Rocar DAC
Encyclopedia
Bus
A bus is a road vehicle designed to carry passengers. Buses can have a capacity as high as 300 passengers. The most common type of bus is the single-decker bus, with larger loads carried by double-decker buses and articulated buses, and smaller loads carried by midibuses and minibuses; coaches are...
es and trolleybus
Trolleybus
A trolleybus is an electric bus that draws its electricity from overhead wires using spring-loaded trolley poles. Two wires and poles are required to complete the electrical circuit...
es produced by the Autobuzul
Rocar
Rocar was a van, bus and trolleybus manufacturer based in Bucharest, Romania.The company was created in 1951, and the first production lines were made for rolling-stock equipment and agricultural machines....
(later Rocar) company of Bucharest
Bucharest
Bucharest is the capital municipality, cultural, industrial, and financial centre of Romania. It is the largest city in Romania, located in the southeast of the country, at , and lies on the banks of the Dâmbovița River....
, Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
, between 1979 and 2000. They were available in both standard (non-articulated
Articulated bus
An articulated bus is an articulated vehicle used in public transportation. It is usually a single-deck design, and comprises two rigid sections linked by a pivoting joint...
), 12-meter models and articulated
Articulated bus
An articulated bus is an articulated vehicle used in public transportation. It is usually a single-deck design, and comprises two rigid sections linked by a pivoting joint...
, 17-meter models.
For much of the 1980s and early 1990s, these buses and trolleybuses were the backbone of the urban transportation network of Romania since, throughout the 1980s, public transportation companies were not allowed to import any type of vehicle.
The buses were designed and built in a period of severe shortages
Shortage economy
Shortage economy is a term coined by the Hungarian economist, János Kornai. He used this term to criticize the old centrally-planned economies of the communist states of the Eastern Bloc...
, the main emphasis being put on economizing material usage and simplicity of the design. Most buses of this type did not have power or assisted steering, and only a small number of buses, built in the early part of the project (1979-1982) employed automatic gearboxes. The passenger area was also very spartan, having no interior sound or display systems, seats being built out of plywood
Plywood
Plywood is a type of manufactured timber made from thin sheets of wood veneer. It is one of the most widely used wood products. It is flexible, inexpensive, workable, re-usable, and can usually be locally manufactured...
, light fixtures being 6-8 small 12-volt light bulbs providing insufficient lighting.
During the late 1980s, some were converted to run on methane gas, by installing two or three gas tanks on the roofs. After the fall of the communist regime, the buses were converted back to diesel. DAC buses were equipped with Hungarian RABA-MAN engines, or with Romanian IABv engines capable of 192 horse power DIN
Din
DIN or Din or din can have several meanings:* A din is a loud noise.* Dīn, an Arabic term meaning "religion" or "way of life".* Din is one of the ten aspects of the Ein Sof in Kabbalah ....
and a 4 or 6 gears gear box for a maximum speed of 65 km/h.
In 1996, Rocar began replacing the model line-up with the new Rocar DeSimon
Rocar De Simon U412
The Rocar De Simon U412 is a city bus model manufactured jointly by Rocar and De Simon in Romania. The model, introduced in the mid-1990s, is mostly used in Bucharest's bus network operated by RATB even though some U 412-260s are also used in other Romanian cities such as Braşov, Cluj-Napoca and...
range that was produced until the bankruptcy
Bankruptcy
Bankruptcy is a legal status of an insolvent person or an organisation, that is, one that cannot repay the debts owed to creditors. In most jurisdictions bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor....
of the company in 2003 (however, Dac 112 UDM buses were built until 2000). Most Rocar DAC buses have been withdrawn from service, and replaced with more modern buses. However, some survive with smaller transport companies, on some rural services and in small towns. Trolleybuses, on the other hand, have fared better, because of the higher purchasing cost and lower wear-and-tear, and are still a common site in cities such as Cluj
Cluj-Napoca
Cluj-Napoca , commonly known as Cluj, is the fourth most populous city in Romania and the seat of Cluj County in the northwestern part of the country. Geographically, it is roughly equidistant from Bucharest , Budapest and Belgrade...
or Kiev
Kiev
Kiev or Kyiv is the capital and the largest city of Ukraine, located in the north central part of the country on the Dnieper River. The population as of the 2001 census was 2,611,300. However, higher numbers have been cited in the press....
