Re: Combino trams

I rode the Combino several times while I was in Amsterdam two weeks
ago. I was impressed with them. They were quiet, accelerated well and
rode smoothly. Particularly I did not notice any vibration or squealing
on curves, which Amsterdam has plenty of.

I also rode the Combino in Freiburg last September and did not notice
any particular problems there either.

Herman



I did not get my July issue of T&UT yet. Apparently the mail to
Australia is faster.

I received my July Tramways & Urban Transit yesterday. It contained
a letter, part of which is reporduced below. T&UT rarely reports
negative comments on modern vehicles / systems so these comments were
somewhat surprising. Hopefully the Melbourne Combinos may perform
better, but given the state of some of our trackwork........

"I was interested to read Michael Taplin's feature on the Combino
especially as I recently had the opportunity to sample my first ride
in Augsburg. I was deeply disappointed in the performance after
travelling in three different cars.

They are extremely noisy with an alarming propensity to violent
vibration which is enough to make one's feet tingle. They snatch
appallingly on curves (especially reverse ones) and ride extremely
badly over pointwork and anything other than absolutely perfect
track. It was a great joy to climb in to one of the high floor
LHB/Siemens/Duwag vehicles and sample really comfortable, smooth and
quiet riding after the disappointing Combinos.

I cannot see that they are going to be the hoped for solution in the
cities that have them on order and certainly not for those which have
interurban operation. In my opinion they take us back to the slow,
rattling bone shakers of the 1930s.

Gil Sutherland"

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