Trams are an awesome technology that takes
the best of trains and buses and puts them
together to create something which is more
than the sum of its parts, with much of the
infrastructural simplicity and flexibility
of a bus, but with the capacity, robustness
and efficiency of a train. Much like other
forms of transit, no two tram systems are
the same. And when I was in Berlin recently,
I remembered how good trams can be if
operations, infrastructure and vehicles all
come together. The trams in Berlin got me
thinking about what Toronto, or really any
city with trams or light rail, should be
thinking about if it wants more than just
trams but good trams. To be clear, these two
systems are quite different. Berlin moves
around twice as many people every year, and
it has well over twice the mileage. But
Berlin actually only has marginally more
stops. And this highlights that so many of
the differences between different transit
systems are often policy choices. And those
policy choices mean that the trams in Berlin
are faster, more consistent, more reliable,
and overall, just better than the streetcars
in Toronto. But Toronto could make the
streetcars better. So what does Berlin do
so right? Let's take a look.
Welcome to RMTransit, a channel about trams
and what actually makes them good.
I want to talk about trams a lot more in
2024, because while I think they're a great
technology, I think they're often
misapplied, as I talked about in a video
last year. And I actually think how trams
are planned and implemented has a huge
impact on how good they actually are. Part
of the reason I think people so often like
subways is that they're relatively simple in
their implementation. Tunnels, trains,
little interaction between routes and no
interaction with other types of traffic mean
that subways are just kind of hard to get
wrong. That means the gap between the
quality of transit you get from the best
subway system and the worst subway system,
well - it's not actually that large. Trams,
on the other hand, are incredibly contingent
on their planning and operation, as well as
wider policy decisions that impact how trams
interact with the city. For me, the standout
features of Berlin's tram system start with
the trams themselves. Berlin's tram system
is one that's evolved over time, and like
many older systems, portions of the network
use loops to turn trams around. And that
means about half of the tram fleet in Berlin
is single ended, with a cab at only one end
of the tram, so that they can travel in only
one direction in service. And that's fine
when you have turning loops, and that
variability is kind of a hallmark of
Berlin's system. There are also some older
trams kicking around and 40 meters, seven
segment units that provide way more capacity
than any bus is ever going to. By
comparison, in Toronto there's a fully
homogeneous fleet, but that means that new
extensions need to be built with space
consuming loops and without easy island
platforms. I'll also say that the vehicles
on Toronto's network aren't as visually
attractive, at least in my opinion, and have
more dated LED next stop signs compared to
the beautiful LCD ones in Berlin. Not only
do those LCD screens provide far better and
more information than the LED ones in
Toronto, but older Berlin trams have better
screens than newer Toronto streetcars, and
even the Toronto streetcars being delivered
right now in 2023 don't have LCD next stop
screens. And Toronto's homogeneous fleet
approach where we order hundreds of streetcars
at one period, and then none for years and
years afterwards creates other issues. A
problem specific to one model of streetcar
will impact the entire fleet, and with
something as specialized as trams in North
America, large, infrequent orders actually
probably don't provide the economies of
scale you might imagine. Looking at the
network, Berlin clearly has a lot of
mileage, but a lot of that is inflated by
long suburban lines in East Berlin where
trams are primarily concentrated; the urban
parts of Toronto and Berlin systems are
actually much closer together in terms of
scale than you might think. But the quality
of the infrastructure is not the same.
Berlin has a network designed entirely for
pantographs, like most modern tram and light
rail systems, and it's actually increased
the voltage of its system from 600 volts
like Toronto uses up to 750 for more power
and better performance. In Toronto, almost
the entire network is pantograph compatible,
but compatible is the key word here, since
large parts of the network still use dual
pantagraph and trolley pole infrastructure,
a lot of the benefits of pantagraph and the
lower operating costs are yet to be seen.
Something I notice when traveling around
Berlin is how many stops and terminating
loops will have an array of multiple tracks
where trams can stop and lay over. Since in
Toronto, only a small handful of loops have
more than just a single track where trams
can stop, that means you often see queuing
up to go into a loop in Toronto, which means
streetcars often back onto the sidewalks and
block the road. The switches are different
too. In Berlin, dual point switches, that
is, where there are two switch blades which
align with both rails, are used. This means
a quieter, smoother ride, but also less wear
on the trams and the rails. They also have
points indicators, so operators can easily
see which direction a switch is pointed
without having to visually inspect the
points, which can be really hard to see.
The switches can also easily be changed with
a modern remote control system. In Toronto,
it's bad, embarrassingly bad. Most, if not
all of the switches on the entire network
except at one of the maintenance facilities
are single point, and because of a dated and
unreliable control system, a lack of points
indicators and the single point switches,
the TTC has a policy of having streetcars
slow down to a crawl before going through
any switch, which is a big issue on a route
like Spadina that has a lot of switches.
What's crazier is that the TTC hasn't gotten
rid of more switches when it's obvious that
switch means slow, less switches means fast.
And the tram tracks in Berlin are prettier
as well. Green track is used really widely,
and that's great for aesthetics, but also a
whole bunch of other reasons that I talked
about in a previous video. In Toronto there
is green track, but only on select parts of
the Eglinton LRT to help maintain the false
distinction that some in Toronto are
obsessed with between streetcar old and
streetcar new. There is some talk about
maybe doing green track in the Portlands,
but for now it's just that — talk, and that's
bad. It's also interesting to see how much
more flexible and pragmatic the tram routes
in Berlin are. While the vast majority of
the Toronto streetcar network sees two
tracks running in the center portion of a
road, in Berlin you see all kinds of
different arrangements, including having
tracks split apart so that trams can bypass
left turning vehicles, something Toronto
streetcar riders waiting for left turning
cars certainly wish they had, as well as
dedicated right of way traveling in one
direction and mixed traffic in the other,
and even running trains through
pedestrianized areas like Alexanderplatz.
