52 Drivers From 26 Cities Compete in the 2024 European Tram Driver Championships

Travel vlogger The Tim Traveler attended the 2024 European Tram Driver Championships in Frankfurt, Germany. The multi-disciplinary contest included testing reaction skills, acceleration skills, and braking skills.

The tasks include classics such as “Perfect Stop” – stopping at a defined door with centimeter precision – or “Emergency Brake” – a reaction test in which the braking distance is measured. There are also audience highlights such as TRAM-Bowling, in which a 1.5m ball has to be pushed into 2m high pins using the lane. The challenge lies in the right timing of acceleration, speed when making contact with the ball and the ability to react when braking at lightning speed.

52 tram drivers from 26 cities took part in the contest.

Barcelona, ??Birmingham, Berlin, Brussels, Budapest, Dublin, Frankfurt, Gothenburg, Kiev, Krakow, Leipzig, Luxembourg, Lyon, Milan, Oradea, Oslo, Paris, Prague, Rotterdam, Stockholm, Vienna, Zagreb and Zurich. We will welcome for the first time in the competitions: Bratislava, Edinburgh, and Tampere.

After a close finish, Budapest came in first.

It was as close as ever. With a lead of just 50 points, Krisztina Schneider and Akos Bodnar from Budapest won the 11th European Tramdriver Championship in Frankfurt. This is the third time the team has brought the cup to Hungary after 2012 and 2016. Congratulations!