European Tramdriver Championship Explained

Location:Tramway networks of changing host cities
Date:or
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Number:11
Current Champion: Budapest (3rd Championship)

The TRAM-EM European Tramdriver Championship is the European championship for competitive tram driving.

History

In 2012, the first Tram-EM (German: Tram-Europameisterschaft, or Tram European Championship) was created for the 140th anniversary of the Dresden tram network. The championship is hosted yearly in Europe by rotating local transit companies in cooperation with the Dresden-based production company that created the concept.

TRAM-EM has been a registered trademark since 2014.

Concept

The Tram-EM competition is a team competition where each team consists of one female tram driver, one male tram driver and one team supervisor. The competition is open to European public transport agencies, who may submit one team each.[1]

The championship is split into two rounds, with each driver taking the wheel once. Each round consists of 6 disciplines. The disciplines could be stopping at a target, emergency braking, measuring side clearance during a curve, stopping exactly at a tram stop, speed estimation with a hidden speedometer, precision driving past a gate, "tram billiards," or "tram bowling." The skill at each discipline, in addition to the time to complete each discipline, influences the score. The event includes a team procession, practice rounds, social events for drivers, competition, and award ceremony.

The competitions have long been tied-in to public celebrations of the hosting transit agency, such as the 140th anniversary of the Dresden tram network, the 10th anniversary of the Barcelona tram network, and the 150th anniversary of the Viennese tram network. The goal of the competition is to give tram operators an international platform to share experience.

Events

YearHost countryLocationWinning country WinnerDate
2012DresdenBudapest29–30 September 2012
2013 HungaryBudapestParis24 November 2013
2014 SpainBarcelona[2] SpainParla22 November 2014
2015Vienna NetherlandsRotterdam25 April 2015
2016 GermanyBerlin HungaryBudapest23 April 2016
2017 SpainTenerife FranceParis[3] 4 June 2017
2018 GermanyStuttgart SwedenStockholm[4] 5 May 2018
2019 BelgiumBrussels[5] BelgiumBrussels[6] 4 May 2019
2020 RomaniaOradea
2021
2022Leipzig[7] Hanover[8] 21 May 2022
2023 RomaniaOradea[9] AustriaVienna3 June 2023
2024 GermanyFrankfurt[10] HungaryBudapest14 September 2024
2025Vienna[11] 13 September 2025

2023 edition

The 2023 edition was hosted in Oradea, Romania, after the planned 2020 edition had to be postponed and ultimately canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

PositionCountryCityPoints
1Vienna4300
2Göteborg4180
3Prague3630
4Stockholm3590
5Zagreb3450
6Dublin3430
7 NorwayOslo3280
8 NetherlandsRotterdam3250
9Szeged3200
10 SwitzerlandBasel3090
11 SlovakiaKosice3050
12 BelgiumBrussels3050
13 PolandWarsaw3030
14 RomaniaOradea3020
15 GermanyLeipzig2940
16 HungaryDebrecen2900
17 FranceBordeaux2850
18 SpainBarcelona2840
19 GermanyNuremberg2810
20 GermanyHanover2690
21 GermanyBerlin2610
22 SpainMálaga2450
23 ItalyFlorence2410
24 UkraineKyiv2330
25 GermanyDresden2300

2024 edition

The 2024 edition was held in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. 26 teams of two members each (at least one woman for each team) took part. The rolling stock used was Bombardier Flexity Classic which are designated Baureihe S by the Frankfurt tramway operator. Each competitor partook in six tasks worth a maximum of 500 points each with the overall time taken worth another 500 points. Each team of two participants did the whole tournament once each, resulting in a total theoretical maximum of 7,000 points per team. Here are the final results:[12]

PositionCountryCityPoints
1Budapest3850
2Brussels3800
3Kraków3100
4Rotterdam2900
5Paris2800
6Vienna2700
7 ItalyMilan2650
8 SwedenGothenburg2600
9Stockholm2550
10 GermanyBerlin2450
10 Czech RepublicPrague2450
12 FinlandTampere2400
13 LuxembourgLuxembourg2250
14Birmingham2150
14 SlovakiaBratislava2150
16 GermanyFrankfurt am Main2100
17 GermanyLeipzig2000
18 UkraineKyiv1900
18 IrelandDublin1900
18 Switzerland1900
21 SpainBarcelona1850
22 NorwayOslo1800
22Edinburgh1800
24 RomaniaOradea1750
25 FranceLyon1700
26 CroatiaZagreb1600

Plans for a World Championship

Wiener Linien announced on their website in 2024 that they plan to host the event in 2025 and to turn it into a World Championship by inviting teams from Africa, South America and Southeast Asia.[13]

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Participation . 2022-06-01 . TRAM EM - English . en-US.
  2. Web site: 2014-11-25 . Metro Ligero Oeste achieves third place in the III Tram Drivers European Championship . 2024-09-14 . OHLA Progress Enablers.
  3. Web site: 2017-06-04 . Europe Holds an Annual Tram-Driver Olympics . Giaimo . Cara . 2024-09-14 . Atlas Obscura.
  4. Web site: 2018-05-05 . Stockholm drivers win tram championship . Pearson . Alexander . 2024-09-14 . Deutsche Welle.
  5. Web site: Benkert . Jonas . What a day! . 2022-06-01 . TRAM EM - English . en-US.
  6. News: 2019-05-05 . Tram bowling: Hundreds gather in Brussels for European Tram Driver Championship . 2024-09-14 . Chester and District Standard.
  7. Web site: So war die Tram EM 2022 der LVB . 2022-06-01 . www.l.de . de-de.
  8. Web site: Deutsches Team gewinnt Straßenbahn-Europameisterschaft in Leipzig MDR.DE . 2022-06-01 . www.mdr.de . de.
  9. Web site: Tram-EM in Leipzig: 47.000 Leute waren bei dem Spektakel dabei! . 2022-06-01 . TAG24 . de.
  10. News: 2024-09-13 . West Midlands tram drivers compete in championship . Fofana . Aida . 2024-09-14 . BBC News.
  11. News: 2024-09-29 . Budapest has Europe’s best tram drivers . Hall . Linda . 2024-10-02 . Euro Weekly News.
  12. https://www.tramem.eu/blog/de-budapest-ist-strassenbahn-europameister-2024-en-budapest-is-european-tramdriver-champion-2024-fr-budapest-championne-deurope-du-tramway-2024
  13. https://www.wienerlinien.at/news/wien-veranstaltet-2025-erste-tram-weltmeisterschaft