The Finnish city of Tampere relies on technology from Wörth.

Tampere is Finland's third-biggest city and is currently building one of its most important infrastructural measures to date. Completion of the city's new tram network is timetabled for 2021. And a Unimog is making a major contribution towards the smooth operation of the tramway project which started in 2017. Once the second phase is complete, the network will be 23 kilometres long.

But for anyone who has visions of a road-rail Unimog proudly pulling the tram wagons behind it while a train driver in a red cap sticks his head out of the window, blowing his whistle at the same time risks being slightly disappointed! That's because in Tampere, the Unimog U 430 will actually be responsible for the maintenance of the track infrastructure. But keep your chin up, because among the many road-rail vehicles which Mercedes-Benz supplies annually around the world, this Unimog ordered by Tampere Tramway Ltd. is a one-of-a-kind gem.

Equipped for all eventualities.

To meet the customer's requirements, in addition to the Zagro bogie rail gear for tight curve radii, some of the other equipment fitted includes: an elevating work platform from Zweiweg for working on overhead lines; a snow plough, snow cutter and snow sweeper combination from Kahlbacher for winter service work on the rails; not to mention a Mulag mower and even a Trilety road sweeper.

Ali Huttunen, Head of Rolling Stock at Tampere Tramway Ltd. adds: "We also have a swap body with emergency equipment for our Unimog, which we can use in the event of accidents or technical faults. As a road-rail vehicle, the U 430 allows us to take the fastest road-based route to the accident site".

In order to be able to change the various bodies quickly and comfortably even in the Scandinavian climes, the vehicle is equipped with hydropneumatic suspension from Eggers which allows the vehicle to be lowered evenly at the front and rear axles when changing bodies. An innovative quick-change system from the Finnish specialist Piako OY, who is also supplying the platform body, serves as the mechanical interface.

Unimog supports where it is needed.

"Before we take delivery of our tailor-made Unimog with all of its bodies in the spring of 2021, there's still a lot to be done and so this year we've been using a road-rail Unimog leased from the "VEHO" Unimog general distributor. We use this vehicle for shunting the newly delivered trams into the depot, as well as for training employees and for grinding the rails using a Vossloh HSG City rail grinder," explains Ali Huttunen.

After commissioning, the complete network will be processed once a month with the HSG City equipment and the Unimog is the ideal tractor unit for this purpose. Preventive grinding of the rails ensures maximum service life of the rail infrastructure, lower noise pollution and greater comfort for passengers.

The Unimog's maximum speed on the rails is 50 km/h, both forwards and backwards. Seven cameras aid the driver in keeping everything in view during operations. Any train driver would be pleased with that!

Photos: Tapani Palo/Konepörssi