, Germany
Prototypes and early deliveries The Variotram was first developed by
ABB (ASEA Brown Boveri) at
Henschel and a prototype was launched in 1993 for the
Chemnitz tramway in Germany, operated by
Chemnitzer Verkehrs-Aktiengesellschaft (CVAG). The serial delivery, with minor modifications, was made between 1998 and 2001—bringing the total number of units for Chemnitz to thirty. Of these, twenty-four were operated by CVAG and six by
City-Bahn Chemnitz. In 1995, ABB's train division merged to become
Adtranz. One prototype the following year sold to the
Duisburg Stadtbahn, but serial production was never initiated for Duisburg. The Duisburg prototype is now privately owned and stored in Norway. In 1996, six trams were delivered to serve on the light rail between
Mannheim,
Heidelberg and
Weinheim, Germany, operated by
Oberrheinischen Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft. From 2001 to 2007, it ordered additional 20 trams. These were supplemented in 2002 by eight trams for the
Heidelberg Tramway, and in 2001–07 by 16 trams for the
Mannheim Tramway. Five were scrapped in early 2018, and the last built, number 2107 was transferred to the
Sydney Tramway Museum in October 2018 for preservation.
Helsinki , Finland Forty Variotrams were delivered to
Helsinki City Transport (HKL), Finland, between 1998 and 2003 for use on the
Helsinki tramway, at a cost of
€76 million. HKL considered returning the trams to Bombardier as unsatisfactory, but after a long series of negotiations a compromise was reached in May 2007, when the responsibility for maintaining the trams was transferred to Bombardier. In August 2017 a contract was agreed after long negotiations between HKL and Bombardier to cancel the purchase of the Variotrams. Bombardier will pay HKL 33 million euros in compensation for the shorter than originally contractually agreed 40 year lifetime of the trams. HKL will return the trams to Bombardier from 2018 on.
Stadler , Norway To concentrate on its own
Flexity family of vehicles, Bombardier reached an agreement with the
European Commission where Bombardier would divest the Variotram division to Stadler Rail of Switzerland. Stadler subsequently renamed the tram as Variobahn and has since secured several contracts, • 34 trams for the
Bergen Light Rail • 45 trams for the
Graz tramway • 19 trams for the
Potsdam tramway • 14 trams for
Aarhus Letbane • 16 trams for
Odense Letbane As of 2009, a total of 254 Variobahn trams have been ordered, with an additional 110 on option. A unit costs about €2.5 million. with an option for up to eight more. The first tram, 2554, was delivered to Croydon on 24 January 2012 and carried its first passengers on 30 March 2012. ==Specifications==