European Tramdriver Championship

Competition for European streetcar drivers

European Tramdriver Championship

Tournament information
Location| Tramway networks of changing host cities
Established| 29 September 2012 (2012-09-29)

Number of
tournaments

| 11
Website| www.tramem.eu
Current champion
Budapest (3rd Championship)

The TRAM-EM European Tramdriver Championship is the European championship for competitive tram driving.

## History

[edit]

In 2012, the first Tram-EM (German: Tram-Europameisterschaft, or Tram European Championship) was created for the 140th anniversary of the Dresden tram network. The championship is hosted yearly in Europe by rotating local transit companies in cooperation with the Dresden-based production company that created the concept.

TRAM-EM has been a registered trademark since 2014.

## Concept

[edit]

Tram skittles, European Tramdriver Championship, Rue de la Régence-Regentschapsstraat, Brussels, 4 May 2019

The Tram-EM competition is a team competition where each team consists of one female tram driver, one male tram driver and one team supervisor. The competition is open to European public transport agencies, who may submit one team each.[1]

The championship is split into two rounds, with each driver taking the wheel once. Each round consists of 6 disciplines. The disciplines could be stopping at a target, emergency braking, measuring side clearance during a curve, stopping exactly at a tram stop, speed estimation with a hidden speedometer, precision driving past a gate, "tram billiards," or "tram bowling." The skill at each discipline, in addition to the time to complete each discipline, influences the score. The event includes a team procession, practice rounds, social events for drivers, competition, and award ceremony.

The competitions have long been tied-in to public celebrations of the hosting transit agency, such as the 140th anniversary of the Dresden tram network, the 10th anniversary of the Barcelona tram network, and the 150th anniversary of the Viennese tram network. The goal of the competition is to give tram operators an international platform to share experience.

## Events

[edit]

Year  | Host country  | Location  | Winning country  | Winner  | Date

|
|
|
|
|

2012  |  Germany | Dresden |  Hungary | Budapest | 29–30 September 2012
2013  |  Hungary | Budapest |  France | Paris | 24 November 2013
2014  |  Spain | Barcelona[2] |  Spain | Parla | 22 November 2014
2015  |  Austria | Vienna |  Netherlands | Rotterdam | 25 April 2015
2016  |  Germany | Berlin |  Hungary | Budapest | 23 April 2016
2017  |  Spain | Tenerife |  France | Paris[3] | 4 June 2017
2018  |  Germany | Stuttgart |  Sweden | Stockholm[4] | 5 May 2018
2019  |  Belgium | Brussels[5] |  Belgium | Brussels[6] | 4 May 2019
2020  |  Romania* | Oradea* | —  | —  | —
2021
2022  |  Germany | Leipzig[7] |  Germany | Hanover[8] | 21 May 2022
2023  |  Romania | Oradea[9] |  Austria | Vienna | 3 June 2023
2024  |  Germany | Frankfurt[10] |  Hungary | Budapest | 14 September 2024
2025  |  Austria | Vienna[11] | —  | —  | 13 September 2025

* originally postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but eventually cancelled

### 2023 edition

[edit]

The 2023 edition was hosted in Oradea, Romania, after the planned 2020 edition had to be postponed and ultimately canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Position  | Country  | City  | Points

|
|
|

1  |  Austria | Vienna | 4300
2  |  Sweden | Göteborg | 4180
3  |  Czech Republic | Prague | 3630
4  |  Sweden | Stockholm | 3590
5  |  Croatia | Zagreb | 3450
6  |  Ireland | Dublin | 3430
7  |  Norway | Oslo | 3280
8  |  Netherlands | Rotterdam | 3250
9  |  Hungary | Szeged | 3200
10  |   Switzerland | Basel | 3090
11  |  Slovakia | Kosice | 3050
12  |  Belgium | Brussels | 3050
13  |  Poland | Warsaw | 3030
14  |  Romania | Oradea | 3020
15  |  Germany | Leipzig | 2940
16  |  Hungary | Debrecen | 2900
17  |  France | Bordeaux | 2850
18  |  Spain | Barcelona | 2840
19  |  Germany | Nuremberg | 2810
20  |  Germany | Hanover | 2690
21  |  Germany | Berlin | 2610
22  |  Spain | Málaga | 2450
23  |  Italy | Florence | 2410
24  |  Ukraine | Kyiv | 2330
25  |  Germany | Dresden | 2300

