TW 2000
Encyclopedia
TW 2000
Gauge 1435 mm
Designed by Herbert Lindinger
Herbert Lindinger
Herbert Lindinger is a German industrial designer. He is known for designing several train and trams, such as TW 6000 in Germany. The logo of the University of Hannover was designed by him.-References:...

 and Jasper Morrison
Jasper Morrison
Jasper Morrison is an English product and furniture designer.Morrison was born in London, England. He was educated at Bryanston School. He received a Bachelor of Design degree from Kingston Polytechnic Design School in 1982 and a Masters degree in Design from the Royal College of Art, London, in...

Number built 144 (of which 96 are TW 2500)
Built from 1997–2000
Axle formula Bo'2Bo'
Maximum power 100 kW sustainable, 146 kW peak
Length 25,820 mm
(TW 2500: 24,705 mm)
Width 2,650 mm
(2,450 mm near bogies)
Maximum speed 80 km/h
Passenger capacity 54 seats (8 folding)
101 standing
Couplers Scharfenberg
Manufacturers Car body and suspension
Linke-Hofmann-Busch GmbH, Salzgitter

Electric systems and power bogies
Siemens AG Verkehrstechnik, Erlangen

Various systems
üstra, Hannover

Visual Design
Jasper Morrison Office for Design, London

Folding steps
Schließ- und Sicherungssysteme GmbH,
Mühlhausen

The TW 2000 is a Stadtbahn
Stadtbahn
A ' is a tramway or light railway that includes segments built to rapid transit standards, usually as part of a process of conversion to a metro railway, mainly by the building of tunnels in the central city area....

 vehicle in operation on the Hanover Stadtbahn
Hanover Stadtbahn
The Hanover Stadtbahn is a Stadtbahn light rail system in the city of Hanover, Germany that opened in September 1975, gradually replacing the city's tramway network over the course of the following 25 years. As of 2005, it transports 115 million passengers per year...

 network in Hanover
Hanover
Hanover or Hannover, on the river Leine, is the capital of the federal state of Lower Saxony , Germany and was once by personal union the family seat of the Hanoverian Kings of Great Britain, under their title as the dukes of Brunswick-Lüneburg...

, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

.

History

After winning the bid for the Expo 2000
Expo 2000
Expo 2000 was a World's Fair held in Hanover, Germany from Thursday, June 1 to Tuesday, October 31, 2000. It was located on the Hanover fairground , which is famous for hosting CeBIT...

 in 1990, the city of Hanover faced the need to greatly improve its transportation system. Therefore, the autobahn system was brought up to better standards, new bus
Bus
A bus is a road vehicle designed to carry passengers. Buses can have a capacity as high as 300 passengers. The most common type of bus is the single-decker bus, with larger loads carried by double-decker buses and articulated buses, and smaller loads carried by midibuses and minibuses; coaches are...

es were ordered (the StadtBus), and it was decided to buy new light rail
Light rail
Light rail or light rail transit is a form of urban rail public transportation that generally has a lower capacity and lower speed than heavy rail and metro systems, but higher capacity and higher speed than traditional street-running tram systems...

 vehicles for the Hanover Stadtbahn
Hanover Stadtbahn
The Hanover Stadtbahn is a Stadtbahn light rail system in the city of Hanover, Germany that opened in September 1975, gradually replacing the city's tramway network over the course of the following 25 years. As of 2005, it transports 115 million passengers per year...

. Whilst a ninth series of the TW 6000
TW 6000
The TW 6000 is a type of articulated light rail vehicle used on the Hanover Stadtbahn system, originally manufactured by Düwag, AEG, Kiepe and Siemens, the later batches being built by LHB ....

, the Stadtbahn vehicle built from 1974 to 1993, could have technically been produced, the Hanover public transport operator üstra
Üstra
üstra Hannoversche Verkehrsbetriebe AG is the operator of public transport in the city of Hanover, Germany.From 2003 to 2006, it had outsourced its operations, but officially resumed as a service provider on January 1, 2007.- History :...

 decided to build a new vehicle from scratch, using up-to-date technology, without the necessity to make the vehicle compatible to the aged design of the TW 6000.

The car was designed by Herbert Lindinger with British designer Jasper Morrison
Jasper Morrison
Jasper Morrison is an English product and furniture designer.Morrison was born in London, England. He was educated at Bryanston School. He received a Bachelor of Design degree from Kingston Polytechnic Design School in 1982 and a Masters degree in Design from the Royal College of Art, London, in...

 and was manufactured from 1997 to 2000 by Linke-Hofmann-Busch in Salzgitter
Salzgitter
Salzgitter is an independent city in southeast Lower Saxony, Germany, located between Hildesheim and Braunschweig. Together with Wolfsburg and Braunschweig, Salzgitter is one of the seven Oberzentren of Lower Saxony...

 (now part of Alstom
Alstom
Alstom is a large multinational conglomerate which holds interests in the power generation and transport markets. According to the company website, in the years 2010-2011 Alstom had annual sales of over €20.9 billion, and employed more than 85,000 people in 70 countries. Alstom's headquarters are...

).

The first car delivered was 2002, which was delivered to the Döhren depot on April 12, 1997. 2001, the first of the series, was delivered the following day to the Hanover fairground
Hanover fairground
The Hanover fairground is an exhibition area in the Mittelfeld district of Hanover, Germany. Featuring 496,000 m² of covered indoor space, 58,000 m² of open-air space, 27 halls and pavilions and a convention centre with 35 function rooms, it is the largest exhibition ground in the world.-...

 to serve as a showcase at Hannover Messe. The official presentation to the general public was on April 27, 1997, at Döhren depot, the cars went into official operational use on route 8 by September 1, 1997.

A notable feature is a system of several monitor pairs mounted under the ceiling. While the left monitor displays the next four stops, the right one provides news and adverts.

Daily usage

Two versions have been built, the TW 2000 with two cabs on each side and the TW 2500 with one cab and an open gangway at the rear end, supposed to run with another 2500 unit.

In daily use, these configurations can be found:
  • 2000
  • 2000+2000
  • 2500-2500
  • 2000+2000+2000 (very rare)
  • 2500-2500+2000
  • 2000+2000+2500-2500 (during trade fairs at Hanover fairground
    Hanover fairground
    The Hanover fairground is an exhibition area in the Mittelfeld district of Hanover, Germany. Featuring 496,000 m² of covered indoor space, 58,000 m² of open-air space, 27 halls and pavilions and a convention centre with 35 function rooms, it is the largest exhibition ground in the world.-...

    )
  • 2500-2500+2500-2500 (during trade fairs)


Note that several high platform stops are too short for the last four configurations, therefore the first and last door remain shut.

External links

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