Vehicles in the Flexity Swift family vary in length, but are all articulated, usually with three sections. In most cases, the centre section is very short, but can be replaced with a longer section in order to increase capacity. The trams can also be coupled together into
trains. Nevertheless, they are all
bi-directional with cabs at both ends and doors on both sides. An emphasis is placed on speed with units capable of safely reaching speeds of when running on dedicated lines. Most vehicles typically weigh between , though the ones made for the Minneapolis line are heavier due to stricter
crashworthiness requirements in the United States (particularly
buff strength) and the vehicles in Rotterdam and Karlsruhe are also heavier due to their use on a full, high-capacity
rapid transit network and on
mainline railway tracks, respectively. The Flexity Swift family comes in two distinct versions with a 70%
low-floor version to allow access to those in
wheelchairs without requiring the construction of
high platforms in city streets and a high-floor version with
level boarding at raised platforms, generally to retain compatibility with stations built for older trams or trains. While they typically use DC
overhead lines for power collection, the Rotterdam vehicles are also equipped with
third rail power capability for use on the central sections of the network, while the Karlsruhe
tram-trains are compatible with AC electrification which is used on the mainline railways. Both the low and high-floor models were originally developed for use on the
Cologne Stadtbahn in Germany. Other uses of Flexity Swift vehicles include on the London
Tramlink,
Manchester Metrolink, the tram networks in
Istanbul and
Melbourne, the
Rotterdam Metro, the
Karlsruhe Stadtbahn, the
Bonn Stadtbahn, the
Stockholm light rail lines
12 and
22, and the
Metro Light Rail in Minneapolis-Saint Paul, Minnesota. The scrapped
Merseytram plan for Liverpool in Merseyside planned to use the same model as London. The Flexity Swift's closest competitors are the
Alstom Citadis family (particularly the
RegioCitadis,
Citadis Dualis, and
Citadis Spirit variants),
Siemens' S70/Avanto,
SD100/SD160,
SD400/SD460 and
S200, and the
Sirio from
Hitachi Rail Italy (formerly AnsaldoBreda). Compared to Bombardier's other Flexity vehicles, vehicles of the Flexity Swift family are not designed for
streetcar operation with extensive
mixed-traffic operations, although they do operate as such on a number of systems such as in London, Manchester, and Melbourne. ==Technical specifications==