Bombardier Transportation will deliver 30 Flexity trams to Dresden’s transport authority Dresdner Verkehrsbetriebe (DVB). The light rail vehicles will be equipped with the Obstacle Detection and Assistance System (ODAS), the company’s innovative solution to prevent collisions. The order costs 197 million Euros.

DVB ordered the new trams in order to meet with the rapidly growing number of its passengers. Therefore, the new five-section units will have a higher capacity and will be able to carry more passengers than the DVB’s current vehicles: 290 instead of 260 passengers (the latter figure is for the NGT D12DD type). To provide greater comfort, the vehicles will be barrier-free access with 2+2 seating and large panorama windows. All the trams will be manufactured at the Bombardier’s sites in Saxony – in Görlitz (car bodies) and Bautzen (final assembly and commissioning).

The order should be finalised by the end of October 2023. Besides the delivery itself, Bombardier Transportation will also maintain the Flexity trams for a 24-year period. In addition, the deal includes an option for 10 Flexity trams and eight more years of servicing and maintenance. The manufacturer will provide maintenance in a partnership with DVB.

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Obstacle Detection and Assistance System (ODAS), source: Bombardier Transportation.

Obstacle detection

The Bombardier-developed ODAS system is based on stereo-cameras. It consists of a group of 3D cameras installed behind the driver cabin windshield, a Synchronization Box and an ODAS controller. The solution assists the driver by sending alarm or braking in case of collision risk. Bombardier Transportation developed ODAS in 2014. In the same year, it was tested on the tram routes in Frankfurt.

Now, five light rail operators use the system. Four of them works in the German cities of Frankfurt (Verkehrsgesellschaft Frankfurt, VGF), Hanover (Üstra Hannoversche Verkehrsbetriebe, üstra), Berlin (Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe, BVG) and Cologne (Kölner Verkehrs-Betriebe, KVB). The fifth company, RTM (Régie des Transports de Marseille), operates in the French city of Marseille.