Germany: Stadler to Test TINA Tram in Darmstadt

Stadler has announced a series of test runs of its TINA tram are set to take place in Darmstadt, Germany next week.

The tram will run during the night from Monday to Tuesday (29–30 September) and during the day on Wednesday (01 October), and has been equipped with various damping components to reduce vibrations.

Thus far, Stadler has already carried out simulations and measurements with the TINA tram in a number of other cities with successful results. The latest series of tests will take place outside of regular passenger service and under supervision of a testing laboratory.

Ansgar Brockmeyer, Executive Vice President Sales & Marketing at the Stadler Group, said:

TINA is a world first with a particularly innovative bogie. The challenges we are currently experiencing only become apparent in real-life use – because every city is different. Such effects cannot be fully captured in laboratory or test bench tests. That's why we at Stadler have developed a whole range of measures that we are now implementing and whose effectiveness we are now measuring directly in the infrastructure of each city.

Measuring points have been set on Frankfurther Landstraße in the Löwenplatz area, as well as in Eberstadt at the HEAG mobilo Frankenstein depot. All measurements are taken in the buildings in accordance with DIN 4150 specifications.

In addition, Stadler will also conduct a number of baseline measurements to ensure a comparison with the prototypes previous model.

The first results are expected by the end of October.