Oct 15, 2023 at 6:32 PM Update: 40 minutes ago
You don’t throw away old shoes before you get new ones, but sometimes it’s even good to keep them. The Rotterdam transport company RET experienced this this weekend. Two trams stranded and could only be helped by old equipment.
On Friday evening, two trams at Bentincklaan in Blijdorp were unable to continue due to a power supply defect. “Yesterday the pantographs were broken off on two trams. You need them to get power, otherwise you cannot drive,” a RET spokesperson explained to the broadcaster on Saturday evening. Rijnmond.
The RET does not yet know how it happened to two trams at the same time. “We hope to find out too.” With the pantograph, a tram draws power via an overhead guide or a third rail.
The trams were on a piece of free track. As a result, the other tram traffic could continue via a diversion. The trams had to be removed, and RET needed the museum for that.
The new material cannot go over the switches, while the old trams can. “That’s why we were asked to remove those trams,” says museum coordinator Roel Geus.
Tram from 1931 deployed
One of the trams used is the old 800 series from the eighties. They have a stronger engine and can pull more. The second tram is a much older animal, a four-axle from 1931. “A work truck,” says Geus. “It is also used as a brine truck and snow plow.”
The towing was coordinated by board member Guy Tolmeijer of the Romeo foundation. This is a club of 150 former RET employees that manages the old material.
“We have at least one copy of every tram that ever ran in Rotterdam, from about 1900 to now,” he says. NU.nl. “About 60, of which 45 are still usable. These kinds of jobs are the icing on the cake for us.”
“We had a lot of fun doing it. It had to be done at night, because intersections had to be cordoned off. You choose experienced people to do it, because it is quite complex. Then it is a pleasure that we succeeded. And that we have the RET could have helped.”
Beeld: Getty Images
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RotterdamRETBinnenland
2023-10-15 16:32:05
#Rotterdam #trams #trouble #Domestic
