European Tramdriver Championship tests drivers’ skills and nerves

TRAM-EM 2024 is the European Tramdriver Championship being held in Frankfurt in September. Tampere will be taking part for the first time. This competition disciplines require precision, concentration and good assessment ability – all the skills that Tampere Tramway drivers need on a daily basis in their work.

As it prepares for the competition in September, Tampere’s European Championship team is eager to find out what the event holds in store for them. The team expects the competition to be a fascinating experience.

– The event represents an opportunity to meet colleagues from many European countries, and I’m sure that conversation will often focus on tram driving, says Tram Driver Jussi Aho.

– It will also be great to try driving the Frankfurt tram cars and find out what a driver’s work is like there, adds Tram Driver Tiia Vainikainen.

Tram Driver Supervisor Hanna Hurri is participating in the competition as a coach. She emphasises the importance of remembering that the event involves an element of playfulness.

– This is like an agility track for trams. It will be a chance to try things that a driver simply can’t do in normal traffic, says Hurri.

Classic disciplines, some surprises and billiards on a tram car

The organisers – the city of Frankfurt am Main and its public transport company VGF – are not revealing all the event details in advance. The competition will be held in the city centre on a course of approximately 200 metres in length.

Participants already know that the course includes some classic European Championship disciplines, such as precision and emergency braking, and assessing the space required for a tram car is also likely to be part of the programme in some way. These are all skills that drivers constantly need in their work.

– It’s important to know how fast a tram car can stop. A driver has to be able to stop a car at exactly the right place, says Vainikainen.

– They also have to know how to estimate if a tram car can fit through a certain space. For example, whether it can safely pass a car parked close to the track, continues Aho.

The Frankfurt European Championship will also reveal whether billiards and bowling are possible on a tram car. The Tampere team believes that these disciplines are more about having fun, although they also test driving skills.

– The competition also requires concentration and the ability to tolerate stress. Our drivers are very good in that area, states Hurri.

Versatile training lies ahead

The team plans to train at the Tampere depot during the summer. They’ve been watching videos from previous European Championship events and designing their own training programme based on what they see.

Practising the skills is no problem, but the participants only get to drive the competition cars at the actual event.

– We’re trying to do some undercover work and find out what features the Frankfurt tram cars have, says Aho with a laugh.

Hurri also says that the team will be doing some physical training. Speed, agility and balance have proven beneficial to competitors in previous years, so the Tampere team will also be practising those areas.

More information on the Tampere team members

Tiia Vainikainen joins the team from the latest tram driver course, and she is still an apprentice student until the beginning of August. However, she has some eight years of experience working in this field in Helsinki.

– Driving is really enjoyable. The days pass quickly when the landscape is constantly changing. Our mobile office really is quite wonderful, says Vainikainen.

Jussi Aho has been with Tampere Tramway since the very first tram driver course and he’s been driving trams ever since the Tramway began operating. He also thinks the job is great.

– Although we drivers spend a lot of time sitting in that cab, the work also involves customer service and is quite independent by nature. I enjoy seeing people in my work, states Aho.

Hanna Hurri joined the Tampere Tramway family when the company was looking for its first traffic controllers. That means she joined the company before the first tram car had been manufactured, and she’s been part of shaping Tampere Tramway ever since.

Putting Tampere tramway on the map

The European Tramdriver Championship has been held in different European cities since 2012. Tramway anniversaries or the opening of new lines have also been celebrated at these events.

The Tampere team is going to Frankfurt to increase awareness of Tampere in the tramway world. International tramway actors will be invited to see the new track and rolling stock and learn more about our amazing urban region in general.

– How many cities give people the chance to take a tram to go fishing, skiing or even to a hiking trail? Nature is certainly one of Tampere’s strong points, states Hurri.

European Tramdriver Championship in Frankfurt, 14 September 2024

• The official European Championship for tram drivers.
• All European tramway companies can apply to participate in the competition.
• This year’s event will have participants from 22 countries.
• Tampere, Edinburgh and Bratislava are taking part for the first time.
• The other teams are Barcelona, ​​Birmingham, Brussels, Budapest, Dublin, Frankfurt, Gothenburg, Kyiv, Krakow, Leipzig, Luxembourg, Lyon, Milan, Oradea, Oslo, Prague, Rotterdam, Stockholm, Vienna, Zagreb and Zürich and a guest team from Sydney.