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Newslog 2022
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This page presents news and other items of interest concerning the Zürich tram system and connected topics.
This is not the official information page of any organisation. All opinions expressed here are my own or belong to those to whom they are attributed. Whereas care is taken to ensure the correctness of news, no claim is made to total accuracy.
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13.12.2022 - Flexity deliveries reach 4035
Delivery of Flexity trams has reached number 4035.
13.12.2022 - More good news on night trains
I have in the past reported on the decline of night train services from Zürich. It is good to see that fortunes have been reversed, and following the reintroduction of the night train to Amsterdam a year ago, the new timetable of last Sunday (11th December) sees a the return of a night train to Prague via Germany. I understand this will run in addition to and not in replacment of the direct sleeping car via Austria.
08.12.2022 - Limattalbahn opening
Limmattalbahn will open this Saturday, 11th December.
03.03.2022 - Route 15 to return on 15th March
Route 15, which was temporarily suspended, apparently due to Corona-related staff shortage, will treturn on 15th March. Private hire services will also resume.
bahnforum.ch
26.02.2022 - 125 years of Basel trams
Special events are planned to mark the 125th anniversary of Basel trams (actually postponed from 2020) on the weekend of 20-21st May 2022. On Saturday here will be open days at Wiesenplatz depot and Klybeck works and museum trams will operate a feeder service. On Sunday there will be a tram parade on Wettsteinbrücke at about 11:00.
The same weekend will also see tram events in Bruxelles and Leipzig. Tram enthusiasts will have to make tough decisons.
Thank you to an e-mail correspondent for raising me awareness of this.
Flexity 2024 has arrived in Zürich
18.02.2022 - Ten ex-Zürich trams scrapped in Vinnitsa
According to a post on bahnforum.ch, several ex-Zürich trams have been scrapped recently. According to the source, they were scrapped to free space in anticipation of the arrival of Tram 2000s. The present situation in the Ukraine is delaying the acquisition of these trams but apparently Vinnitsa is optimistic that this will improve soon.
The trams reported to be scrapped are ex-VBZ 773, 777, 781-783, 786, 791, 1611, 1660 and 1688 (Six Karpfen trailers, One FFA trailer, and three Mirages).
04.02.2022 - WSB Be 4/4 115 saved
This newslog has in the past reported on the saga of WSB Be 4/4 115. The car was new to the Aarau Schöftlandbahn in 1901, and rebuilt in the 1930s and again in the 1950s. When it was finally withdrawn from active service in 1982 it was transformed into a saloon car for private hire. In 2012 the car was declared surplus and that would probably have been the end of its story, had it not been reprieved at the last minute by none other than a scrapman. The car was bought by Bertschi, a scrap and recycling company, and was used as a visitor information stand at their Reinach scrapyard.
The years in the open took their toll on 115. In about 2018, a group of enthusiasts decided to save the car with the goal of returning it to working order on its home system. An important step was reached on 23rd December when the car collected from the scrapyard and taken to AVA's Schöftland workshop, where restoration work is beginning. The club formed to save the car have raised 870,000 CHF with a further 270,000 of lottery money allocated by the canton of Aargau. Restoration work is expected to take one and half to two years and will be carried out by both AVA staff and volunteers.
02.02.2022 - Tram route 15 suspended
Tram route 15 has been suspended from 10th January. The suspension is temporary and is being justified with increased sickness-related absence among staff.
02.02.2022 - Fresh dawn for night trains
This news log has in the past reported on the retrenchment and gradual loss of Europe's night trains, especially those of relevance to Switzerland, whose number and quality has continuously dwindled over the last 10 years or so.
Fortunately things are looking up again. Public concerns and awareness have prompted governments to address this issue, and whereas some of this has so far proven to be just talk, some of it is transforming into real action. For example France has started putting the wheels in motion to restore several lost connections and in this context a Zürich to Barcelona service has been mentioned for 2024 by the French transport minister, Jean-Baptiste Djebbari (French govt website). The French government will invest 800 million Euros in rolling stock (about 300 cars), locomotives and maintenance facilities for a nationwide night train network.
