First Tango in Basel

SWITZERLAND: The first of 60 Stadler Tango trams ordered jointly by Basel city transport company BVB and Baselland regional operator BLT arrived at BLT's Oberwil depot on September 2.

A SFr276m contract for 60 trams was announced in May 2006, and includes 40 cars for BLT and 20 for BVB.

The 45 m length of the car required it to be delivered from the manufacturer's Altenrhein plant in two sections. Following reassembly, it will undergo extensive testing on the BLT and BVB networks before entering service in December.

The metre-gauge 75% low-floor Tango is 2 300 mm wide, 100 mm wider than older cars in Basel, and has 94 seats.