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And what is a German Duevag doing in Helsinki??
HKL is testing it's "middle section" and analyzes the possibilities to build and attach a new low entry middle sections to their own articulated old trams, since these new Variotrams suck and they aren't exactly suitable to Finland. This photo is quite rare, as #150 is now repainted to HKL's green colour.
"What's not wrong with their variotrams" would be a bit more appropriate question here. Well.. They chew the tracks away far faster than the other trams do. They're loud, both inside and outside. They're not nice to sit in because they shake, rattle and roll. They're always being repaired because of random problems. If I remember right, one day 27 of them were out of order, each for their own reasons. The city of Helsinki wants to drive trams, not let their mechanics play with their messy electronics. Luckily our tram-operator HKL doesn't have to pay for the fixing. But we still have to use trams designed in 1959 because the new ones are all in depot.
BTW, the Düwag's now painted into the normal HKL-Raitioliikenne (HKL-Tramway traffic) colours. You can see some more pics of this tram in http://www.nettilinja.fi/~ahellman/ratikat/helsinki/hkl/vbl150.htm . Unfortunately the text's all in Finnish. But pics are of course in quite a universal language
And the Düwag is being tested to decide whether to build low middle cars for the older Finnish articulated trams (types Nr1 and Nr2, (also known as "NrI" and "NrII").
Of course the Düwag's middle car isn't low, but according to the technicians it doesn't matter in this case. Düwag won't be returned to Germany after the test drives. Anyway, now you know why we call the varios "vaurio" (Finnish for "damage")