Padua

The city of Padua (Padova) (population about 210,000) is located about 25 kilometers west of Venice. It was named for St. Anthony of Padua, one of the most famous Catholic saints, and is an important cultural center of northeast Italy. Padua opened the first segment of its Translohr electric transport system on March 24, 2007. Although the agency, APSHolding, calls the vehicles "trams", they are actually rubber-tired cars with a single ground guidance rail, which makes them similar to other systems in the French cities of Caen and Nancy. The cost to build at least the first line was €58.3 million.

16 double-end Translohr vehicles were built by Lohr. These vehicles, classfied as model STE-3 by Lohr, are 25m long, four-axle units with two articulation joints. They are equipped for pantograph operation. A unique feature is that the cars run on battery power around the Prato della Valle park in the Centro Storico, between Santo and Cavalletto Stations, because the city insisted that there were to be no overhead wires in the vicinity of this historic park.

The first line extends south from Stazione FS to Guizza, 10.4km south. The carbarn and workshops are located at Capolinea Guizza.

Expansion is in the works. One line, to the north from Stazione FS, is nearly complete and vehicles are in the testing phase, for a summer 2009 opening. Two other routes are planned to serve eastern and southeastern Padua, but construction has not started at this time.

A one-day ticket costs €2.70 and is available from the APS kiosk outside Stazione FS. Sustem maps are free.