Flexity Outlook
Encyclopedia
The Flexity Outlook is a family of 100% low-floor articulated light-rail
tram
s manufactured by Bombardier Transportation
. Part of the larger Flexity
product line (many of which are not 100% low-floor), Flexity Outlook cars fall into two distinct sub-categories with dramatically different appearances. Their designs are modular in nature, permitting a broad range of opportunities to customize vehicles to suit local technical needs or aesthetic proclivities.
The Eurotram is based on a design by Socimi
(Milan, Italy) and manufactured by ABB (later Adtranz
and Bombardier
) at former BREL
sites in York and Derby in the UK. with some parts from ABB Trazione (Italy). Units built for the Porto network were constructed at Bombardier's factory in Amadora
Portugal.
Its modern design makes it look as much like a train as a tram, and has large windows along its entire length.
Over 150 units have been built between 1994 and 2004 most of BoBo2Bo wheel arrangement, the remainder have BoBoBo2Bo wheel arrangement. It is used on the Strasbourg tramway, in Milan
on the Azienda Trasporti Milanesi
, and on the Porto Metro
.
The design was acquired by Bombardier when they took over Adtranz
. In 2003 the design was taken on a marketing tour of Australia
, with Porto tram number 018 shortened by 2 modules and put on display in Sydney
on the Metro Light Rail
. It was then taken to Melbourne
where it operated on the local tram network
between January and March 2003 as a 7 section tram.
The more common Cityrunner, which has a more traditional tram design, is used by several cities in Austria
(in Innsbruck
, Linz
and Graz
), also Łódź (Poland
), Geneva
(Switzerland
), Eskişehir
(Turkey
), and Brussels
, and vehicles for Marseille
, Valencia, Alicante
and Toronto
are in the design and production phase. The Toronto Transit Commission
(Canada
) has also selected it for upgrading its current fleet, with possible use for the Transit City
plan as well.
Both models have 100% low floor
s. While most Flexity Outlook trams are bi-directional, the Toronto cars will be single-ended in order to meet the operating requirements of that city's legacy streetcar routes. Bombardier has built single-ended Flexity Outlook versions for cities including Graz, Łódź and Milan. They follow a modular design, allowing them to be customised for use on networks that require narrow vehicles or uniquely tight curve radii, down to 11.6 metres (38.1 ft) in the case of Toronto. Toronto's version of the Outlook will be gauged to fit its legacy streetcar lines, with a track width of 149.5 cm, or 4 ft 10 7⁄8 in.
The Flexity Outlook's closest competitors are the Citadis from Alstom
, the Combino
and S70 from Siemens
, and Bombardier
's other Flexity trams.
operated a Flexity Outlook demo system in Vancouver from January 21 to March 21, 2010, coinciding with the 2010 Winter Olympics
. It was called the Olympic Line
and used electrified railway right-of-way owned by the City of Vancouver and not part of the regional transit authority (TransLink).
The temporary line operated from Granville Island
to the Olympic Village Canada Line Station at 2nd Avenue. Service consisted of a 1.8 kilometres (1.1 mi) link with two stations, with cars operating every 10 minutes.
Light rail
Light rail or light rail transit is a form of urban rail public transportation that generally has a lower capacity and lower speed than heavy rail and metro systems, but higher capacity and higher speed than traditional street-running tram systems...
tram
Tram
A tram is a passenger rail vehicle which runs on tracks along public urban streets and also sometimes on separate rights of way. It may also run between cities and/or towns , and/or partially grade separated even in the cities...
s manufactured by Bombardier Transportation
Bombardier Transportation
Bombardier Transportation is the rail equipment division of the Canadian firm, Bombardier Inc. Bombardier Transportation is one of the world's largest companies in the rail-equipment manufacturing and servicing industry. Its headquarters are in Berlin, Germany....
. Part of the larger Flexity
Flexity
Flexity is the name given by Bombardier Transportation to most of the trams they manufacture. For specific information, see the following articles:...
product line (many of which are not 100% low-floor), Flexity Outlook cars fall into two distinct sub-categories with dramatically different appearances. Their designs are modular in nature, permitting a broad range of opportunities to customize vehicles to suit local technical needs or aesthetic proclivities.
Eurotram
Socimi
Società Costruzioni Industriali Milano, better known as Socimi, was an Italian manufacturing company based in Milan. It was a manufacturer of trams, metro trains; traction motors for these and for trolleybuses; and bodies for motorbuses and trolleybuses...
