300px|thumb|alt=See caption|Two low floor trams, an [[Alstom Citadis|Alstom Citadis 302 and a Bombardier Flexity Classic, in Adelaide, South Australia]]

A low-floor tram is a tram that has no steps between one or more entrances and part or all of the passenger cabin. The low-floor design improves the accessibility of the tram for the public, and also may provide larger windows and more airspace.

An accessible platform-level floor in a tram can be achieved either by using a high-floor vehicle serving high-platform tram stops, or with a true low-floor vehicle interfacing with curb level stops.

Currently both types are in use, depending on the station platform infrastructure in existing rail systems. Some systems may make use of former railway alignments where use of existing high platforms is desirable, while others, particularly new systems, may not have the space to site high-level stops in urban centres.

Low-floor tram configurations

Trams traditionally had high floors, and articulated tram designs evolved with low-floor centre sections. Examples of this design are Amsterdam 11G/12G-trams and the Kusttrams in Belgium.

thumb|Arrangement of essential components in a high-floor tram and a low-floor one.

The most common design of 100% low floor vehicles is the multi-articulated design. This uses short carbody sections for the wheels with longer sections between them. Examples of this are the Alstom Citadis and Combino. A different design was developed by MAN. In 1990 the GT6N was the first 100% low-floor tram. These trams are found in ten German cities (such as Bremen and Munich) and in the Swedish city Norrköping. Other designs are only partially low floor, with high floors over the bogies at the outer ends and single axle bogies under the low-floor centre section. North American light rail type vehicles frequently have a similar configuration but with a centre bogie designed to accommodate a low floor situated under a short centre section.

In Vienna, Ultra Low Floor (ULF) Trams can "kneel" at the curbside, reducing the height from the road to only .

thumb|left|alt=See caption|Wheelchair access ramp in [[Protram 205 WrAs tram. Low floor is approximately high]]

Some public transport companies have both low floor and high floor trams. They report that low floor trams have 15% higher maintenance costs for the rolling stock, and 20% higher maintenance costs for the infrastructure on average.

Many low-floor trams have fixed bogies which increase track wear and tear, while decreasing the speed at which a tram can drive through a curve (usually in radius curve). The Škoda ForCity and the newest Alstom Citadis X04 try to counter the effect with pivoting bogies while maintaining 100% low floor design. Prior to the new design, pivoting bogies could only be used under high floors, hence such trams could only be part low-floor, with high-floor sections over the pivoting bogies.

Historic examples

thumb|alt=Single section tram with low-floor door in the middle|Brisbane Hedley-Doyle Stepless tram, No. 301

The idea of a low-floor tram dates back to the early 20th century when a number of trolley systems began experimenting with various "stepless" designs. Perhaps the most notable is the Hedley-Doyle Stepless car introduced in 1912 for use on Broadway in Manhattan. A number of other cities also purchased Hedley-Doyle Stepless trams after seeing their success in Manhattan. Since these cars had a unique appearance compared to any other trams running at the time, they earned a number of nicknames, including hobble skirt cars, public welfare cars, and sow bellies.

Typical floor heights

Typical floor heights of low-floor trams are , and the Ultra Low Floor tram has a floor height of only . For comparison high-floor trams are typically more than and rapid transit using heavy rail trains has floor heights of .

List of low-floor trams by country manufactured and manufacturers

Belarus

;Belkommunmash

  • AKSM-743 - Third Generation tram on Minsk tramway
  • AKSM-843 - Fourth generation tram on Minsk tramway

Canada

;Bombardier Transportation

thumb|alt=See caption|[[Flexity Outlook (Toronto)|Flexity Outlook in Toronto]]

thumb|alt=See caption|[[E-class Melbourne tram]]

  • Zürich Cobra
  • Flexity 2, including the model for Blackpool
  • Flexity Classic
  • Flexity Freedom
  • Flexity Link
  • Flexity Swift, only some models, including Melbourne E Class and Croydon CR4000
  • Flexity Outlook Eurotram
  • Flexity Outlook Cityrunner, including the model for Toronto
  • Incentro, including Flexity Berlin and Nottingham AT6/5
  • Brussels T2000
  • Bombardier Variobahn

Croatia

;Crotram

thumb|alt=See caption|TMK 2200-K in [[Trams in Zagreb|Zagreb]]