### 2024 edition

[edit]

The 2024 edition was held in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. 26 teams of two members each (at least one woman for each team) took part. The rolling stock used was Bombardier Flexity Classic which are designated Baureihe S by the Frankfurt tramway operator. Each competitor partook in six tasks worth a maximum of 500 points each with the overall time taken worth another 500 points. Each team of two participants did the whole tournament once each, resulting in a total theoretical maximum of 7,000 points per team. Here are the final results:[12]

Position  | Country  | City  | Points

|
|
|

1  |  Hungary | Budapest | 3850
2  |  Belgium | Brussels | 3800
3  |  Poland | Kraków | 3100
4  |  Netherlands | Rotterdam | 2900
5  |  France | Paris | 2800
6  |  Austria | Vienna | 2700
7  |  Italy | Milan | 2650
8  |  Sweden | Gothenburg | 2600
9  |  Sweden | Stockholm | 2550
10  |  Germany | Berlin | 2450
10  |  Czech Republic | Prague | 2450
12  |  Finland | Tampere | 2400
13  |  Luxembourg | Luxembourg | 2250
14  |  UK | Birmingham | 2150
14  |  Slovakia | Bratislava | 2150
16  |  Germany | Frankfurt am Main | 2100
17  |  Germany | Leipzig | 2000
18  |  Ukraine | Kyiv | 1900
18  |  Ireland | Dublin | 1900
18  |   Switzerland | Zurich | 1900
21  |  Spain | Barcelona | 1850
22  |  Norway | Oslo | 1800
22  |  UK | Edinburgh | 1800
24  |  Romania | Oradea | 1750
25  |  France | Lyon | 1700
26  |  Croatia | Zagreb | 1600

## Plans for a World Championship

[edit]

Wiener Linien announced on their website in 2024 that they plan to host the event in 2025 and to turn it into a World Championship by inviting teams from Africa, South America and Southeast Asia.[13]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Participation". TRAM EM - English. Retrieved 1 June 2022.
2. ^ "Metro Ligero Oeste achieves third place in the III Tram Drivers European Championship". OHLA Progress Enablers. 25 November 2014. Retrieved 14 September 2024.
3. ^ Giaimo, Cara (4 June 2017). "Europe Holds an Annual Tram-Driver Olympics". Atlas Obscura. Retrieved 14 September 2024.
4. ^ Pearson, Alexander (5 May 2018). "Stockholm drivers win tram championship". Deutsche Welle. Retrieved 14 September 2024.
5. ^ Benkert, Jonas. "What a day!". TRAM EM - English. Retrieved 1 June 2022.
6. ^ "Tram bowling: Hundreds gather in Brussels for European Tram Driver Championship". Chester and District Standard. 5 May 2019. Retrieved 14 September 2024.
7. ^ "So war die Tram EM 2022 der LVB". www.l.de (in German). Retrieved 1 June 2022.
8. ^ "Deutsches Team gewinnt Straßenbahn-Europameisterschaft in Leipzig | MDR.DE". www.mdr.de (in German). Retrieved 1 June 2022.
9. ^ "Tram-EM in Leipzig: 47.000 Leute waren bei dem Spektakel dabei!". TAG24 (in German). Retrieved 1 June 2022.
10. ^ Fofana, Aida (13 September 2024). "West Midlands tram drivers compete in championship". BBC News. Retrieved 14 September 2024.
11. ^ Hall, Linda (29 September 2024). "Budapest has Europe's best tram drivers". Euro Weekly News. Retrieved 2 October 2024.
12. ^ https://www.tramem.eu/blog/de-budapest-ist-strassenbahn-europameister-2024-en-budapest-is-european-tramdriver-champion-2024-fr-budapest-championne-deurope-du-tramway-2024
13. ^ https://www.wienerlinien.at/news/wien-veranstaltet-2025-erste-tram-weltmeisterschaft

## External links

[edit]

* TRAM-EM Website