Avanto (tram)

The Avanto is a low-floor tram manufactured by Siemens AG. It is used or on order by several systems in the United States and for tram-train operations in France.

Its principal competitors are Bombardier’s Flexity trams (the Outlook, Classic, Swift, and the Link tram-train) and Alstom’s Citadis.

Current orders

*Houston METRORail, Texas, United States: 18 units ordered, with delivery complete in late 2004.
*San Diego Trolley, California, United States: 11 units ordered, with delivery complete in July 2005.
*SNCF, Paris region, France: 15 tram-train units ordered. Due to enter service on November 18, 2006 between Aulnay-sous-Bois and Bondy under the new T4 route.
*LYNX Blue Line (CATS), Charlotte, North Carolina, United States: 16 units ordered, in service since November 2007.
*MAX, Portland, Oregon: 21 units ordered with 3 units on option. Order announced on 11 May 2006.
*O-Train, Ottawa, Ontario: Expansion project's finalized contract involved an order for 22 of these trams. Political problems resulted in cancellation of this project, which has in turn led to expensive lawsuits by Siemens and other contractors against the City of Ottawa. [cite news
last = Jake
first = Rupert
title = City slapped with another light-rail lawsuit
publisher = Ottawa Citizen
date = 2007-09-19
url = http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/story.html?id=1e154e9c-a768-46e0-b9e8-6844c674340c&k=6361
accessdate = 2008-01-20 ]
*Utah Transit Authority, Utah, United States: 77 units ordered, with all vehicles in service by 2012. The order also includes an option for 180 additional cars. [cite news
title = Siemens announces biggest US light rail order
publisher = Railway Gazette International
date = 2008-05-16
url = http://www.railwaygazette.com/news_view/article/2008/05/8445/siemens_announces_biggest_us_light_rail_order.html
accessdate = 2008-05-16 ]

Several of the agencies anticipate further orders pending the success of their initial vehicles.

References

External links

* [http://www.transportation.siemens.com/ts/en/pub/products/mt/products/light_rail.htm Avanto official web site]
* [http://www.siemens.at/transportation/download/avanto.pdf «The Avanto - time for more mobility”] de icon