(Milan, Italy) and manufactured by ABB (later Adtranz
Adtranz
ABB Daimler-Benz Transportation , commonly known under its brand Adtranz, was a multi-national rail transport equipment manufacturer with facilities concentrated in Europe and the USA....
and Bombardier
Bombardier Transportation
Bombardier Transportation is the rail equipment division of the Canadian firm, Bombardier Inc. Bombardier Transportation is one of the world's largest companies in the rail-equipment manufacturing and servicing industry. Its headquarters are in Berlin, Germany....
) at former BREL
BREL
British Rail Engineering Limited , was the railway systems engineering division of British Rail, until the design and building of trains in the UK was privatised in 1993. On 31 October 1969, the company was incorporated as British Rail Engineering Limited.-Main products:The vast majority of BREL's...
sites in York and Derby in the UK. with some parts from ABB Trazione (Italy). Units built for the Porto network were constructed at Bombardier's factory in Amadora
Amadora
Amadora is a city and a municipality in Portugal, in the northwest of the Lisbon Metropolitan Area. The city and municipality population is 175,872 in eleven freguesias . With an area of 23.77 km², it is the most densely populated municipality of Portugal...
Portugal.
Its modern design makes it look as much like a train as a tram, and has large windows along its entire length.
Over 150 units have been built between 1994 and 2004 most of BoBo2Bo wheel arrangement, the remainder have BoBoBo2Bo wheel arrangement. It is used on the Strasbourg tramway, in Milan
Milan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
on the Azienda Trasporti Milanesi
Azienda Trasporti Milanesi
Azienda Trasporti Milanesi is a public company, responsible for public transportation in Milan city and some surrounding municipalities, in Italy...
, and on the Porto Metro
Porto Metro
The Porto Metro , part of the public transport system of Porto, Portugal, is a light-rail network that runs underground in central Porto and above ground into the city's suburbs...
.
The design was acquired by Bombardier when they took over Adtranz
Adtranz
ABB Daimler-Benz Transportation , commonly known under its brand Adtranz, was a multi-national rail transport equipment manufacturer with facilities concentrated in Europe and the USA....
. In 2003 the design was taken on a marketing tour of Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, with Porto tram number 018 shortened by 2 modules and put on display in Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
on the Metro Light Rail
Metro Light Rail
The Metro Light Rail is the only currently operating light rail line in Sydney. The line opened on 31 August 1997, mostly along the route of an unused goods railway line, to serve the redeveloped inner-city areas of Darling Harbour, Ultimo and Pyrmont, and was extended in 2000 to serve some of...
. It was then taken to Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
where it operated on the local tram network
Trams in Melbourne
The Melbourne tramway network is a major form of public transport in Melbourne, the capital city of the state of Victoria, Australia. , the network consisted of of track, 487 trams, 28 routes, and 1,773 tram stops. It was therefore the largest urban tramway network in the world, ahead of the...
between January and March 2003 as a 7 section tram.
Cityrunner
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
(in Innsbruck
Innsbruck
- Main sights :- Buildings :*Golden Roof*Kaiserliche Hofburg *Hofkirche with the cenotaph of Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor*Altes Landhaus...
, Linz
Linz
Linz is the third-largest city of Austria and capital of the state of Upper Austria . It is located in the north centre of Austria, approximately south of the Czech border, on both sides of the river Danube. The population of the city is , and that of the Greater Linz conurbation is about...
and Graz
Graz
The more recent population figures do not give the whole picture as only people with principal residence status are counted and people with secondary residence status are not. Most of the people with secondary residence status in Graz are students...
), also Łódź (Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
), Geneva
Geneva
Geneva In the national languages of Switzerland the city is known as Genf , Ginevra and Genevra is the second-most-populous city in Switzerland and is the most populous city of Romandie, the French-speaking part of Switzerland...
(Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
), Eskişehir
Eskisehir
Eskişehir is a city in northwestern Turkey and the capital of the Eskişehir Province. According to the 2009 census, the population of the city is 631,905. The city is located on the banks of the Porsuk River, 792 m above sea level, where it overlooks the fertile Phrygian Valley. In the nearby...
(Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
), and Brussels
Brussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
, and vehicles for Marseille
Marseille
Marseille , known in antiquity as Massalia , is the second largest city in France, after Paris, with a population of 852,395 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Marseille extends beyond the city limits with a population of over 1,420,000 on an area of...
