Switzerland: The French company has been developing the airbags for the Flexity trams it delivers to the Swiss city by order of the city public transport operator VBZ for over two and a half years.
An airbag is activated by sensors in the driver’s cab shortly before the collision.
VBZ is satisfied with the results achieved and plans to equip all 110 ordered trams with the solution. The operator attributes the demand for airbags to the growing number of passengers injured in tram accidents.
Testing of airbags of the Flexity tram in Zürich. Source: TeleZüri
As Marcel Kunz, project manager, informed TeleZüri and ZüriToday, it is still necessary to increase the speed of airbag inflation and deflation so that a tram can continue travelling immediately after an accident. Alstom says that a relevant patent is currently being registered.