There are also places where tram routes
split and each travel direction operates on
a different street. This makes it easy to
create turning loops without having trams go
off street and then back on, which can often
lead to delays and other problems. This is
done by placing the loop between, rather
than off to the side of the tracks. The
actual stops that you wait for the tram at
couldn't be more different either. In
Berlin, tram stops typically have large
defined platforms, often with ticket
machines, whereas in Toronto the vast
majority of stops are just a pole on the
sidewalk. You have to walk into the street
to get on the streetcar, and it's not
entirely clear where the streetcar is
actually going to stop, so you often have to
do a little jog over to get to the car. The
stops in Berlin are also just so much more
civilized. There are these large poles which
mark them from a distance, so they're easy
to see. And on the poles, you can get real
time information, service disruption info,
local maps, as well as actual schedules.
Imagine that! In Toronto, service disruptions
are usually just tied or zip tied or pasted
to some random object near the stop. It's
not great. Now, Berlin doesn't have any
underground tram stations, which is kind of
a neat feature of the Toronto streetcar
system. But the truth is, putting your trams
underground is something that's probably to
be avoided in all but the most congested
areas. For one, it costs a ton of money,
but you're also probably not getting subway
level service or capacity. It's also just
not really necessary. The tram stop at
Berlin Hauptbahnhof is just outside the front
door, and if it's raining, there's a
pedestrian tunnel that connects the main
station with the tram stop and the bus loop,
which means you don't have to get wet and
you can easily connect into the station
without having to cross the street, even
though the trams aren't underground.
It's easier to just make the people go
underground. I think the biggest thing you
notice in Berlin is that the stop spacings
are significantly wider, which is something
that's going to be pretty obvious when you
note that both systems have a similar number
of stops, but Berlin's system has twice the
mileage. In Berlin. The first tram I got on,
I was wondering if it was some weird express
or out of service vehicle, because it felt
like a long time before we made a stop, but
that meant it was very fast. I actually
think the bigger stop spacing is critical to
stops in Berlin just being so much nicer.
It's just easier to make each individual
stop better when you have fewer of them. In
Toronto, you do have way more stops, but
none of them are very nice. And the truth is
that you could combine two Toronto stops and
it would still typically have less amenity
than a single Berlin tram stop. There is a
bigger impact of the wider stop spacing,
though, and that gets us into our last topic
of comparison, the speed. The trams in
Berlin are so fast compared to Toronto.
For one, you don't stop nearly as often, so
the trams are able to get up to speed and
then maintain it. Since Berlin, like a lot
of european cities, has way less signalized
intersections than Toronto, you also stop at
a lot less traffic lights. This is all
despite the fact that a lot of Berlin's
network operates in mixed traffic, which
only cements my somewhat controversial
belief that the key to making trams fast
isn't really getting rid of cars, but just
good operations. Heck, in Alexanderplatz,
where there are no cars, trams actually
travel pretty slowly, for obvious reasons.
I also feel like in Berlin, the drivers are
around 20% more aggressive, curves are taken
faster, and you also feel more acceleration
and deceleration going into and out of
stops. The service is also arranged very
differently. A lot more of Berlin's network
has multiple overlapping routes which
operate, and there are actually also
different types of services, such as the M
series metro trams, which offer the most
frequent service. This special branding of a
certain series of routes which receive
better service is exactly the type of thing
I suggested for Toronto's bus network a few
weeks back. Now, what's interesting is that
on paper, the schedules for Berlin's trams
were pitiful compared to Toronto. Every ten
minutes is pretty infrequent, but what was
remarkable in Berlin was that trams actually
came on schedule, most of the time to the
minute on schedule. When you know that
there's going to be a clock face tram coming
at every six minute mark, it makes traveling
so, so easy. You go out to the stop a minute
in advance and get on your tram and it's
easy, and at worst you're waiting ten
minutes for the next tram. It's a great
experience, and so obviously better than in
Toronto, where the route is spammed with
streetcars, but they might be 15, 20 or 30
minutes apart, even if the supposed
frequency is much higher. What's pretty
clear is that despite the current lackluster
state of the Toronto streetcars, there are a
number of actionable things which could be
done to learn from Berlin and make the
network better. One, more aggressive
operations with better switches, a better
switch control system and points indicators.
Two, a stop reduction and enhancement
program. Get rid of the stops that are
extremely close to one another and enhance
the busiest stops on the network to make
trams faster and to make the waiting
experience better. Three, a long term plan
to increase streetcar voltages, lengthen
vehicles eventually to seven segments,
widen curve radii as much as possible to
enable higher speeds, as well as enabling
double ended cars. Four, small,
regular orders of streetcars with modern
amenities, ideally for multiple
manufacturers to keep multiple options open
in the future and provide more competitive
bids. Five, an aim for a less frequent but
more consistent schedule with enhanced
layover and operations management
infrastructure, including inline turning
loops and more layover space. If Toronto
could learn from Berlin and other cities,
it could take the streetcars, which are
often seen as a cool historical gimmick for
the majority of people who drive and make
them the actual backbone of the city's
transportation infrastructure. Thanks for watching!