The U2 was later exported to North America and adapted for use on light rail systems in Edmonton, Calgary, and San Diego, during a period in which few purpose-built LRVs were being manufactured.

The design was largely based on the previously delivered trams, but added electronic controls that allowed several railcars to be coupled together to form trains, and a floor height of 93 cm (37 in) that made it possible to board from platforms with a height of 32 to 56 cm (13 to 22 in) without having to add a folding step previously used.

The model was chosen for operations in San Diego in 1979, however, the planned platform level was lower than their counterpart system, so a street-level version was developed, and 71 vehicles were eventually delivered in stages.

Calgary Transit regularly couples up six U2 cars to shuttle them from Anderson Garage to Haysboro storage.

Three examples will be preserved for museum service Siemens-Duewag Type U2a on Sacramento Regional Transit's light rail system is an upgraded version of the U2 that shares similar characteristics of the newer SD-100s and SD-160s, yet it still uses the mechanical equipment of the U2.

Calgary ended up adding the two units to their main fleet until 2015, when both were retired due to part issues.

Two variants, designated U2h and U2e, were locally created during the early 2000s in Frankfurt to serve different platform heights on the network.

Originally the trains were designed to serve platforms of 32 and 56 cm (13 and 22 in) height, with one large step at each door.

San Diego MTS retired their last U2 vehicles in January 2015, coinciding with low floor S70 cars being deployed on its Blue Line, six examples are preserved by various museums and nonprofits.

MTS has retained Car 1001 as part of its heritage fleet of light rail vehicles.

The car was unveiled as part of a celebration at 12th & Imperial on July 11, 2019, and re-entered service two days later.