Tank and train maker Uralvagonzavod, or UVZ,
has unveiled its next-generation Russia One tram, which may provide
a flash Gotham chic to those Russian cities that have not yet torn up
their tram rails.
Already dubbed the "iPhone
on rails" and the "Batmobile," the prototype
Russia One, or R1, was unveiled at the Innoprom-2014 industrial expo
in the Ural city of Yekaterinburg, not far from UVZ's sprawling
industrial complex in Nizhny Tagil.
Alexei Maslov of industrial design firm Atom,
which participated in tram project, waxed lyrical on its virtues:
"It takes the form of crystal — a priceless stone
in a metal shell. And crystal because it reflects the city
in which it moves, meaning the tram will assimilate into any
landscape — forest, industrial zone, any sort of modern
buildings," Maslov was quoted as saying in an UVZ news release
on Thursday.
The overhanging nose is another innovation,
Maslov added. The tram's average speed of 24 kilometers per hour
negates the need for super aerodynamics, and the tilt gives
the driver a 30 percent wider view, minimizing the risk
of running over pedestrians, he said.
The R1 will hold from 190 to 270
passengers, and the chassis uses 100 percent Russian parts. The tram
makers even promise that the advanced design will allow it to travel
smoothly on Russia's often less-than-perfect Soviet era rails.
Alexei Nosov, head of Uraltransmash,
the subsidiary of UVZ that built the R1, said mass production
could start in 2015, and that "Batmobiles" would
populate Moscow, St. Petersburg, Nizhny Novgorod, Yekaterinburg
and Volgograd, according to the news release.
The Soviet Union loved trams, but over
the last two capitalist decades many cities lost part or all of their
track systems as local authorities covered lines with tarmac. Thousands
of kilometers remain, however, and plenty of rolling stock needs
replacing.
But UVZ's sights are set not only on Russia.
Maslov said the design had taken stock of the latest offerings of France's
Alstom and Canada's Bombardier and could compete with both companies,
naming Eastern Europe and South America among target markets.
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