Thursday, July 4
The BVG Urbanliner: Look at the size of Berlin’s new tram!
On Wednesday, Berlin unveiled a new addition to its fleet of public transportation vehicles: a very long tram which the BVG have christened the “Urbanliner”. At 50.9 metres long, this vehicle will have space for 312 passengers, with sitting space for 92, making this “one of” the longest individual trams in the world.
The new vehicles will not actually carry any passengers until the first quarter of 2025, when it will begin regular service on the M4 line (Hohenschönhausen – Hackescher Markt) and help to move around 100,000 passengers each day.
The official press release also talks up a number of extras “intended to increase the fun of driving in the Urbanliner”. These include a new vibration-reducing chassis, lights which switch from “warm” to “cold” depending on the time of day, plus LED strips that alternate green or red to let you know when to disembark.
Despite the hype from the BVG, it is not actually the longest tram in the world. That honour belongs to Mannheim, who have just been shipped some new Skoda trams that are 58.7 metres long. But do they have “fun” extras? Unlikely.
