Little Dancer


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.
Type L series have an articulated three section body.
Type A series adopt 3 or 5 articulated bodies.
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".
"C" is an initial of "Combination".
The traction motor is downsized to the limit, and the same driving system as the conventional vehicle is adopted.