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CAF Urbos

The CAF Urbos is a family of trams, streetcars, and light rail vehicles built by CAF. As of 2026, over 1,900 Urbos trams operate in over 50 cities worldwide. The Spanish manufacturer CAF previously made locomotives, passenger cars, regional, and underground trains. In 1993, CAF started building trams for Metrovalencia, with the delivery of 16 trams until 1999. This was a variant of a Siemens design and some components were delivered by Siemens, including bogies and traction motors. This design was also sold to Lisbon Trams in 1995; CAF then decided to design and build the Urbos in-house.

Urbos 1
This series was only sold to Euskotren Tranbia to operate tram services in Bilbao. The original Bilbao tram system was shut down in 1964 and the second generation opened in December 2002 with extensions in 2004. • Bilbao tram: 8 bidirectional trams, numbered 401–408 == Urbos 2 ==
Urbos 2
In operation Withdrawn == Urbos 3 ==
Urbos 3
The CAF Urbos 3 is the successor of the Urbos 2; all new sales are of Urbos 3. The standard variants, the Urbos 100 and Urbos 70, have either a 100% or 70% low floor design, respectively, and a maximum speed of . The tram type is offered in metre gauge and standard gauge and allows for a tram width of . Trams can be assembled from 3, 5, 7 or (only for the Urbos 100) 9 modules, with the length ranging between . CAF has developed an option to build 'Greentech Freedrive' lithium-ion supercapacitors and batteries into the Urbos 3, allowing brief operation without an external electrical supply. This ACR system (Acumulador de Carga Rápida) allowed the tramway operator in Seville to remove the overhead wires in key locations during Holy Week 2011. It has also been used in Luxembourg, Granada, Zaragoza and the West Midlands. In 2024, a CAF Urbos fleet of 40 light rail trains were transported from Cuiabá, Mato Grosso, in Brazil to Salvador, Bahia, following a deal to build the new Salvador LRT system (three lines, under construction), to replace an old suburban train and a failed Chinese BYD Skyrail project bid. On 11 June 2021, the West Midlands Metro (operating between Birmingham and Wolverhampton, England) were forced to suspend their services due to similar cracks being discovered in the bogie box areas of their Urbos 3s vehicles, with ongoing investigations continuing to identify any other issues relating to the cracks and to find options for remedial works to be performed. Similar issues relating to cracks in the bogie box area were discovered in the Urbos 3 vehicles supplied to the Belgrade tramway network. to December 2021. Following vehicle inspections, services in the West Midlands were again suspended on 20 March 2022 until further notice due to cracks described by the operator as 'bodywork cracks'. Midland Metro was working directly with the manufacturer to assess the safety and operational impact. Urbos AXL Vehicles in the Urbos AXL series have longer car-body sections and pivoting bogies. With a maximum speed of , it is designed for high-capacity, mass rapid transit systems. • Stockholm, Sweden (51 trams) (42 3-segment and 9 4-segment) Urbos TT . The Urbos TT series is built with tram-train technology, connecting existing heavy rail infrastructure directly to urban tramway systems. • Maryland/Washington, D.C., USA (28 vehicles) Scheduled to be in service in late 2027. LRTA 13000 class (Metro edition) , Manila The LRTA 13000 class is a high-floor light rail vehicle variant of the Urbos. 120 units were ordered for the LRT Line 1 medium-capacity rail system in Metro Manila, Philippines. It was designed by CAF along with Mitsubishi Corporation and built at CAF's facilities in Corella, Spain, and Huehuetoca, Mexico. The trains were progressively delivered from 2021 onwards, entering service by 20 July 2023. It replaced the aging, forty-year-old LRTA 1000 class LRVs. == References ==
Source: Wikipedia ↗
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