Tramway de Nancy - Tram sur pneu - Guided trolleybus - Bombardier TVR

The unusual rubber tire tramway in Nancy is actually more akin to a double-articulated trolleybus using a single guide rail in the city center. This exotic system was launched in phases in 2001.
Since then Nancy's "tram" system has been beset with technical problems and reliability issues. What was supposed to be cheaper to build and operate than a conventional light railway, actually turned out to combine the operational disadvantages and limited capacity of a bus service with the higher cost of guided transport.
In short, the system has been a flop and starting in 2021 it will be replaced in stages by a conventional, steel-wheel tramway. This conversion process will likely take several years to implement and the first "normal" trams should run through Nancy by 2023. In a second stage, new network extensions previously not served by the guided trolleybus are scheduled to open by 2028.
Nancy's guided trolleybuses were built by Bombardier, but the design is no longer supported by the manufactuer and spare parts are not longer produced, another reason to do away with the technology. Aside from Nancy, Caen in Normandy was the only other such city to feature the TVR system and it was replaced with a regular steel-wheel tram there from 2017 to 2019.
As the Nancy guided trolleybus won't last that much longer, this film is intended to document what the exotic "tram sur pneu" was like as a historical time capsule of sorts.
- - -
Trolleybus bi-articulé de Nancy.
Service de transport de l’agglomération nancéienne (STAN).
- - -
Die Gummireifen-Strassenbahn von Nancy ist eigentlich ein spurgeführter Trolleybus und vor Einführung dieses exotischen aber doch unzuverlässigen Systems im Jahr 2001, hatte Nancy bereits einmal eine echte Strassenbahn auf Stahlschienen. Diese wurde jedoch 1958 stillgelegt. Es folgte ein konventioneller Trolleybusbetrieb zwischen 1982 und 1999.
Aber 2021 wird das aktuelle Gummireifen-System stufenweise zu einer ordentlichen Strassenbahn umgebaut. Dieser Prozess wird einige Jahr in Anspruch nehmen und in Etappen zwischen 2023 und 2028 in Betrieb gehen. Bereits Ende 2020 soll sich die Stadt Nancy in Lothringen entscheiden, ob künftig Alstom Citadis oder CAF Urbos Strassenbahnen durch die Stadt rollen sollen.

[@tramsylweriusz5740]

Nice video

[@bangscutter]

I've lived in Nancy for 3 years, and this tram system is truly unique. At the steep end of the line, the tram actually demounts from the tracks and go uphill like a regular trolley bus. When not in service, it can also be driven around on its diesel engine. It think it might be because of the steep hills section that Nancy chose to adopt this hybrid system with rubber wheels, since regular rail does not provide enough traction for steep hills.

[@robertlock6041]

Caen has a similar system.

[@grassytramtracks]

​​@@robertlock6041 *had, they ripped it out and put in a standard tramway

[@grassytramtracks]

Well there are plans to replace it with a regular tram line, as they did in Caen

[@RAILTravelers]

WoW Fabulous video my dear friend I really enjoyed your video

[@kailidovas9562]

Amazing!

[@291281]

¡ Excelente video !
Excellent video !
Exzellentes video !
Excellente vidéo !
Trains and Trams
Lk1

[@transportfan2]

Very interesting!

[@GTown054]

Great video, you have my like and sub. Greetings from Zimbabwe:)

[@anxietydisorder4843]

So clean

[@TramBusTV]

👍 ❤️👍 nice video !

[@TravelExperiences]

Great Work my Friend
Trains and Trams ! I'm here to support you! It will be a pleasure to see you on my channel! I will always come back here! I wish you a nice DAY!

[@nordictram]

Great video :)

[@derekantill3721]

Some of the smartest trolleybus’s I have ever seen, but why do you need guided trolleybus’s ?

[@trainsandtrams2020]

Yeah, these trolleys are something of a mixture between tram and trolleybus. In essence it's a cheaper version of a tramway, with rubber tires and just one guide rail. But the system has proven to be a technical failure, combining the operational disadvantages of both trams and buses. The line will be converted into a proper, conventional tram system starting in 2021 and lasting a few years.

[@derekantill3721]

Thank you for your prompt reply, I’m sure a tram system will be successful.

[@GarethJonesPilipala]

An interesting system. Pity it wasn’t reliable

[@trainsandtrams2020]

This hybrid bus/tram system in Nancy is different than the other rubber tire trams in Clermont-Ferrand, France, which is the so-called Translohr system, where the vehicles can't unhook from the guide rail. The Nancy vehicles really are just double-articulated trolleybuses that can plug down two iron wheels that then roll along the guide rail. On certain sections the Nancy trolleys run without the guide rail and they also have a back-up diesel motor for off-wire running. The diesel was fitted when the vehicles were built in 2001, as back then batteries were not yet powerful enough for long, reliable off-wire running.
The Nancy system was an experiment, but it tries so hard to be the best of a bus system and tram system, that it just becomes way to complicated and only combines the worst of both. The boxes over the rubber tires take up a huge amount of space inside the vehicle, much larger than tram boxes that otherwise cover smaller steel wheel and bogies. Also, despite of a 5 minute interval, the Nancy trolleys are too small for the demand they are faced with and one can't have a tripple articulated vehicle on rubber tires! So they really need long 40 meter trams to cope with the sort of passenger demand they get.