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29. 10. 12. - 14:00

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29. 10. 12. - 14:00

Infoscreens for Vienna trams

Vienna public transport officials are planning to equip their ULF trams with digital info screens.

According to the plans by the end of the year they want to make sure that 20 ULF trams have been equipped with the information screens – by the end of 2014 the want to make sure that it's over 100 of the 250 ULF vehicles that are operating in Vienna.

The ULF is the city of Vienna's Ultra Low Floor tram. The only other place where such trams are in use is in Oradea, Romania.

They are unique in that they have the lowest floor-height of any such vehicle. In contrast to other low-floor trams, the floor in the interior of ULF is at sidewalk height (about 18 cm or 7 inches above the road surface), which makes access to trams easy for passengers in wheelchairs or with baby carriages. This configuration required a new undercarriage. The axles had to be replaced by a complicated electronic steering of the traction motors. Auxiliary devices are installed largely under the car’s roof.

The ULF technology went into testing in the early 1990s. Since 1998, ULFs have been in use on Vienna's tram network, built by a consortium composed of Siemens and Elin in Vienna. Siemens ULF trams were introduced in Oradea, Romania on 24 April 2008.

The first info screens have already been fitted on the line 43 in which guests get a mixture of information and entertainment including news and a quiz. There is also information about the next stop and connections.

At the important traffic points is also possible for guests to get information about the next arriving tram or bus. The project partner is Infoscreen, a daughter company of Gewista, that will also provide the content for the info screens.

It is unclear at this stage whether the info screens might end up in the underground and bus. First of all the reaction of the customers needs to be evaluated according to Vienna public transport system boss Eduard Winter.

Each ULF will be fitted with 5 info screens and the cost will be paid for by Gewista. They will be able to claim their money by advertising, with 30% of the time available allocated for sponsors.

For the Vienna public transport system there is no cost.

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