SWU - Facelift Combino streetcar

BUSSE Design has designed the visual appearance of the two Siemens streetcar series Combino and Avenio for the Ulm public transport company SWU at intervals of fifteen years.

Both generations will continue to define the Ulm streetscape together for some years to come. The accident of a vehicle of the first generation now required the complete renewal of the vehicle front. This was the reason for carrying out an update, primarily in terms of lighting technology, together with a design update of the vehicle front, which gives both vehicle types a similarly up-to-date appearance. As this initially involved a single vehicle, and no larger numbers are expected in the future, it was decided to print the front panel, which consists of two halves, in plastic without the need for tools.

This was done on the basis of a design created by BUSSE Design, in coordination with SWU, at Siemens, where the integration of the technical components was also carried out. With a service life of around thirty years, such an approach would also be interesting in the context of a refit after half of the targeted service life, or would be a low-cost option for product customization right from the start.