The world’s most liveable cities move with Bombardier

World’s top-two best places to live rely on fleets of BOMBARDIER FLEXITY trams for their urban mobility

The Economist magazine just released its annual report on the world’s most liveable cities. The Economist Intelligent Unit’s yearly Global Liveability Ranking ranks the world’s top urban areas according to factors like stability, healthcare, education, environment and infrastructure. Once again, Melbourne and Vienna, both cities that rely on fleets of BOMBARDIER FLEXITY trams for their urban mobility, have been recognized as the world’s top-two best places to live.

Vienna, Austria: 2019’s #1 most liveable city

In the Austrian capital, Bombardier trams are as common as coffee, schnitzel and Sachertorte. For many of the nearly two million people that call it home, the mobility that the world’s fifth-largest tram fleet provides has been central to making Vienna such a wonderful place to live.

Infrastructure and public transport solutions are key to making a city liveable and we are proud of our nearly 100-year history of mobility in Vienna. We started delivering modern trams to Vienna in 1990, but our company’s contributions to the city’s urban transport can be traced back to 1970 when we acquired local manufacturer Lohnerwerke Wien, which began delivering trams to Vienna as far back as 1926.

In 2015, Wiener Linien decided to deepen its long-term relationship with Bombardier by choosing us to replace their classic tram fleet with the city’s next-generation mobility solution. Working together, the result was the highly innovative and tailor-made FLEXITY Vienna.

Bombardier has been right by Vienna’s side for much of the city’s modern history and has played a major role in the cultural and economic development that has helped earn its spot as the world’s number one most liveable city.

Locally built in Bombardier’s Vienna site, the first order for 119 trams from this framework contract included 24 years of Bombardier’s innovative FlexCare vehicle maintenance system. Easily integrated into existing Wiener Linien’s maintenance processes, FlexCare enables fleet operators to carry out maintenance at their own depots, using their own staff, but under the overall maintenance management responsibility of Bombardier.

This total services solution not only ensures planning reliability and cost certainty over the contract period, it means more frequent and reliable service for the 53% of the city who relies on public transport for their daily commutes.

Designed specifically to adapt to Vienna’s landscape and with excellent customer feedback, the new FLEXITY tram is already in daily operation with great success.

Most Livable Cities_FLEXITY Vienna (c)Johannes Zinner

The 34-metre long FLEXITY Vienna tram accommodates over 200 passengers, features wide passageways, spacious multipurpose areas and low entrances, setting new standards for passenger comfort.

Fast Facts: FLEXITY Vienna tram

6 double doors for easy access

211 passenger’s

2 designated wheelchair spaces

4 multi-purpose areas

6 infotainment screens

2 route indicators

Melbourne, Australia: 2019’s 2nd most liveable city

Melbourne held the Economist’s #1 most livable city title for three years, from 2015 to 2017, until being knocked off the top spot by the reigning champion Vienna in 2018. Home to nearly five million people spread across approximately 10,000 square kilometres, Melbourne can still boast strong urban mobility with the world’s largest tram network.

At 250 kilometres, the network and the trams that run on it, have been a key factor in balancing this massive city’s growth with its high-living standards, while meeting the needs of a passenger base that’s grown by 80% since 2006.

Most Livable Cities_PTV_2017_Brand_Library_002

FLEXITY Melbourne: backbone of the world's longest tram network

Bombardier has been proud to support Melbourne’s ambitious transport expansion plans for decades, working in partnership with Department of Transport in Victoria and Yarra Trams. To date, the world's second-most liviable city has ordered 100 FLEXITY E-Class trams to help meet growing passenger numbers, highlighting the continued trust that Australia’s rail operators have in Bombardier. In addition, the iconic FLEXITY E-Class trams are manufactured locally at our state-of-the-art production site in Dandenong, Victoria

Most recently, Bombardier signed a contract with the Department of Transport in Victoria, Australia for an additional ten FLEXITY E-Class trams. This latest order will increase Melbourne’s fleet of FLEXITY E-Class trams to a total of 100 and bring a welcome capacity boost to the city’s public transport network.

The FLEXITY E-Class trams add to Melbourne’s liveability and symbolize the city’s efforts towards modernity and sustainability as the new vehicles will be equipped with latest innovative solutions to improve their environmental performance. The new low-floor trams can also carry more than 200 passengers at a time and operate along some of the network’s busiest routes.

With over 50 percent local content, the FLEXITY E-Class trams are proudly produced at Bombardier’s state-of-the-art site in Dandenong, Victoria, Australia.

Fast Facts: Melbourne tram network

493 trams

206 million passenger trips per year

1,763 stops

250 km of track

24 routes