Oradea tram drivers win silver at European Championship

The Oradea Transport Local (OTL) tram driver team, composed of Ionela Schipor and Florin Olaru, secured second place at the TRAM-EM 2026 European Tramdriver Championship held in Warsaw. The Oradea duo accumulated 5,820 points, finishing closely behind the first-place team from Prague, which scored 6,000 points. Sofia took third place with 5,750 points.

The competition tests technical skills essential to daily tram operations, including precision stopping, emergency braking, obstacle avoidance, and speed estimation without a speedometer. It also includes specialized challenges such as ‘Tram Bowling’ and ‘Tram Billiards’ to test fine control of heavy vehicles.

The 2026 edition featured 26 participating teams from various European cities, as well as a representative team from Melbourne, Australia.