Public transportation is not popular among the Gulf elite who can easily afford the expense of fueling their own cars. And for many, global warming and climate change are nothing more than buzz words. So it will take a special effort to transform the emirate into one that gives up the convenience of personal vehicles.
This week Siemens was selected to lead the way with a series of luxurious trams, according to Arabian Business. The Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development chose the corporate giant to provide a transportation system that will eventually make their Doha campus car-free. What’s more, the Avenio trams designed by Siemens run on a cutting-edge hybrid energy storage system that increases their efficiency.
Luxury transit
Siemens will supply the Qatar Foundation with 19 double-articulated trams that each have a carrying capacity of 239 passengers.
A new, luxurious design and air-conditioning will improve their public appeal, and easy, low-to-the-ground access will make it more convenient for people with limited mobility to enter the tram through large double doors.
The system will service 25 stops in sum, amounting to a total 11.5km track, and special sun shades on the roof will protect the electrical system from Qatar’s particularly vicious climate.
Energy efficiency
Vice president of Capital Projects and Facilities Management for the Qatar Foundation, Saad Al Muhannadi told Arabian Business that the ultimate aim is to make the Qatar Foundation site a car-free zone, and that the new tram system is the first step to achieving that goal.
But the Sitras Hybrid Energy Storage system is the tram’s most salient feature – at least for us. This new system mitigates the need for overhead tram lines, which in turn reduces site disturbance and construction time. Instead, the tram harvests energy at each stop.
Hans-Jorg Grundmann, CEO of Siemens Rail Systems told the paper that the energy storage system optimizes the energy balance, making the new Avenio trams not only one of the world’s most sustainable rail systems but also one of the most modern.
The whole system is expected to be up-and-running by the fall of 2015.
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Author: Tafline Laylin
As a tour leader who led “eco-friendly” camping trips throughout North America, Tafline soon realized that she was instead leaving behind a trail of gas fumes, plastic bottles and Pringles. In fact, wherever she traveled – whether it was Viet Nam or South Africa or England – it became clear how inefficiently the mandate to re-think our consumer culture is reaching the general public. Born in Iran, raised in South Africa and the United States, she currently splits her time between Africa and the Middle East. Tafline can be reached at tafline (at) greenprophet (dot) com.
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