Siemens-Duewag U2

The Siemens-Duewag U2 is a light rail vehicle built between 1968 and 1990 by a consortium of Siemens, Duewag and Wegmann and Company. Duewag was the main developer and builder, Siemens supplied the electrical equipment and Wegmann did some assembly under contract. The design grew out of the U1 prototype tram that Duewag built in 1965 for the Frankfurt U-Bahn, and the U2 was first made for that system, which gave the type its name. It was later exported to North America and adapted for the light rail systems of Edmonton, Calgary and San Diego, at a time when few purpose-built light rail vehicles were being made. Each articulated car carries up to 264 passengers and can be fitted with either two direct current motors or four alternating current motors. Used cars from San Diego went on to Mendoza in Argentina, and the last Frankfurt cars were retired in 2016.