European’s best Tramdrivers 2018 come from Stockholm!

A record number of 25 teams from 19 European nations came together on May 5, 2018 in Stuttgart to compete for the titel “Best European Tramdriver”. More than 300 individual decision demanded teamwork, driving skills, speed and of course a bit of luck.

The six disciplines simulated the daily challenges of the tramdrivers: For the discipline lateral distance the participants needed to estimate barriers correctly, like parking cars, to guarantee passing without accidents. Further disciplines were speed estimation with covered speedometer, sudden stops, exact Stop at door two, a schwip-schwap-barrier, and the spectators highlight tram-bowling. One male and one female driver of each team, which have been partially chosen in internal championships, faced the challenge.

Sara Asprenström and Jonas Arvidsson from Stockholm were the most successful team, followed by the teams from Frankfurt and Bergen. With the placement two and two in the individual driver decisions, the team was also among the best drivers. Arild Øksvang from Bergen won the title of the best male driver, followed by Jonas Arvidsson and Alexander Pavlov from Moscow. The best female drivers are Andrea Ramsthaler from Frankfurt / Main followed by Sara Aspenström from Stockholm and Julia Müller from Dresden.

Thousands of spectators visited our event on the depot and more than 66.000 spectators followed the tram spectacle on our live stream. At the end of the event the CEO of the Stuttgart public transport company SSB, Wolfgang Arnold, handed over the baton officially to Marc Coudyser and Roland De Coster, representatives of STIB-MIVB Brussels, the host city of the 8th TRAM-EM on May 5, 2019.