Premiere: Siemens wins its first contract for the new Avenio tram generation

Siemens will manufacture 40 four-unit 100 percent low-floor trams of the Avenio type for The Hague. The vehicles will be manufactured in Vienna and delivered to the customer as from February 2014. (photograph shows a design study)

The Siemens Rail Systems Division will manufacture 40 four-unit 100 percent low-floor trams of the Avenio type for the HTM Materieel B.V. operator in The Hague. With this contract, the seat of the Dutch government is the first city in the world to decide in favor of the new generation of Avenio trams. The contract for the 40 vehicles, including driver training, documentation and spare parts, is worth more than € 100 million. Moreover, Siemens and the customer have agreed a purchase option for up to 40 additional Avenio trams. The Avenio will be manufactured at the Siemens plant in Vienna with a workforce of around 900. Delivery to The Hague is scheduled to start in February 2014.

Siemens will manufacture 40 four-unit 100 percent low-floor trams of the Avenio type for The Hague. The vehicles will be manufactured in Vienna and delivered to the customer as from February 2014. (photograph shows a design study)

In addition to the purchase price and superior quality, the Avenio’s low operating costs and sustainability were major criteria for the customer HTM Materieel B.V. to award the contract to Siemens. “The Avenio is the most recent development in Siemens’ long-standing tram history, which dates back as many as 130 years, and also the world’s most modern, low-noise low-floor tram”, emphasized Hans-Jörg Grundmann, CEO of the Siemens Rail Systems Division.

Siemens is one of the largest providers in the tram market. The first electric tram for Berlin was built by Siemens in 1881. Nowadays, one out of three streetcars in the USA has been manufactured by Siemens. Today, approximately 27,000 trams are in operation all across the globe; the fleets must be modernized or extended at regular intervals because, after all, transportation requirements in cities are continually increasing and climate friendly transport is ever growing in importance. According to a UNIFE study, the world market for trams will grow by nearly four percent per annum to almost three billion euros by 2016.

Siemens will manufacture the Avenio in Austria

The preparations for the manufacture of the Avenio in Vienna are just starting. The first of a total of 40 four-unit vehicles will be delivered to The Hague in February 2014, and the last trams are scheduled to arrive at the customer about one year later. Some of them will replace older vehicles. Each Avenio built for The Hague is 35 meters long and provides space for 70 seated and 168 standing passengers. There are no steps in the gangways because the Avenio is a 100 percent low-floor tram.

The Avenio is based on the single-articulation vehicles which have been in successful passenger service in Almada (Portugal) since 2005 and in Budapest (Hungary) since 2006. For this vehicle concept, the Siemens engineers focused especially on comfort for both the passengers and the driver along with reduced wear and tear of the wheel and the rail. To this end, the Avenio’s bogies were designed to rotate up to 4.5 degrees. Bends can be passed over more conveniently than with undercarriages that are rigidly coupled to the car body. In addition, the designers managed to reduce traction and brake noise, which is a major benefit not only for passengers, but also for passers-by and residents. This success is mainly due to low-noise electrical braking, rubber-sprung wheel tires and ancillary units de-rated or switched off whilst the vehicle is not moving. The fully sprung traction drive also reduces noise emission and vibration.

The Avenio is the result of Siemens’ 130 years of experience in the field of tram construction and more than 20 years of expertise with regard to meeting the special requirements of low-floor technology. But this is not all: The new tram generation also benefits from the Siemens group’s comprehensive know how for the combination of tried and tested components and an ultramodern vehicle concept. Thanks to its high energy efficiency and eco-friendliness, the Avenio is an integral part of the Siemens environmental portfolio with which the company achieved a revenue of around € 28 billion in fiscal 2010.