CHAMPIONS: Krisztina Schneider and Akos Bodnar from Budapest are Europe’s best tram drivers
Photo credit: Tram Em
Twenty-six teams of tram drivers from 21 European countries went head-to-head in Frankfurt in September to showcase their skills.
They were competing in the 11th Tramdriver Championship held on a 200-metre course on a section of temporarily-closed line in Willy Brandt Plaza. Here they had to complete tasks that included the Perfect Stop, Emergency Braking, Tram Bowling, Tram Billiards and a test to see how well they could memorise a sequence of symbols on a traffic sign.
Competitors had to demonstrate their gentle touch by coming to such a smooth touch that they slopped as little water as possible from a filled bowl fixed to the front of the cab.
In Tram Billiards the driver had to give a line up to a cue attached to a stand and give it a nudge to knock a billiard ball as close as possible to the middle of a table.
“We try to mirror the entire range of skills a driver should have,” said Wieland Stumpf, Event manager of the championship organised each year by Tram Em.
Nor had the competitors arrived in Frankfurt by chance, as the transport systems they work for had held internal tournaments to choose a team of one male and female driver. Ukraine, with two women, was the only exception since foreign travel is banned for practically all of the country’s men since the Russian invasion.
Some drivers had practised beforehand, like first-time contestants Edinburgh whose team told the media that their coach had set up a billiards table in the tram depot, where they trained for a couple of hours a week for six weeks.
Once they were in Frankfurt all of the drivers had an opportunity to try out and get acquainted with the trams they would be using which, in the case of the Edinburgh drivers, meant locating the klaxon pedal.
This year’s championship was very close-run, with winners Krisztina Schneider and Akos Bodnar from Budapest taking first place with 3.850 points, 50 points ahead of Ilham Ouamass and Adil Saaidi from Brussels.
In fact this was the third time that the team took the winners’ cup home to Hungary, after coming first in 2012 and 2016.
Aleksandra Tomaszek and Marcin Jasnos from Krakow (Poland) came third with 3,100 points.
The Brussels’ driver Ilham Ouamass delivered the best individual ride with 2250 points, followed by the Hungarians with 1959 and 1900 points respectively.
Spain’s team from Barcelona were ranked 21st with 1,850 points, one place ahead of the Edinburgh drivers in 22nd position with 1,800 points.
The English team from Birmingham did better than either, taking 14th place with 2150 points.
“Once a year the best tram drivers of the continent come together to find out who`s best,” Wieland Stumpf said as the championship came to an end, confirming that the next year’s event will be held in Vienna (Austria) on September 13, 2025.
