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filed on: 28.07.2008 (28th Jul 2008)
According to reports on bahnhofplatz.net, Cobras up to 3059 are now in service. The highest number I have encountered is 3058 (on route 14).
Many of the Euro 2008 liveries have not outlived the games by much. The last game was played in Vienna on 29th June, with Spain claiming he title, beating Germany 1:0. That was also the day the EURO-liveried GTZ trolleybus last ran in service. The Carlsberg tram lost its livery on 30th. The red and white Mirages were due to lose their's on 14th July, the airline tram today and the Volkswagen trolleybus on 30th July (bahnhofplatz.net).
With new trolleybus deliveries complete, and the EURO tournament over, there is no longer much need for the remaining GTZ trolleybuses of the 2-36 batch. I have seen both 9 and 36 in service in recent days, but their end would seem to be imminent. The driver-training units are not likely to last beyond the end of the year.
Meanwhile, the new real-time information displays are becoming more and more widespread, both on-board trams and buses and at stops.
Tram magazine (issue 94/05.-07.2008) reports that (at the time of going to press) the following Mirages were stored: 1643+1684 (accident damage) and 1606/12/5/9-20/2/711/23-4. Trailers in store are 789/95-6/8. The following trams left Zürich for Vinnitsa in March: Mirages 1601-5/715/8, B4 trailers 786 (Karpfen) 788/91-2/4/7. The following Mirage units have been scrapped recently 1692/4/6/8/701/4/13-4/6/21. The total remaining Mirage fleet is 1607-11/3-4/6/8/21/3-42/44-53/55-60/2-9/71-3/5-9. The only cabless Mirage units still in service are the passenger-counter equipped 1710 and 1725 and EURO-liveried 1712 and 1717. Standard trailer 768 (expo-tram) has been sold to a private buyer in Ziegelbücke.
The August edition of Strassenbahn Magazin has a short article on the ex-Zürich trams in Vinnitsa. The new owners are said to be so impressed by the blue and white livery that they are repainting their own KT4SU Tatra trams in a similar livery. Contrary to earlier suggestions that cabless units 1715 and 1718 were sent to the Ukrainian city as a source of spares, these are to be run in multiple with cabbed units, in the same way they were operated in Zürich. The article has a photograph of a Karpfen unit in serrvice In Vinnitsa. The tram is equipped with additional marker/indicator lights on the bumper and an electronic matrix route number and destination display. The wing mirror is supported by a very large frame.
The website trolleymotion.com confirms the joint trolleybus order of Neuchâtel and Lausanne for 55 Hess trolleybuses (20 for Neuchâtel and 35 for Lausanne). Meanwhile the arrival of new Swisstrolleys in Biel mean the entire fleet is now low floor. The withdrawn Volvo trolleybuses will see further service in (Brasov) Romania. The ex-Basel trolleybuses will go to Sibiu. Apparently their electrics will be replaced there. It remains to be seen whether this is just a promise that had to be made to corroborate BVB's claims of the unavailability of parts, or whether this is a real necessity.
This news item is from the 2008 newslog.
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