, Valencia, Alicante
Alicante
Alicante or Alacant is a city in Spain, the capital of the province of Alicante and of the comarca of Alacantí, in the south of the Valencian Community. It is also a historic Mediterranean port. The population of the city of Alicante proper was 334,418, estimated , ranking as the second-largest...
and Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
are in the design and production phase. The Toronto Transit Commission
Toronto Transit Commission
-Island Ferry:The ferry service to the Toronto Islands was operated by the TTC from 1927 until 1962, when it was transferred to the Metro Parks and Culture department. Since 1998, the ferry service is run by Toronto Parks and Recreation.-Gray Coach:...
(Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
) has also selected it for upgrading its current fleet, with possible use for the Transit City
Transit City
Transit City was a plan for developing public transport in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was first proposed and announced by then-Toronto Mayor David Miller and Chair of the Toronto Transit Commission Adam Giambrone on March 16, 2007...
plan as well.
Both models have 100% low floor
Low-floor tram
A low-floor tram is a tram that has no stair steps between one or more entrances and part or all of the passenger cabin. The low-floor design improves the accessibility of the tram for the public, and also may provide larger windows and more airspace....
s. While most Flexity Outlook trams are bi-directional, the Toronto cars will be single-ended in order to meet the operating requirements of that city's legacy streetcar routes. Bombardier has built single-ended Flexity Outlook versions for cities including Graz, Łódź and Milan. They follow a modular design, allowing them to be customised for use on networks that require narrow vehicles or uniquely tight curve radii, down to 11.6 metres (38.1 ft) in the case of Toronto. Toronto's version of the Outlook will be gauged to fit its legacy streetcar lines, with a track width of 149.5 cm, or 4 ft 10 7⁄8 in.
The Flexity Outlook's closest competitors are the Citadis from Alstom
Alstom
Alstom is a large multinational conglomerate which holds interests in the power generation and transport markets. According to the company website, in the years 2010-2011 Alstom had annual sales of over €20.9 billion, and employed more than 85,000 people in 70 countries. Alstom's headquarters are...
, the Combino
Combino
The Combino is a low floor tram produced by Siemens Transportation Systems . The first prototype was produced in 1996 at the Duewag works in Düsseldorf; the trams are currently made in Krefeld-Uerdingen. Because of its modular design using standardised components, and the resulting reduced costs,...
and S70 from Siemens
Siemens
Siemens may refer toSiemens, a German family name carried by generations of telecommunications industrialists, including:* Werner von Siemens , inventor, founder of Siemens AG...
, and Bombardier
Bombardier Transportation
Bombardier Transportation is the rail equipment division of the Canadian firm, Bombardier Inc. Bombardier Transportation is one of the world's largest companies in the rail-equipment manufacturing and servicing industry. Its headquarters are in Berlin, Germany....
's other Flexity trams.
Vancouver demonstration line
Bombardier TransportationBombardier Transportation
Bombardier Transportation is the rail equipment division of the Canadian firm, Bombardier Inc. Bombardier Transportation is one of the world's largest companies in the rail-equipment manufacturing and servicing industry. Its headquarters are in Berlin, Germany....
operated a Flexity Outlook demo system in Vancouver from January 21 to March 21, 2010, coinciding with the 2010 Winter Olympics
2010 Winter Olympics
The 2010 Winter Olympics, officially the XXI Olympic Winter Games or the 21st Winter Olympics, were a major international multi-sport event held from February 12–28, 2010, in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, with some events held in the suburbs of Richmond, West Vancouver and the University...
. It was called the Olympic Line
Vancouver Downtown Historic Railway
The Vancouver Downtown Historic Railway is a heritage streetcar line that operates between Granville Island and the Cambie Station in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It operates only on weekends and holidays, usually from May to mid-October, and is aimed primarily at tourists...
and used electrified railway right-of-way owned by the City of Vancouver and not part of the regional transit authority (TransLink).
The temporary line operated from Granville Island
Granville Island
Granville Island is a peninsula and shopping district in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It is located in False Creek directly across from Downtown Vancouver's peninsula, under the south end of the Granville Street Bridge....
to the Olympic Village Canada Line Station at 2nd Avenue. Service consisted of a 1.8 kilometres (1.1 mi) link with two stations, with cars operating every 10 minutes.