  • TMK 2200
  • TMK 2200 K
  • TMK 2300
  • TMK 2400

Czech Republic

;ČKD Tatra

  • K3R-N / K3R-NT (reconstruction with low-floor middle section)
  • KT8D5N (with low-floor middle section)
  • KT8D5R.N1 / KT8D5R.N2 / KT8D5R.N2P (reconstruction with low-floor middle section)
  • KTNF6 / KTNF8 (reconstruction of KT4 with low-floor middle section)
  • RT6N1 / RT6N2
  • RT6S
  • Satra III (reconstruction with low-floor middle section)

;Aliance TW Team

thumb|alt=Single section tram with low floor middle section|Tatra T3R.PLF (first car) in [[Trams in Prague|Prague]]

  • Tatra T3R.PLF / Tatra T3R.SLF (nicknamed "wana" (Czech for 'bath') - newly built with low-floor middle section)
  • VarioLF / VarioLF plus / VarioLF plus/o ("wana")
  • VarioLF2 / VarioLF2 plus / VarioLF2/2 IN
  • VarioLF3 / VarioLF3/2
  • EVO1
  • EVO2
  • VV60LF (trailer)

;Škoda Transportation

thumb|alt=See caption|Škoda 19T Electra in [[Trams in Wrocław|Wrocław]]

  • 03T Astra/Anitra
  • 05T Vektra
  • Elektra 06T, 10T, 13T, 14T, 16T and 19T
  • ForCity Alfa 15T
  • ForCity Classic, including 26T, 28T and 35T
  • ForCity Plus, including 29T and 30T
  • ForCity Smart Artic

;Inekon Trams

  • 01 Trio / 12 Trio

France

;Alstom

thumb|alt=See caption|Citadis 302 in [[Lyon tramway|Lyon]]

  • ATM Class 6000
  • Citadis 100
  • Citadis X01 (301, 401 and 301 CIS/71-801)
  • Citadis X02 (202, 302, 402 and 502), including Melbourne C Class and C2 Class
  • Citadis 403
  • Citadis X04 (304)
  • Citadis X05 (205/Compact, 305, 405)
  • Regio-Citadis (tram-train)
  • Citadis Dualis (tram-train)
  • Citadis Spirit
  • Tramway Français Standard TFS-1 (with low-floor centre section added at a later date) and TFS-2
  • Translohr vehicles

Germany

;Allgemeine Elektricitäts-Gesellschaft AG (AEG)

  • ATAC Class 9000

;Duewag

thumb|alt=See caption|MGT6D in [[Trams in Erfurt|Erfurt]]

  • Geneva Be 4/6 and Be 4/8
  • GT8N (with low-floor middle section)
  • GT8Z (with 73% low-floor)
  • Duisburg GT10 NC-DU (reconstruction with low-floor middle section)
  • MGT6D
  • M97 (reconstruction with low-floor middle section)
  • Sheffield Supertram
  • 6MGT / 8MGT

;MAN

  • Nuremberg N8S-NF (reconstruction with low-floor middle section)

;Siemens

thumb|alt=See caption|Avenio in [[Trams in The Hague|The Hague]]

  • Avenio (previously Combino Plus/Supra)
  • Avenio M (previously Combino), including Melbourne D class
  • Frankfurt am Main type R tram
  • GTx-70D/N (Karlsruhe: GT6-D/N, GT8-D/N – Valencia: FGV 3800 – Lisbon: CCFL 500)
  • S700 and S70 (also known as Avanto)
  • Ultra Low Floor (ULF)

;Adtranz

thumb|alt=See caption|Eurotram in [[Trams in Strasbourg|Strasbourg]]

  • Eurotram
  • GTxN/M/S
  • Variobahn

Stadler Pankow

  • Variobahn, including Munich Class S

Italy

;AnsaldoBreda

  • ATM Class 5000
  • Sirio
  • Oslo SL95
  • West Midlands Metro T-69
  • Boston Type 8 Trolley

;Fiat Ferroviaria

  • ATM Class 5000

;Società Costruzioni Industriali Milano (Socimi)

  • ATAC Class 9000
  • Eurotram

Japan

;

thumb|alt=See caption|Little Dancer Type C in [[Hakodate Transportation Bureau|Hakodate]]

  • Little Dancer

;Kinki Sharyo

  • Hiroden 5100 series Green Mover Max
  • Hiroden 1000 series (II)
  • Kinki Sharyo SLRV (low-floor centre section)

