While waiting for line extensions and investments in new trams, Oradea, a city with 200,000 inhabitants in the west of Romania, can make its network more efficient by adopting a more efficient management.
Tram transport in Oradea is managed by OTL, the public transport operator in Oradea, the former autonomous administration, organised as trading company controlled by Oradea Municipality.
Oradea tramway maintains an important share in public transport with over 40 million passengers per year, one of the highest shares in this part of Europe. Over the past years, substantial investments have been made in the rehabilitation of infrastructure and of vehicles. In 2008, Oradea bought 10 ULF Siemens trams. However, the majority of vehicles in the operator’s fleet of vehicles are second hand and latest acquisitions have relied on this type of vehicles. Other 25 such Tatra wagons were bought for a total cost of EUR 400,000 in 2013. The 17 Tatra T4D motor coaches and 8 Tatra B4D trailer wagons are between 25 and 40 year old and used to run in Magdeburg, Germany. The refurbishment of these vehicles is also considered above the financing possibilities of Oradea Municipality.
But OTL hopes to be able to attract European funds to purchase new vehicles in the programming period 2014-2020. The attraction of European funds was impossible in the programming period 2007-2013, when such acquisitions were not considered eligible to access European funds. However, OTL has managed to access funds through the Operational Programme Increase of Economic Competitiveness to build a Mechatronics Research Centre where a device of tram wheel profiling and reprofiling is currently operating.
The tram network stretches on 35 km of simple track, organised in five lines. The potential extensions of the tram network are considered by authorities, but until then, a reorganisation of the network at minimum costs could generate significant benefits reflected in the number of passengers. These intentions have recently been detailed in Oradea during the Forum for Sustainable Mobility and Metropolitan Development, organised by Club Metropolitan, OTL and Oradea Metropolitan Area, by András Ekés and Antal Gertheis from the Metropolitan Research Institute in Budapest.
Oradea tram network has been significantly reduced starting with 1970 and the closure of certain lines has created fractures and incoherence in operation. Thus, the operation is confronted with problems such as lack of interconnections in certain junctions. Moreover, the automotive traffic it overlaps causes interruptions or delays.
Today, by reorganising traffic, OTL can significantly increase the efficiency of tram operation, but also with the help of traffic management that would prioritize the tram. Also, power efficiency can be increased through the appropriate operation of the Tatra wagons. The introduction of new tram routes and differences between the operation schedules based on real demand are also proposed. Investments in creating connections between lines and in the reorganisation of terminals would be the next step.
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