). 12 February 2015. Archived from the original on 13 June 2018. Retrieved 11 April 2015.
4. "Bilbao Tram". CAF. Retrieved 11 April 2014.
5. "Urbos, the most innovative generation of CAF trams and light railways". CAF. Retrieved 8 October 2016.
6. "APTA Streetcar Carbuilder Survey Rev 130117" (PDF). APTA. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 October 2016. Retrieved 8 October 2016.
7. "There is an Urbos for each type of city". CAF, your railway solutions. Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles, S.A. Retrieved 24 February 2016.
8. "Catenary-free trams". CAF.
9. "The CAF Rapid Charge Accumulator: Technology for removing catenary between stations" (PDF). CAF. 16 February 2010. Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 July 2011. Retrieved 28 November 2010.
10. Sevilla, Diario de (18 March 2010). "Las catenarias del Metrocentro serán desmontadas este fin de semana de cara a la Semana Santa". Diario de Sevilla.
11. "CAF Power & Automation awarded at Global Light Rail Awards". www.cafpower.com. Retrieved 31 March 2019.
12. "De Lijn mag 146 lagevloertrams bestellen bij CAF". delijn.prezly.com (in Flemish). Retrieved 14 December 2018.
13. "Le réseau de tram verra bien le jour à Liège: voici les détails du projet". RTL Info. 10 February 2017. Retrieved 13 November 2019.
14. "CAF wins Urbos tram contracts". Railway Gazette International. 7 January 2011. Retrieved 7 January 2011.
15. "CAF wins Urbos tram contracts". Railway Gazette International. Retrieved 1 April 2011.
16. "VAG kauft Trams bei spanischem Hersteller". Badische Zeitung. 25 February 2013.
17. "Von 2015 an rollen spanische Trams". Badische Zeitung. 15 March 2013.
18. "Fünf neue Urbos 100". VAG Freiburg (in German). Freiburger Verkehrs AG. 14 April 2021. Retrieved 5 July 2021.
19. "VAG bestellt acht weitere Urbos 100". VAG Freiburg (in German). Freiburger Verkehrs AG. 28 May 2021. Retrieved 5 July 2021.
20. "Elkészült Budapest első CAF villamosa". 5 February 2015. Retrieved 5 September 2015.
21. "Budapest orders CAF trams". Railway Gazette International. Archived from the original on 8 March 2014. Retrieved 5 March 2014.
22. "37 instead of 47 units of the new tram arrives in Budapest". Retrieved 28 April 2014.
23. "Átadták a debreceni 2-es villamosvonalat-Linie2 Open in Debrecen". 26 February 2014. Retrieved 27 February 2014.
24. "CAF delivers first Luxembourg tram". International Railway Journal. 10 February 2017.
25. "Amsterdam: Double traction and commissioning of the new trams". Urban Transport Magazine. 1 October 2020. Retrieved 27 July 2021.
26. "Zo gaan de nieuwe trams van GVB er uitzien - Amsterdam - PAROOL". Het Parool (in Dutch). 30 September 2016. Retrieved 30 September 2016.
27. "Upgraded Dutch light rail lines enter service". International Railway Journal. 8 January 2021. Retrieved 27 July 2021.
28. "Aannemer Uithoflijn en leverancier trams geselecteerd". Uithoflijn. 1 December 2014. Archived from the original on 13 June 2018. Retrieved 26 May 2018.
29. Jørgen Berge; Nina Lorvik (12 October 2020). "Her er Oslos nye trikk". Nettavisen (in Norwegian). Retrieved 2 February 2022.
30. "Nå kan alle kjøre Oslos nye trikk. Men det skal jobbes mer for å få den til å passe helt inn". www.aftenposten.no (in Norwegian Bokmål). Retrieved 31 January 2022.
31. "Oslo velger spanske trikker", Teknisk Ukeblad, 11 June 2018
32. "Urbos tram contract signed by Lisbon transport company". 22 April 2021.
33. "CAF trams on test in Lisboa".
34. "Beograd to buy 30 CAF trams". Railway Gazette International. 6 November 2009. Archived from the original on 21 November 2011. Retrieved 1 April 2011.
35. "Urbos 3 concept on display in Málaga". Railway Gazette International. Retrieved 28 November 2010.