.
Buses
- DAC 112 UDM - the standard 12-meter model, used for urban or suburban routes. This was the base model for all later designs. Available with two or three doors. Built between 1982 and 2000.
- DAC 117 UD - the articulatedArticulated busAn articulated bus is an articulated vehicle used in public transportation. It is usually a single-deck design, and comprises two rigid sections linked by a pivoting joint...
, 17-meter model. Available with two or four doors. Built between 1979 and 1998. - DAC UDAN 2002 - an attempt at modernizing the DAC 112 UDM by replacing the engine and transmission of the DAC 112 UDM with an Euro 2 compliant model, as well as modernizing the bodywork. Only two were built before the project was deemed unsuccessful. Both are currently operated by RATBRegia Autonoma de Transport BucurestiRegia Autonomă de Transport Bucureşti is a public transport operator in Bucharest, Romania. It operates a complex network of buses, trams and trolleybuses – in fact, all public transport except the Bucharest Metro, which is managed by Metrorex...
.
Trolleybuses
- DAC 112 E - Standard trolleybus, powered by one 115kW direct currentDirect currentDirect current is the unidirectional flow of electric charge. Direct current is produced by such sources as batteries, thermocouples, solar cells, and commutator-type electric machines of the dynamo type. Direct current may flow in a conductor such as a wire, but can also flow through...
motor. - DAC 212 E - Standard trolleybus, powered by one 125kW direct currentDirect currentDirect current is the unidirectional flow of electric charge. Direct current is produced by such sources as batteries, thermocouples, solar cells, and commutator-type electric machines of the dynamo type. Direct current may flow in a conductor such as a wire, but can also flow through...
motor. Outfitted with an electronic command system for its contactors. - DAC 212 ECS - Same as DAC 212 E, but using a chopperChopper (electronics)A chopper circuit is used to refer to numerous types of electronic switching devices and circuits. The term has become somewhat ill-defined, and as a result is much less used nowadays than it was perhaps 30 or more years ago....
system as a speed control. ECS stands for Electric Chopper System. - DAC 117 E(A) - ArticulatedArticulated busAn articulated bus is an articulated vehicle used in public transportation. It is usually a single-deck design, and comprises two rigid sections linked by a pivoting joint...
trolleybus, powered by one 115kW direct currentDirect currentDirect current is the unidirectional flow of electric charge. Direct current is produced by such sources as batteries, thermocouples, solar cells, and commutator-type electric machines of the dynamo type. Direct current may flow in a conductor such as a wire, but can also flow through...
motor. Although some operators called these vehicles DAC 117 EA (with A form 'articulated'; some also called the articulated buses 'DAC 117 UDA'), all the VIN plates of these vehicles shows the correct name (without the 'A'). - DAC 217 E - Articulated trolleybus, powered by one 125kW direct currentDirect currentDirect current is the unidirectional flow of electric charge. Direct current is produced by such sources as batteries, thermocouples, solar cells, and commutator-type electric machines of the dynamo type. Direct current may flow in a conductor such as a wire, but can also flow through...
motor. The most common model, with electronic command of the contactorContactorA contactor is an electrically controlled switch used for switching a power circuit, similar to a relay except with higher current ratings. A contactor is controlled by a circuit which has a much lower power level than the switched circuit....
s - DAC 317 ETS - Same with DAC 217 E, but with the motor controlled by thyristorThyristorA thyristor is a solid-state semiconductor device with four layers of alternating N and P-type material. They act as bistable switches, conducting when their gate receives a current trigger, and continue to conduct while they are forward biased .Some sources define silicon controlled rectifiers and...
s. ETS stands for Electric Thyristor System. - DAC 318 ET Tandem - Articulated trolleybus, powered by two DC motors, working in tandem. Only one prototype was built.