Famous Rössli tram now runs on electricity instead of horsepower

After more than 60 years in service, the Rössli tram at the children’s zoo in Rapperswil has been replaced. The new vehicle was developed and built by apprentices. The blue-and-white Rössli tram at the children’s zoo in Rapperswil is an institution. True to its name, the tram was pulled by horses along its tracks through the zoo for more than six decades, delighting generations of visitors. That era has now come to an end. The historic tram has been replaced by a modern electric vehicle. The new tram is the result of a joint project by apprentices from eastern Swiss train manufacturer Stadler and the Schweizerische Südostbahn (SOB). The young trainees designed and built the vehicle entirely themselves and also laid new tracks. Learning by doing One of the apprentices involved is Lorenz Schweizer, a third-year automation technician at Stadler. A few weeks before the official launch, he was busy testing the charging system for the tram’s eight batteries. Not everything was running ...