36. "Zaragoza tram Line 1 enters service", Railway Gazette International, 26 April 2011
37. Kuprijanko, Alexander (1 June 2018). "Spanskt företag ska bygga Lunds spårvagnar". Sydsvenskan (in Swedish).
38. "Last new tram arrives for West Midlands". Today's Railways UK. No. 263. January 2024. p. 21.
39. "VLTs de Cuiabá serão fabricados na Espanha (in Portuguese)". revistaferroviaria.com.br. Archived from the original on 21 September 2013. Retrieved 23 August 2012.
40. "Spanish firm CAF will supply streetcars". bizjournals.com. 4 October 2013. Retrieved 6 October 2013.
41. Barrow, Keith. "Seattle and Kansas City order CAF Urbos LRVs". Retrieved 3 October 2017.
42. "KC Streetcar | Welcome Home #805". 9 May 2019. Retrieved 10 July 2019.
43. "A Brief History of Light Rail Vehicles in Calgary". City of Calgary. Retrieved 24 December 2023.
44. "Streetcar Vehicle Production Under Way". City of Cincinnati. Retrieved 5 April 2015.
45. "Seattle DOT cancels streetcar contract with CAF USA". Progressive Railroading. 12 September 2019. ISSN 0033-0817. Archived from the original on 13 September 2019. Retrieved 17 May 2024.
46. "Kaohsiung picks CAF to build catenary-free trams". Railway Gazette International. 7 January 2013.
47. "Spanish-made trams to run on Canberra's city to Gungahlin light rail line". The Canberra Times. 1 February 2016. Archived from the original on 27 May 2018. Retrieved 16 October 2016.
48. Baird government announces progress on Newcastle light rail Archived 13 June 2018 at the Wayback Machine Newcastle Herald 21 June 2016
49. "CAF wins Sydney tram order". Railway Gazette International.
50. "The CAF Group has secured tram supply extension contracts in Belgium and Australia, worth a combined value of nearly 100m euros (119.05m USD), in addition to a new signalling installation contract in Turkey". 30 June 2021. Retrieved 26 July 2021.
51. Rabe, Tom (7 November 2020). "Four new trams promised for Sydney's crowded Inner West line". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 27 June 2022.
52. "Stage 1 Frequently Asked Questions". Parramatta Light Rail. NSW Government. Retrieved 11 January 2023.
53. "Inside the Brand New Parramatta Light Rail Vehicle - First Look at the new CAF Urbos 100 Tram". YouTube. 20 December 2022. Retrieved 11 January 2023.
54. "Metro Express Limited launches Free Passenger Service". Republic of Mauritius Government News. 23 December 2019.
55. "Cracks force suspension of Metro Service". Tramways and Urban Transit August 2021 No. 1004. 1 August 2021.
56. O'Sullivan, Matt (5 November 2021). "Sydney's inner west light rail line out of action for up to 18 months". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 5 November 2021.
57. "Mayor voices disappointment at West Midlands Metro suspension". BBC News. 13 November 2021. Retrieved 13 November 2021.
58. Bates, Isabelle (10 December 2021). "West Midland Metro trams to restart from next week". Birmingham Mail. Retrieved 12 December 2021.
59. "West Midlands Metro services suspended as cracks found". BBC News. 20 March 2022.
60. "Estland: CAF liefert weitere Straßenbahnen nach Tallinn". 26 February 2014. Archived from the original on 9 July 2018. Retrieved 26 May 2018.
61. "Stockholm's first Lidingö light rail vehicle on test". 5 June 2014.
62. Barrow, Keith (8 January 2015). "CAF LRVs enter service in Houston". International Railway Journal. Retrieved 16 December 2017.
63. CAF LRT 1 4th Generation LRVs (16:9) (Facebook Watch). Manila: Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles, reposted by Ang Litratista ng Daang Bakal Facebook page. 24 March 2021. Retrieved 16 April 2021.
64. "CAF and Mitsubishi win LRV contract in Manila". Railway PRO. 21 November 2017. Retrieved 24 May 2020.
65. Mercurio, Richmond. "Trains for LRT-1 Cavite extension arrived". Philstar.com. Retrieved 27 January 2021.

External links

• CAF website