Sydney's Inner West light rail – a key part of Sydney's transport network used daily by thousands of passengers – has been shut down for up to 18 months. Cracks have been identified in every tram of the Inner West light rail, forcing the entire fleet off the tracks just as people begin returning to the office. Between 15,000 and…
Sydney’s light rail nightmare, which has seen services suspended for up to 18 months, appears to have gone global with another tram system abruptly shutting down for repairs this week.
Transport bosses in the British city of Birmingham have announced the suspension of all tram services “until further notice” after similar cracks to those found in Sydney were discovered on its carriages.
Sydney and Birmingham use the same Spanish made trams from manufacturer CAF. Similar vehicles also run on the Canberra and Newcastle tram systems.
FOLLOWING protracted negotiations, CAF has agreed to conduct remedial work at its own cost on 19 23.6m-long three-section Urbos LRVs operated in the French city of Besançon, after cracks were discovered in the bodies of the low-floor vehicles in December 2017.
Similar problems were subsequently identified in CAF Urbos LRVs used in Belgrade.