Ganz UV


The Ganz UV is a series of tramcars which was manufactured by Hungarian companies Ganz Vagon- és Gépgyár, Rába Magyar Vagon- és Gépgyár and Klement Gottwald Villamossági Gyár, which was the name of Ganz Villamossági Gyár at the time of manufacturing. The UV tramcars have four main variants, all are four axle rail motor coaches with a Bo'Bo'tr axle arrangement, capable of operating as electric multiple units. The cars were manufactured between 1956 and 1965 in Budapest, and overall 375 regular units and 2 prototypes were made.
The UV type designation resolves to U típusú távvezérelt motorkocsi. The units are capable of controlling another unit of their type through proprietary 50-wire cables. The trams are also capable of sensing the breakup of the tramset with the use of a chain hanging between the cars; brakes are automatically applied if a chain is pulled out from its sockets. Two prototypes were made with aluminium carbodies, designated as UZ, these proved to be unsuccessful. In addition, in the 1990s, 20 UV cars were refurbished and they are referred to as MUV. Planned to replace the pre-WWII design TM trams, with 377 units, the UV series became the most numerous type of tramcar produced in Hungary.
The first car entered passenger service in 1956, and the type was ultimately decommissioned in 2007, after roughly 51 years of continuous service. UV trams became one of the symbols of Budapest, and had appeared in a number of Hungarian and foreign movies as plot elements. Two preserved, paired UV cars now annually serve as the city's so-called Christmas light trams in the festive season, decorated with white and blue LED lights.

Design and manufacturing

The UV series was designed with the aid of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, and was specifically intended to improve on and address the flaws of the then-current TM Stuka tramcars which debuted in 1939. In 1948, Ganz showcased a prototype tram set on the Budapest International Fair, made up from three modified TM cars damaged in the war. The modified TMs at the ends were referred to as TV, resolving to T típusú távvezérelt motorkocsi, the most significant alteration being that they were capable of operating as multiple units with each other with or without the third TM car acting as a plain trailer car in between. This prototype tram was nicknamed Szellem. While the TV didn't reached mass production, it served as a basis for the UV design.
Eventually four main variants of UV tramcars were produced, with the UV4 variant reaching only the planning stage. These variants are shown in the following table.
VariantProd. yearsProd. numbersFleet numbersNotes
UV11956–1957503200–3249
UV21958–19591003250–3349
UV31959–19611253350–3474
UV4–0 –would have had longer body than the other variants
UV51962–19651003800–3899middle doors are two-passenger wide instead of one

There were no designs for a new trailer car for the UV series, and in practice, Budapest's tram operator used earlier EP and FP trailers. These were modified to support the UV control and power connections and to fit the UV aesthetics more closely.
A prototype design was also manufactured with the designation UZ, with a lighter carbody made from aluminium. Only two tramcars were made in 1958 and 1959 since the design proved to be expensive to produce and fragile. The two cars however saw a few years of passenger service. Another prototype was made in 1962 from a pair of UV1 and UV2 tramcars damaged in a collision, these were joined to form an articulated vehicle, but the results were deemed unsuccessful, and the cars were separated and rebuilt as regular single cars.
Between 1993 and 1994, 20 of the UV3 tramcars were refurbished, and were designated as MUV. A significant change were the elimination of the power couplings between cars, as a consequence, car sets having MUV cars had to operate with all their pantographs in an active position.
UV-related prototypes, refurbishments and other related vehicles are shown in the following table.
VehicleTypeProd.
years		Prod.
num.		Fleet
num.		Notes
TV
motor coach,
prototype		194823700,
3701		made from damaged TM cars
UZmotor coach,
prototype		1958–19592n.a.with aluminium body
iker-UV
artic. motor
coach, prototype		n.a.1n.a.made from two damaged UV cars,
later separated
MUV
motor coach1993–199420n.a.refurbished UV cars
UV oktatókocsi
motor coach,
training		n.a.n.a.n.a.were used as training cars for tram drivers,
have added fault simulation circuitry and
slanted red striping on top of the livery
EPtrailer carn.a.n.a.n.a.modified to fit the UV series
FPtrailer carn.a.n.a.n.a.modified to fit the UV series