In Spain too things are looking up. RENFE used the Covid pandemic as a useful excuse to quietly bury its night train services, but a recent government policy announcement seeks to (re)instate three domestic trains as well one from Madrid to Lisbon and one from Madrid to Paris via Barcelona for a total of 210 million Euros (epe.es).
The December timetable change also brought back the Zürich to Amsterdam sleeper, operated as a Nightjet service by ÖBB. There is also a thrice weekly Nightjet from Vienna and Salzburg to Paris.
01.02.2022 - Progress on Waldenburgerbahn
A facsinating series of pictures documenting the present status of the rebuilding of Waldenburgerbahn as a meter gauge line are posted on drehscheibe online.
31.01.2022 - Ex RBS loco goes to Wuppertal
Ex-RBS steepleback Ge 4/4 111 has been acquired by the Bergische Museumsbahnen heritage tramway in Wuppertal. Sister locomotives of 111 once worked freight services on tram lines in the Wuppertal area. 111 itself was originally built for the Hagen to Breckerfeld tramway in the 1920s and was transferred to RBS following that line's closure in 1963. It is intended to restore the locomotive to its earlier condition and use it to recreate typical tramway freight operations.
111's sister locomotive, ex RBS 112, also survives on a heritage railway in Slowakia.
29.01.2022 - Uetlibergbahn voltage switch
The SZU Uetlibergbahn is a standard gauge railway starting from Zürich Hauptbahnhof and climbing the local Uetliberg mountain by way of Friesenberg and Triemli, combining the functions of commuter and tourist railway. With a maximum incline of 7.9 percent, it is the steepest adhesion railway (non rack railway) in Europe. The line's 1'200V electrification is unusual as the overhead line is offset from the track centre. This arrangement permits mixed operation on the joint section of line with the Sihltal railway between Zürich Hauptbahnhof and Giesshübel.
The pecularities of the dual electrified section combined with the desire to freely exchange rolling stock with the Sihltal railway have pushed SZU to pursue a conversion to 15kV AC electrification. The first step in this direction was taken with the acquisition of dual voltage trains in the form of six class Be 510 units ordered in 2010. A further five similar class Be 570 were ordered in 2019 and are presently being delivered. The two classes are confusingly jointly also called Be 552, their official designation by the transport ministry. The arrival of the Be 570 should permit the withdrawal of the last DC-only units, Be 4/4 521–528, by April.
Work will begin on 7th February with the placement of bases for electrification masts, with most of the work being done at night. Commencing in April there will be a series of line closures to permit full reconstruction as an AC line. This will affect the Triemli to Uetliberg from 25th April to 1st July, Mondays to Fridays only, follwing with Binz to Triemli from 9th may until 1st July again Mondays to Fridays only. Alternative transport is being provided.
Also to be affected is the trolleybus to railway overhead intersection at Friesenberg (route 32).
Flexity deliveries have reached 4022, with 4023 scheduled to arrive on 10th February.
According to bahnforum.ch, the following Tram 2000s have been withdrawn:
2002 2004 2006 2008 2012 2013 2033 2036 2037 2038 2039 2040 2041 2060 2303 2304 2306 2307 2309 2310 2311 2312 2414 2415 2416
The same source lists the following scrap dates for the vehicles that have been disposed of. Those numbers not on this list are presumably withdrawn but not yet disposed of.
2004 - 31.08.2021
2006 - 31.08.2021
2012 - 23.09.2021
2013 - 19.11.2021
2036 - 06.12.2021
2060 - July 2008 following accident on 10.01.2008
2303 - Autumn 2021 (23.09.2021?)
2306 - 22.10.2021
2309 - 22.10.2021
2310 - 06.12.2021
2311 - 19.11.2021
29.01.2022 - Temporary closure for Frankental line
Route 13 is to be closed between Escher-Wyss-Platz and Frankental from 16th July 2022 until 18th August 2023, to permit replacement of tracks as well as work on sewers and water, gas and electric lines. During this period route 13 will be divereted to Hardturm.
News items for 2021 have been moved from the newslog.html main page to the 2021.html page.
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