Two employees of Brussels transport company STIB, Gabriela Acatrinei and Christophe Barbarat, will travel to Oradea in Romania on Thursday to represent Brussels at the European Tramdriver Competition, Sudinfo reports.
Every year, STIB asks each of its seven best female and male tram drivers to compete for the honour of representing Belgium in the European stage.
“We put them through a series of tests and selected the best male and female driver,” Coudyser explained. This year’s candidates were selected from the Molenbeek and Haren depots.
“It’s an experience for the rest of my career,” said competitor Barbarat. “I already took part in 2019 as a translator and saw what was going on backstage. I’m delighted to be taking part again as a candidate.”
At the final training session, the two veteran tram drivers will review possible scenarios that they may face at the competition. On Sunday, the two tram drivers had a final session with head of tram training, Marc Coudyser.
One of the most famous activities is a “bowling” event, whereby tram drivers must propel a ball towards pins, while breaking to ensure the vehicle does not knock them over. This event was a fan favourite in 2019 when Brussels held the competition. Each city selects four or five events for the competition.
The two tram drivers will also be tested on stopping a tram on a bend as close as possible to a post, without touching them. The Belgian team has already analysed the specifics of the Romanian rails to ensure that they are prepared.
There will also be a breaking competition to test the reactions of the drivers.
STIB tram drivers are some of the best in the world. In 2019, the year Brussels last held the competition, the STIB team took home first place for their driving prowesses.
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The tram driver competition has been hosted each year (excluding during the pandemic) since 2012. Last year the event was held in Leipzig, Germany, and was won by a team from Hanover.
The event will be streamed live on the competition’s official YouTube and Facebook accounts.
