Portal:Trains/Selected article/Week 49, 2009

SL95 is a series of 32 low-floor, articulated trams operated on the Oslo Tramway. The series is built by Ansaldo/Firema of Italy and delivered between 1999 and 2004. Capacity for the eight-axle, three-section vehicles is 212 passengers, of which 88 can be seated. The name derives from being ordered in 1995. Original plans called for the delivery to be between 1997 and 1998. Delivery took many years due to a magnitude of technical flaws, including high noise levels, freezing during the winter and corrosion. The trams are 33.12 m long, 2.6 m wide and 3.62 m tall. The aluminum vehicles weigh 64.98 t and have a power output of 840 kW. The trams operate all services on lines 13, 17 and 18, and some on line 19. Due to their heavy weight and large turning radius they are unsuitable for the other lines. However, they are the only bi-direction trams in the fleet, and are needed on lines 17 and 18 along the Ullevål Hageby Line. The trams cost about NOK20 million each, but discounts were awarded after the delays and technical faults.