Michele Bordone
Roberto Cambursano
Luca Giannitti
Articulated Icons
The Turin Class 2800 streetcars and their look-alikes
Language: English
162 pages
20,00 € / 15,00 € discounted price for ATTS Members
2025, ATTS ETS Publishing company
ISBN 979-12-985534-1-5
Modern streetcars are fully articulated: they are made of several section coupled together. The purpose is an uninterrupted internal passenger flow. In that, they differ from almost all those of previous generations. The exception had been articulated cars in operation before WW2 in North America but without much success.
In 1939 in Italy, graduate engineer Mario Urbinati patented his "giostra", an articulation device. It was recognised worIdwide. It opened the way to the development of the modern streetcar.
This book begins with an account of the historical and technical evolution of the articulated streetcars in America and in Europe until the Seventies of last century. Then it focuses on the experience gained in the city of Turin.
A previous book, Peter Witt from Cleveland to Turin (ATTS, 2020), presented the elegant classes 2100 and 2500 single-body/two-bogie streetcars of the Thirties. Those were paired two by two with a joining articulation device.
They paved the way for 103 class 2800 two-section/three-bogie articulated vehicles. They were divided into two distinct series: 58 of the first built in 1958-1960 and 45 of the second built in 1982-1983. They have been operated by the local transit authority (first ATM, then GTT since 2003) until the present day on the city network.
This book reviews their history, technical features and mode of operation.
Specific attention is devoted to the surviving cars, preserved for special and historical purposes. There is an account of many rescues undertaken and restoration works performed. Among them, six vehicles stand out: 2836, 2847 and 2902 (servicing the vintage line 7), restaurant cars 2823 and 2841, as well as car 2840. That last car is in service in far away Santos (Brazil) as a restaurant car.
As new-generation streetcars have gone into service, most of the 2800 fleet has already been scrapped. There are, though, examples still in regular service. After more than sixty years, they have become a Turin icon. Their memory will surely be a treasure in the hearts of Turin folk in years to come!