In 1976,
Verkehrsbetriebe Zürich (VBZ) took delivery of their first batch of 60 Tram 2000 vehicles, for use on the
Zürich tram system. These
metre gauge articulated bogie trams have two body sections supported on three bogies. The centre bogie supports the articulation and only the outer bogies are powered, an arrangement that is designated Be 4/6 in
Switzerland. As VBZ's network has turning loops at all termini, the cars are single-ended (have a driver's cab at only one end) and single-sided (have doors on only one side). The car bodies were built by
SWS, the bogies by
SIG and the electrical equipment by
BBC. Of the cars, 45 are of standard configuration whereas 15 have no driving cabs and are so suitable only for use as a second unit in a coupled pair. The name Tram 2000 derives from the numbering series applied to these trams, but also reflects the fleet modernisation their introduction heralded. The
Forchbahn, a metre gauge suburban light railway in the suburbs of Zürich that shares tracks with the VBZ urban tram system, also took delivery of its first Tram 2000 vehicles in 1976. These units are slightly wider than their VBZ counterparts, and are non-articulated vehicles operated in permanently coupled pairs with a cab at each end of the pair. They have a Swiss type designation of Be 8/8 and 11 such units were delivered from 1976 to 1986. In parallel with these units, four unpowered driving trailers, of type Bt, were delivered in 1981 and 1982. In 1981, the
Neuchâtel tram system took delivery of four matching double-sided motor cars and control trailers, to a design derived from that of the Forchbahn cars. These built by
SWS, whilst two further motor cars were added in 1988 with bodies built by
Schindler Waggon and trucks by
SIG. In 1985, delivery of a second batch of VBZ trams commenced. As SWS was no longer trading, the mechanical part was supplied by
Schindler Waggon. Of this batch, 53 were similar to the standard model delivered earlier, whilst a further 20 were non-articulated cars designated Be 2/4. Similarly to the 15 non-driving units of the earlier batch, these units have no driving cab and are only suitable for use in coupled pairs. This type was specially designed to permit optimal use to be made of the platform length of certain stops where platform extensions were not acceptable. Delivery of the second batch lasted until 1987. In the early 2000s, VBZ decided to rebuild some older trams with low floor sections and, as a prototype, a Tram 2000 centre section was built by VBZ's own workshops largely using stock parts. This section was inserted into 2113 in 2001 and underwent extensive tests. Following the successful conclusion of these, 22 identical sections were ordered from
Winpro (formerly
SLM) using bogies from
Alstom. These were inserted into numbers 2099-2112/2114-2121 in 2004 and 2005. This rebuild stretches these trams from a Be 4/6 configuration to Be 4/8. Similarly, in 2010, the Bern cars were rebuilt from Be 4/8 to Be 4/10 with the addition of a new low floor section. As of 2013, no large scale withdrawals of Tram 2000 vehicles have taken place, and the design is still in service with all its original users. However the VBZ has requested tenders for the supply of 30 new trams, together with an option for the supply of a further 70 vehicles, in order to commence replacement. The first new trams are to be delivered in December 2016, at which point significant withdrawals are to be expected. Beginning in 2022, VBZ will take its Trams 2000 out of service. Most will be scrapped, but 35 are to be donated to the Ukrainian city of
Vinnytsia, as VBZ previously did with its 1960s
Karpfen and
Mirage rolling stock. ==Variants==