;Niigata Transys

  • Fukui Railway F1000 (:ja:福井鉄道F1000形電車)
  • Kumamoto City Tram 0800 (:ja:熊本市交通局0800形電車)
  • Kumamoto City Tram 9700 series (:ja:熊本市交通局9700形電車)
  • Man'yosen MLRV 1000 (:ja:万葉線MLRV1000形電車)
  • Okayama Electric Tramway 9200 (:ja:岡山電気軌道9200形電車)
  • Toyama City Tram Line 9000 series (:ja:富山地方鉄道9000形電車)
  • Toyama Light Rail TLR 0600 (:ja:富山ライトレールTLR0600形電車)
  • Utsunomiya Light Rail

Poland

;Konstal

thumb|alt=See caption|Konstal 114Na in [[Trams in Gdańsk|Gdańsk]]

  • Konstal 112N
  • Konstal 114Na
  • Konstal 116N/116Na
  • Konstal NGd99
  • Konstal 116Nd

;Modertrans

  • Moderus Beta MF 01, MF 13, MF 14 AC BD, MF 18 (reconstruction with low-floor middle section)
  • Moderus Beta MF 02 AC, MF 15 AC, MF 16 AC BD, MF 19 AC (new trams with low-floor middle section)

;Pesa

thumb|alt=See caption|Pesa Swing 122NbT in [[Trams in Toruń|Toruń]]

  • Tramicus 120N, 121N and 122N
  • Swing
  • Jazz
  • Twist 2010N, 2012N, 2014N Krakowiak and 71-414 Fokstrot

;Protram

  • Protram 205 WrAs
  • Protram 405N, one prototype produced in 2012 and used since then in Kraków

;Solaris Bus & Coach

  • Solaris Tramino

Romania

;Astra Vagoane Călători

thumb|alt=See caption|Astra Imperio tram in [[Cluj-Napoca]]

  • Autentic
  • Imperio

;URAC Bucharest

  • Bucur LF (65% low floor)
  • V3A-93-CH/CA-PPC (low-floor middle section)
  • V3A-93-PPC (reconstruction with low-floor middle section)

Russian Federation

;PTMZ (Petěrburgskij tramvajno-mechaničeskij zavod)

  • LVS-2005
  • LVS-2008
  • LVS-2009 (71-154) and 71-154М

;UKVZ (Usť-Katavskij vagonstrojitělnyj zavod imeni Sergeje Mironoviče Kirova)

thumb|alt=See caption|71-628 in [[Taganrog]]

thumb|alt=See caption|71-639 (Castor) in [[Yekaterinburg]]

  • 71-623
  • 71-624
  • 71-628, 71-628-01, 71-628-02 and 71-628M
  • 71-630
  • 71-631
  • 71-633
  • 71-639 (Castor)

;Uraltransmash

  • 71-412 (partially low-floor)
  • 71-415

;Tver Carriage Works (PC Transport Systems contract)

  • 71-911 and 71-911E (City Star)
  • 71-911ЕМ (Lionet)
  • 71-921 (Corsair)
  • 71-922 (Varyag)
  • 71-923 (Bogatyr) and 71-923M (Bogatyr M)
  • 71-931 (Vityaz), 71-931M (Vityaz-M) and 71-931AM (Vityaz-Leningrad)
  • 71-932 (Nevsky)
  • 71-934 (Lion)

Spain

;Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles (CAF)

thumb|alt=See caption|Urbos trams in [[Trams in Budapest|Budapest]]

  • Urbos 1
  • Urbos 2
  • Urbos 3
  • Urbos AXL
  • Urbos TT
  • Urbos LRV

;Vossloh España

  • Citylink, including Sheffield Supertram Class 399
  • Tramlink

Switzerland

;ABB

  • Tram 2000 Be 4/8 (low-floor middle section)
  • Variobahn

thumb|alt=See caption|Tango tram from [[Trams in Basel|Basel on test in Zürich]]

;Stadler Rail

  • Citylink, including Supertram Class 399
  • Tango, only some models
  • TINA
  • Tramlink

Turkey

;Durmazlar

  • Panorama
  • Silkworm

;Bozankaya

Ukraine

thumb|alt=See caption|Electron T5L64 in [[Trams in Lviv|Lviv]]

;Electrontrans

  • Electron T3L44, T5L64 and T5B65

;Tatra-Yug

  • K-1M6
  • K-1M8
  • K-1M
  • K-1T

United States

;Brookville Equipment

  • Liberty

;United Streetcar

  • 10 T

Other trams

thumb|DL6WA of [[Dalian Tram]]

  • BKM 85300M
  • DL6WA, mark Dalianren (meaning "Dalian people") manufactured by Tram Factory of Dalian, in Dalian.
  • Cegielski 118N Puma
  • Tram Power City Class
  • Hedley-Doyle Stepless car (1912)