The following is some information on the Translohr system:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.lohr.fr/transport-public.htm
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.mitsui-tr.co.jp/english/goods/translohr.htm
Import of Proto-type Rubber Tire LRT “Translohr” from Lohr Industrie, France
Rubber tire LRT "TRANSLOHR"
Mitsui & Co., Ltd. entered into a purchase contract with Lohr Industrie for a rubber tire vehicle LRT called “Translohr” to conduct a series of safety tests. At the same time, Mitsui, Toshiba, Nippon Densetsu Kogyo, Totetsu Kogyo, Daitetsu Kogyo, Tokyu Car Corporation, and MITSUI BUSSAN Transportation System agreed to cooperate for construction, maintenance and operation of the test line, which includes a sub-station, catenaries, rail, running track, and maintenance facilities.
The test line will be approx. 500 meters and is planned to be constructed on the premises of the Nippon Steel Sakai works, located in Sakai city, Osaka prefecture. The series of tests and demonstrations of Translohr, using one train set composed of 3 cars, to the potential customers, such as local governments and railway operators, are scheduled to be executed during a 3-year period starting from 2004 April.
Translohr is a rubber tire LRT (Light Rail Transit) with 100% super low floor cabin. The most significant characteristic is a single rail laid in the center of its track, which is used as a guiding system. Upon completion of its development in 2001 by Lohr Industrie S.A., France, Translohr has gained much attention in Europe recently as a new generation public transportation system, having successfully obtained 4 contracts in Europe. Translohr possesses the following advantages over conventional steel wheel LRT, which allow for minimal modification of existing infrastructures, resulting in the reduction of cost and the construction period and provides more ample choice to the operators in defining the route:
- Simplified and lightweight track structure.
- Lightweight vehicle.
- Increase of the vehicle’s capabilities by the use of rubber tires, such as use on gradients, improved deceleration and acceleration, comfort, low noise (high performance with environmental friendly system).
Mitsui has been passionately working for the diffusion of a straddle-type monorail since the Expo in Osaka in 1970, and has accumulated experience not only in Japan in the project management of a series of E&M procurement and installation projects, but also in China for the supply of vehicles, switches, and signals for the Chongqing city project. Making use of these experiences, Mitsui is committed to promoting Translohr as a pioneer in the LRT market in Asia through the demonstration of the technology.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.apta.com/services/intnatl/intfocus/paristram.cfm
Elegant, Modular Rubber-Tire Tram Debuts in Paris Guideway Demonstration
The Translohr, a new generation rubber tire electric transit system, recently began demonstration runs on the 12.5-kilometer Trans Val de Marne Bus Rapid Transit corridor operated by APTA member Regie Autonome des Transports Parisiens, the public transit authority in Paris.
One of three novel medium-size guided transit systems, the Translohr, turned out by France’s Lohr Industrie takes its place in sequential demonstrations on the Paris BRT corridor along with Bombardier's Guided Light Transit and the Irisbus Civis vehicle. The Trans Val de Marne BRT corridor is being made available for tests of the advanced hybrid and rubber tire transit systems in limited revenue service to allow teams from French cities in search of future medium capacity systems to see competitors' vehicles on a "level playing field," according to Guy Bourgeois, the RATP project administrator.
The TVR dual mode guided vehicle was operated on the corridor for about two years, carrying 240,000 passengers a total of 300,000 km, and receiving visits from 160 delegations. The demonstration of the tramway-type modular Translohr began in December 2000 and is expected to run through 2001, to be succeeded by the optically guided dual mode Civis next year.
Three French cities and suburban jurisdictions in the Ile de France region surrounding Paris have opted thus far for the GLT, while Translohr is in the bidding stage. Civis has already been selected by several French communities and will be on display in Las Vegas during the APTA Annual Meeting and EXPO in September 2002,with the first production vehicle due to arrive for service in Las Vegas in May 2003.
A consortium of more than two dozen public and private partners, most of them French, are funding the combined demonstrations to allow elected officials and transit planners to make appropriate choices for their respective cities.
The modular, bi-direction Translohr now in operation on the Val de Marne Busway, guided along a shallow central rail, varies in length from 18 to 39 meters; it can carry from 2,000 to 5,000 passengers per hour and direction, depending on the number of articulated modules chosen. It can go off line under its own battery power to return to the depot or negotiate wireless stretches or tunnels. The manufacturer also states that the vehicle is low floor throughout, has a narrow turning circle, can negotiate gradients up to 13 percent, and costs half as much to build than a conventional tramway.
The RATP is promoting a Europe-wide research project to compare and bench, mark the new rubber-tired, bi-modal guided systems to recommend vehicle safety standards. A total of 24 partners in five countries—France, Italy, Spain, Sweeden, and the United Kingdom—-have signed up.