Hillside Rubber Tire Tram

Medellín

By Jaron Rau

Hillside Rubber Tire Tram

The Translohr System This tram is special because Ayacucho is steep. A classic tram has steel wheels on steel rails, which means limited grip. On the kind of gradients you get here, traction and braking become the constraint. Medellín went for Translohr, a rubber-tyred tram that is guided by a single central rail. A system that is explicitly marketed for slopes like Ayacucho’s 12% sections. The result is a metro line which is well plugged into the wider system, with direct connections to the Metro and TWO Metrocables at key points. More than one tram line The result is not just a tram in isol…

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