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Zaragoza tram

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Zaragoza tram
Overview
Native nameTranvía de Zaragoza
LocaleZaragoza, Aragón, Spain
Transit typeLight rail
Number of lines1
Number of stations25
Annual ridership27.8 million (2018)[1]
Technical
System length12.8 km (8.0 mi)
Track gauge1,435 mm (4 ft 8+12 in) standard gauge

The Zaragoza Tram (Spanish: Tranvía de Zaragoza) is a tram system in the Spanish city of Zaragoza, capital of the autonomous community of Aragon. It has one line called Line 1 and it was expected to be expanded with a second and third line but the project was cancelled and plans to recover it are now being made.

Map of the Zaragoza tram. In blue, lines for future expansion.

History

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Old Zaragoza tram, #218, in the Basque Railway Museum.

In 1885, the first animal traction tram line was established. [citation needed]

In 1902, Zaragoza had five main lines and one secondary line. In the same year, one of the lines were electrified. The network was expanding quickly in a radial form across the city, with the present Spain square as the center.

The 1950s was the heyday of the Zaragoza Tram.

From the 1960s, the tram system declined, with little or no investment and was gradually converted to bus operation

On 23 January 1976, the last Zaragoza tram line (Parque-San José) disappeared and the company changed its name to Transportes Urbanos de Zaragoza (Urban Transport Company of Zaragoza).

On 10 June 2009, the Traza consortium of Tuzsa, CAF, FCC Construcción, Acciona, Ibercaja and Concessia selected to build new tramway.[2]

On 19 April 2011, Phase 1 of Line 1 opened.[3] Phase 2 of the work of the new tram line 1 began for completion in mid-2013.[3]

Two more lines are proposed:

Network

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Line 1 (Valdespartera-Parque Goya)

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Stop of the new Zaragoza Tram

The initial north–south line has 25 stops with side platforms except in two of them. The average distance between consecutive stops is about 500 m, adding a total length of 12.8 km line, operating at an average commercial speed of 19 km/h, with an end-to-end journey time of 40 minutes, 19 minutes for the journey Academia General Militar-Plaza de España (Spain Square) and 21 minutes from Plaza de España to Plaza Cinema Paradiso (Valdespartera).

Construction work started on August 18, 2009, and was projected to last four years in two phases:

The estimated investment is 400 million euros:

  • Construction of the track and electrical system 202 million
  • Purchase of rolling stock: 82 million
  • Construction of the depot: 37 million
  • Private investment due to works' enhancing "private" facilities: 55 million
  • Traffic light system integration and other expenses: 25 million

The expected traffic in the project is around 100,000 passengers per day, with an average rate of 0.75 euros per passenger. In 2018, the line served 27.8 million passengers.

Rolling stock

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Tram on trials

The 21 CAF Urbos 3 trams are 33 m (108 ft 3+14 in) long, extendable to 43 m (141 ft 78 in), a width of 2.65 m (8 ft 8+38 in) and a height of 3.2 m (10 ft 6 in).[3] They have a capacity of 200 people, 54 seated and 146 standing (at 3.5 persons per m2).[2]

Electricity

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The trams mostly use conventional catenary, but in the historical city centre (between Plaza Paraíso and the Roman wall) they use stored braking energy and, additionally, receive power during stops, thanks to the ACR system.[3] Thus no overhead wires are present in the historic area.

Future expansion

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Line 2
Los Enlaces
Rioja
Calanda
Cercanías Zaragoza
Plaza de la Ciudadanía
Portillo
Portillo
César Augusto
Line 1
Lines 1 & 3*
Phase 1
Phase 2
Coso
Line 3*
Plaza San Miguel
Compromiso de
Caspe-Miguel Servet
Numancia or
Cesáreo Alierta
Jorge Cocci
Plaza Utrillas or
Tenor Fleta-San José
Doctor Iranzo
Miraflores or
Glorieta de la Balseta
San Adrián de Sasabe
Alignment still to be finalized
* Line 3 still in planning stage

A second line is planned, utilising existing Cercanías Zaragoza track for tram train operation to Villanueva de Gállego.[4]

Network Map

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Map


References

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  1. ^ "El tranvía perdió 400.000 viajeros el año pasado y el bus ganó más de dos millones de usuarios". www.heraldo.es. 19 January 2019. Retrieved 2 December 2019.
  2. ^ a b "Zaragoza light rail partner selected". Railway Gazette International. 2009-06-24.
  3. ^ a b c d e f "Zaragoza tram Line 1 enters service". Railway Gazette International. 2011-04-26.
  4. ^ "Tender launched for Zaragoza tram-train study". International Railway Journal. 9 November 2018. Retrieved 2 December 2019.
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