Stadler Variobahn

Since its introduction in 1993, the Variobahn has been manufactured variously by ABB, Adtranz, Bombardier Transportation, and since 2001 by Stadler Rail.

The serial delivery, with minor modifications, was made between 1998 and 2001—bringing the total number of units for Chemnitz to thirty.

In 1996, six trams were delivered to serve on the light rail between Mannheim, Heidelberg and Weinheim, Germany, operated by Oberrheinischen Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft.

[5] Five were scrapped in early 2018, and the last built, number 2107 was transferred to the Sydney Tramway Museum in October 2018 for preservation.

[7] These trams were built by Transtech (who later produced the newer Artic models) in Otanmäki under a technology transfer agreement with Adtranz.

In service, the Variotrams were found to be ill-suited for Helsinki's tram network, having suffered from numerous technical problems, including cracks in the bogies and vehicle body shells.

[9] The contract agreed in May 2007 states that, from May 2008 onwards, if more than four Variotrams in Helsinki are not in operational condition, Bombardier must pay a daily fine to the HKL for every non-operational tram.

[10] In August 2017 a contract was agreed after long negotiations between HKL and Bombardier to cancel the purchase of the Variotrams.

Bombardier will pay HKL 33 million euros in compensation for the shorter than originally contractually agreed 40 year lifetime of the trams.

MVG chose not to exercise options to buy any more Variobahns, and turned to Siemens to supply its next generation of trams.

[16] Stadler built these earlier than the contractual delivery date to make use of free capacity at its factory.

The Variotram is a low-floor light rail tram designed for city center operation.