Little Dancer
{{Short description|Japanese low-floor tram vehicle}}
{{For|the Degas sculpture|Little Dancer of Fourteen Years}}
{{More citations needed|date=February 2024}}The Little Dancer is a low-floor tram brand built by Alna Sharyo, a Japanese manufacturer of trams and light rail vehicles.
Overview
The name "Little Dancer" was chosen by Alna Sharyo for two reasons, firstly to evoke an image of a lively dancer, and secondly for its similarity to the Japanese word "dansa". "Dansa" in Japanese means "step", pertaining to the step-free access that the trams provide. The result is aimed to evoke an image of a lively, cute, and small tram.
Little Dancer trams feature conventional bogies so that it is easier for railway companies and their maintenance staff to adjust to the trams when they are introduced.
Type
There are several variants of the Little Dancer.
= Type S =
Type S series are a short body type tram with a single section.
- Iyo Railway - 2100 series. (10 sets)
- Iyo Railway - 5000 series. (12 sets){{Cite web |last=INC |first=SANKEI DIGITAL |date=2017-09-25 |title=ゆったり乗車できます 松山・伊予鉄路面電車に新型ＬＲＴ５０００系車両導入 |url=https://www.sankei.com/article/20170925-WXZDCNHW5NPLLJXMF3JUNEOJ6Q/ |access-date=2024-02-21 |website=産経ニュース |language=ja}}{{Cite web |title=伊予鉄道5000形が古町車両工場に搬入される｜鉄道ニュース｜2017年9月1日掲載｜鉄道ファン・railf.jp |url=https://railf.jp/news/2017/09/01/162000.html |access-date=2024-02-21 |website=鉄道ファン・railf.jp |language=ja}}
- Sapporo Streetcar - 1100 series (2 set)
- Railway Technical Research Institute - LH02 (Test car.) (1 set)
file:Iyotetsu-Moha2102.jpg|Iyo Railway 2100 series
File:Iyotetsu-Moha5004.jpg|Iyo Railway 5000 series
file:Sapporo Street Car Type 1100 1102 Sirius 2020-3-23.jpg|Sapporo 1100 series
file:RTRI-LH02.jpg|LH02
= Type L =
Type L series have an articulated three section body.
- Tosaden Kōtsū - 100 series. (1 set)
file:Tosaden 100.jpg|Tosaden 100 series
= Type A =
Type A series adopt 3 or 5 articulated bodies. (Some of the articulations have no bogies and are floating.)
- Kagoshima City Transportation Bureau - 1000 series (9 sets) and the first Little Dancer type to enter service.{{Cite web |last=Green |first=Mariko |date=2023-09-28 |title=Welcome to Kagoshima City |url=https://www.jlgc.org.au/welcome-to-kagoshima-city/ |access-date=2024-02-21 |website=CLAIR Sydney |language=ja}}{{Cite web |title=1000 Series |url=http://www.kotsu-city-kagoshima.jp/cust-photo/p-1047/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170616034027/http://www.kotsu-city-kagoshima.jp/cust-photo/p-1047/ |archive-date=2017-06-16 |access-date=2024-02-21 }}
- Kagoshima City Transportation Bureau - 7000 series (4 sets){{Cite web |title=7000 Series |url=http://www.kotsu-city-kagoshima.jp/cust-photo/p-1069/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170616061055/http://www.kotsu-city-kagoshima.jp/cust-photo/p-1069/ |archive-date=2017-06-16 |access-date=2024-02-21 }}
file:KagoshimaLRT1017.jpg|Kagoshima 1000 series (Type A3)
file:KagoshimaLRT7003.jpg|Kagoshima 7000 series (Type A5)
= Type U, Ua =
Type S,L,A series weren't 100% low floor, because the motors attached the bogies. U series devises to position the motor. So, U series are 100% low floor. "U" is an initial of "Ultimate".
- Nagasaki Electric Tramway - 3000 series (3 sets) and 5000 series (3 sets)
- Toyohashi Railroad - T1000 series (1 set)
- Toyama Chihō Railway - T100 series (2 sets)
- Sapporo Streetcar - A1200 series (3 sets)
- Hankai Tramway - 1001 series (3 sets)
- Chikuhō Electric Railroad - 5000 series (2 sets)
- Tosaden Kōtsū - 3000 series (unknown)
File:Nagasaki Denkikidou3002.jpg|Nagasaki 3000 series (Type U)
File:Nagasaki Electric Tramway 5001 201103051430.png|Nagasaki 5000 series (Type Ua)
File:20090124Toyotetsu T1001.jpg|Toyohashi T1000 series (Type Ua)
File:Hankai 1001 IMG 7431 20130825.JPG|Hankai 1001 series (Type Ua)
File:Chikutetsu5001.jpg|Chikutetsu 5000 series (Type Ua)
= Type C =
"C" is an initial of "Combination".
- Hakodate Transportation Bureau - 9600 series (2 sets)
File:Hakodate Transportation Bureau type 9600 tramcar.jpg|Hakodate 9600 series (Type C2)
= Type X =
The traction motor is downsized to the limit, and the same driving system as the conventional vehicle is adopted.
- Kagoshima City Transportation Bureau - 7500 series (unknown)
file:鹿児島市電7500系7501編成.jpg|Kagoshima 7500 series (Type X)
= Type N =
- Nagasaki Electric Tramway - 6000 series (2 sets)
file:Nagasaki Electric Tramway type 6001 20220529.jpg|Nagasaki 6000 series (Type N)
See also
In Japan, the three brand compete with Little Dancer:
- Bombardier, ADtranz low floor tram - Niigata Transys has been licensed to make it.
- Siemens, Combino - Hiroshima Electric Railway, Japanese biggest tram company used to use this tram.
- Green Mover Max - This tram was developed in Japan, too. Hiroshima uses this tram, now.
References
{{reflist}}{{Iyotetsu rolling stock}}