Translohr

Translohr is a guided bus system manufactured by Lohr Industrie of France. It is used in Clermont-Ferrand, Tianjin, Padua and in the mainland Mestre district of Venice in Italy. Translohr runs on rubber tires and is guided by a single central rail.

The Translohr system is intended to provide a much more light rail-like experience than that provided by buses. Unlike other guided bus systems (including the similar but incompatible Guided Light Transit system developed by Bombardier Transportation), Translohr can run only where there is a guide rail in place as there are no steering controls. Like a conventional tram, power is provided by overhead wires and collected with a pantograph, although the vehicle can also run on internal batteries (arranged in packs) on sections of the route where overhead wires are deemed to be undesirable. Because Translohr LRVs cannot run without a guide rail they are not classified as a street-running bus. Hence the vehicles that are used on the Clermont-Ferrand network are not equipped with licence plates.