Utrechtse sneltram

There are four entities associated with the sneltram. Bestuur Regio Utrecht is the regional public transport authority in the Utrecht region. BRU does long- and short-term planning for public transport in the region working closely with municipalities and travellers' organisations. and will last until 2035. The province of Utrecht is the owner of the sneltram, and manages its assets through a provincial entity called Regiotram Utrecht. Regiotram Utrecht is responsible for the management, maintenance and expansion of the entire tram system in and around the city of Utrecht. Regiotram Utrecht has approximately three dozen employees located at the Nieuwegein depot. The entity manages and maintains tram infrastructure such as trams, track, signaling, level crossings, stops and digital information panels for riders. It also deals with safety on the tram system. ==Lines==

The Utrechtse sneltram travels via Utrecht Centraal station (abbreviated as Utrecht CS) between the Uithof district southeast of the station to Nieuwegein and IJsselstein southwest of the station. ==History==

Earlier tram services In Utrecht, there were earlier tram services that existed between 1879 and 1949, after which there was no tram service until the sneltram opened in 1983. Tram service in Utrecht began in 1879 with a horse-drawn tram line running between Utrecht, De Bilt and Zeist. Between 1883 and 1929, steam and horse trams ran between Utrecht and the villages of Jutphaas and Vreeswijk, now part of Nieuwegein. The first electric trams ran in Utrecht in 1906, and later in 1909 from Utrecht to De Bilt and Zeist. In 1921 there were five tram lines. Tram lines connected the city center with suburbs such as , and . With the increase in auto traffic and bus services, city tram service ended in 1938. After being interrupted during the Second World War, tram service to Zeist ended in May 1949. Sneltram timeline The sneltram light rail system was constructed during the late 1970s and early 1980s. There were two branches both opened on 17 December 1983. One branch ran between Moreelsepark (Utrecht city centre) to Nieuwegein-Zuid in the suburb of Nieuwegein as line 100. A second branch ran from Moreelsepark to Doorslag in Nieuwegein as line 101. The operator was Westnederland. On 28 November 2019, a new workshop building was officially opened at the depot (Tramremise Nieuwegein). It handles maintenance for low-floor trams as well as for the older high-floor trams.) On 14 March 2021, line 61 went fully into service between Jaarbeursplein and IJsselstein-Zuid. Between March and September 2021, there have been three incidents of road users ignoring a red light at a tram crossing, which were not protected by crossing gates. In each case, the road vehicle struck the side of the tram between the operator cabin and the first wheel set, lifting the tram off the track during the collision. The three collisions damaged five trams in all, of which one from the incident at Laan van Maarschalkerweerd may be beyond repair. The province of Utrecht hopes to recover 5 million euros for the damage to trams and infrastructure from the motorists' insurance companies, since their clients were all at fault. The province has asked U-OV to lower the speed of trams at crossings from 40 km/h to 20 km/h. The province plans to spend 750,000 euros to improve safety at tram crossings, and to order five additional trams to create a reserve in its fleet. Between 26 June 2021 and 6 September 2021, line 22 was replaced by buses in order to repave the combined tram/bus lanes near Science Park station. The pavement surface was crumbling posing hazards to vehicles. A new paving technique was used that re-attached the paving to the tram track using a special liquid substance. Between 26 February and 8 July 2022, buses replaced trams to Nieuwegein and IJsselstein in order to relocate the Stadscentrum tram stop and realign the tracks. Upon reopening, the stop was renamed from Stadscentrum to Nieuwegein City. Starting 2 July 2022, passengers could ride trams between the Jaarbeursplein and Centrumzijde stops at Utrecht Centraal station thus eliminating a 500-metre walk for passengers transferring between the SUNIJ and Uithof lines. SUNIJ lines 60 and 61 became tram routes 20 and 21 respectively which continued onto P+R Science Park on weekdays. In June 2024, the province of Utrecht announced that the concession to run trams and buses within the city of Utrecht and its immediate suburbs would be awarded to Transdev Nederland Mobility Services N.V., replacing Qbuzz beginning in December 2025. The Transdev concession would expire in 2035. Transdev would continue to operate under the U-OV brand name. SUNIJ renovation (2020–2021) Between 31 May and 4 July 2020, the SUNIJ line was shut down in stages in order to renovate the line. The main work was to lower and lengthen tram platforms to accommodate new low-floor CAF trams. The project also included upgrades to the line's infrastructure (signals and switches) and work to stabilize the tram roadbed. Tram service was replaced by buses. ==Vehicles==

High-floor trams From 1983 to 2020, the SUNIJ-lijn used 27 single-articulated, high-floor trams built by Schweizerische Industrie Gesellschaft (SIG). These trams weighed 37.5 ton, were long and were capable of a maximum speed of . In 2012, the SIG-trams were renovated including bogies, air-conditioning, seats and repainting. The last run of the SIG trams was on 3 July 2020. On 4 July, the SUNIJ-lijn was fully shut down to renovate the line, and lower and lengthen its platforms to accommodate low-floor trams. The SIG-trams have been replaced by CAF low-floor trams. After the closure of the SUNIJ line, all SIG trams but one were scrapped. On 30 November 2020, SIG-tram 5017 was shipped along with spare parts to the Nederlands Transport Museum in Nieuw-Vennep for preservation. The museum intends to operate the tram carrying riders to attractions within Park 21, an event park under development in Haarlemmermeer. In 2008, Utrecht purchased trams built in the 1980s from Vienna at a cost of 837,000 euros. The Vienna trams (de Weense trams) were delivered to Utrecht in 2009. The trams required some adjustments before going into service. They received a new onboard computer and a mobile telephone to communicate with central dispatchers. Adjustments were required to tram doorways and the platform height. These trams were used only during rush hours at the busiest stops between Utrecht Centraal and Nieuwegein Stadscentrum. Special sign boards indicated to passengers where the Vienna trams stopped. When received, the trams had no noteworthy defects, and they had run well in Vienna. However, in Utrecht the Vienna trams had technical problems costing the operator 3.2 million euros in maintenance; they also caused extra wear to the rails. The rise in ridership expected in 2008 when the trams were purchased did not materialize. The trams were sold to Krakow, Poland and were disposed of by the summer of 2014. Low-floor trams The new generation of trams are articulated, low-floor Urbos 100 trams built by Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles (CAF). Two versions were ordered: a shorter version with 5 articulated sections and a longer version with 7: In operation, two trams, one of each length, are coupled together yielding a train length of and providing a capacity of about 490 passengers. Storage and maintenance The depot (Tramremise Nieuwegein) on the SUNIJ-lijn is the main storage and maintenance facility of the sneltram system, handling both low- and high-floor trams. The depot building houses: • offices • traffic control for trams and busses • check-in area for tram operators • workshops for the maintenance of trams • service department to handle emergencies and breakdowns There are 8 tracks through the workshop including one for the tram wash. Outside in the yard, there is space to store the fleet of trams. The roof of the workshop building has 810 solar panels able to produce 292 kilowatts of electricity. Just beyond the P+R Science Park stop on the Uithoflijn, there are additional storage tracks. ==See also==