The second Turkish tram builder is the Istanbul municipal operator, Istanbul Ulasim, founded on 16 August 1988, and which currently operates ten public transport lines in the latter city (metro, light rail, tram and cable car).

The original of this article was published at Railvolution No. 1/15 (Feb 2015).

Istanbul Ulasim entered the world of tram construction in 1997, its prototype RTE 2000 taking to the rails on 1 July 1999. This tram was followed precisely a decade later (to the same day, in fact) by the two prototype RTE 2009 vehicles.

Then in 2013 began the Istanbul Hafif Rayli Sistem Araci Projesi (Istanbul Light Rail Vehicle Project), realised by Istanbul Ulasim under the leadership of the city’s Metropolitan Municipality, culminating in the construction of the vehicle presented at Innotrans 2014. This project has one key objective – to use as many components as possible produced within Turkey, and at the highest possible technological level. Two vehicles, suitable for either metro or tramway use have been built so far, and a further 18 are under construction.

The InnoTrans exhibit was a two-section uni-directional Istanbul tram, designed and built by the company for use on Line T4. This means that it is a high floor vehicle, the floors in the entrance areas being 920 mm above rail top. It is 25 600 mm long over couplings, 2 650 mm wide, and 3 880 mm high above rail top. The distance between bogie centres is 8 600 mm, and wheel diameter is 680 mm when new, 600 mm when fully worn.

There are three bogies, two powered and one non-powered, and four 120 kW three-phase asynchronous traction motors fed by IGBT inverters. Regenerative braking is possible. Operation is off 750 V DC overhead, the pantograph designed for use with a contact wire which is between 4 000 and 5 500 mm above rail top. Tare weight is 42.5 t, the design axle-load being 11 t, and the bodyshells are designed to withstand a longtidunal compression force of 400 kN.

The principal service brake is electrodynamic, while electro-hydraulic disc brakes are also fitted, together with six electromagnetic brakes. The primary suspension is formed of rubber-metal components, while the secondary suspension is pneumatic. Top service speed is 80 km/h, the maximum acceleration rate is 1.07 m/s2 with a load of six passengers per m2, service brake deceleration rate with a load of four passengers per m2 is 1.2 m/s2, and the rate of emergency braking with a passenger load of six per m2 is 2.8 m/s2. The minimum curve radius negotiable in depot areas is 25 m, rising to 30 m on public stretches of line. The maximum gradient surmountable is 60 ‰.

Seats are provided for 47 passengers, while standee capacity is 174 at a density of six per m2 and 232 at a density of eight per m2. Aisle width is 650 mm, the intersection gangways are 1 511 mm wide, and the electrically-operated sliding entrance doors (four on one side) are 2 000 mm high and 1 400 mm wide. A bi-directional version of the tram can also be produced, and length can be extended up to three or four sections.

by Dr Mike Bent, UK ©
Cover Photo: Onur Uysal ©