City of Ostrava, Czech Republic, Europe
| The first PCC streetcar was built in Brooklyn by the Clark Company in
The 1930s. These modern European PCCs are direct decendents of the
classic American PCC. |
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| Brief History Of The PCC Streetcar in Europe |
Shortly before the outbreak of WWII, PCC technology was licensed to
certain European companies. After the war, with Fiat of Italy doing the
engineering, and the Spanish firms of CAF and MMF doing the
manufacturing, the european PCC was born.
In 1948, PCC technology was licensed to the Czech firn of Tatra.
Subsequently, Tatra continued updating the original PCC design with the
"T-2s" and "T-3's", which Tatra itself manufactured.
At the present time there is anouther Czech company that
is manufacturing brand new streetcars, with operating
characteristics exceeding the original PCC acceleration and braking
specifications. ADA compliance and air conditioning are available as
standard options. Also, they operate on standard 600v DC.
Like their american ansestors, these PCC cars are capable of
negotiating small radius curves in narrow downtown streets, they can
"keep up with traffic" if operated on "mixed use streets", and
physically fit into existing traffic lanes. Of course, they also
operate just as well on dedicated right of ways.
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| The Modern European PCC Streetcar |
These trolleys are the direct
decendents of the classic American PCC car. Prior to WW2, PCC
technology was licensed to the Czech firm Tatra. After the war, with
Fiat of Italy doing the engineering, and the Spanish firms of CAF and
MMF doing the manufacturing, the european PCC was born.
Subsequently, Tatra continued updating the original PCC design with the
"T-2s" and "T-3's", which Tatra itself manufactured.
At the present time, the Czech's are manufacturing brand
new streetcars, with operating characteristics exceeding the original
PCC acceleration and braking specifications. ADA compliance and air
conditioning are available as standard options. Also, they
operate on standard 600v DC. These cars are available in several standard and articulated body styles.
They are capable of negotiating small radius curves in narrow downtown
streets, they can "keep up with traffic" if operated on "mixed use
streets", and physically fit into existing traffic lanes. Of course,
they also operate just as well on dedicated right of ways.
With a price tag of aprox. $500,000 new, they are an economically
feasible option for new-start streetcar lines.
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Boxy style PCC - no longer in production
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PCCs
In Service - Europe
