After following with great interest the evolution of the repairing process of the tram-tracks in the city, culminating at the point when the two brand new PESA Swing trams have arrived to Cluj, I did not find the time for about two months (or more… ) to actually get on the tram. On one occasion we were there, we were ready, but on the exact day the two new trams (of the total of twelve in the future) were not in traffic. It was actually a good day to make a short movie about the reference (old) trams:
Because since yesterday we were on holiday, we finally managed to dedicate some time for the “tram-hunt” (again). This time, we were lucky, the first tram which came to the station after we got there, was one of the new ones:
I have to say I was quite impressed: the vehicle is nice and shiny (let’s see for how long), everything was moving smoothly (including the actual tram on the tracks) and in contrast with the very hot day outside, a nice AC temperature was waiting for us inside.
Two things were a bit (just a bit) annoying. The first one is the ticket-validation device, which is one of the new “buzzers” into which one just needs to stick in the ticket and it will “buzz it” (imprint the date and hour). Well, as we are used to from the buses, it does not work that easily: you have to stick it in just right ( 😛 ) to make sure it recognizes it. After a few trials we managed to actually validate the ticket ;).
The second thing which was annoying was the fact that, at the time when we were traveling, the on-board WiFi (“tram_primaria_cluj”) was alive, I could connect, but there was no internet access… a bit of a shame after so much promotion of the feature 🙁 .
Apart from the above two issues, I have to say I did not see any problems. We had a nice ride enjoying all features (except the WiFi) of the tram. We even met a control who came to check if everyone had a valid ticket: