Newman Transit 2001-2020

Newman Transit 2001-2020, 2115-2124 are Tatra K2 streetcars built from 1975-1983. Originally built for a medium-sized Slovakian town, they were withdrawn from service and put in storage in 1995 after the company closed down. The first shipment of streetcars from Slovakia contained a large amount of K2s, and so it was decided to reserve the first 20 numbers in the 2000 series for them.

None of the units, in their original state, received air-conditioning, so their usage during summers was limited. The first unit to be rebuilt was car 2017 – after a collision with a truck in December 1997, it was rebuilt into type K2G, but retained its original numbering. Driver air-conditioning was installed in 2002, and passenger air-conditioning in 2003.

From 1998-2005, 10 units were rebuilt to type K2S by Pars Nova – they were heavily modernized and were finally equipped with air-conditioning. Additionally, they were renumbered to 2115-2124. The remaining units were progressively withdrawn, with 2015 and 2019 as the last surviving units in early 2013. 2015 was equipped with digital screen signs from BUSE; 2019 retained its original metal plate installations. Both units are earmarked for preservation – 2015 at the Royal Island Transit Museum and 2019 in Newman Transit's historical vehicle collection.

These streetcars are mainly used on routes 1 Flatbush, 3 River Oaks and 4 Dundas – however, they occasionally appear on routes 5 Bridge Street, 7 Lakeside and 8 Creekbank.

2001-2020

2001-2020 are the numbers of the K2s in their original state.

Unit Number	Built	Division	Status	Notes
2001	1975	Kennedy Park	RETIRED November 2007
2002	1975	Kennedy Park	REBUILT into 2115
2003	1975	Kennedy Park	REBUILT into 2121
2004	1977	Kennedy Park	REBUILT into 2120
2005	1982	Kennedy Park	REBUILT into 2119
2006	1982	Kennedy Park	REBUILT into 2124
2007	1977	Kennedy Park	REBUILT into 2118
2008	1977	Kennedy Park	RETIRED January 2010
2009	1977	Kennedy Park	RETIRED August 2008
2010	1977	Kennedy Park	REBUILT into 2122
2011	1977	Kennedy Park	REBUILT into 2123
2012	1982	Kennedy Park	REBUILT into 2116
2013	1982	Kennedy Park	RETIRED September 2012
2014	1977	Kennedy Park	REBUILT into 2117
2015	1982	Kennedy Park	In service
2016	1975	Kennedy Park	RETIRED October 2011
2017	1982	Kennedy Park	REBUILT to type K2G	-Collided with truck in December 1997, rebuilt to type K2G
2018	1975	Kennedy Park	RETIRED July 2009
2019	1982	Kennedy Park	In service
2020	1975	Kennedy Park	RETIRED June 2008

2115-2124

These cars are grouped under three variants: variant 1 is fitted with a Brecknell-Willis pantograph and has plug doors (2115-2119), variant 2 is fitted with a Lekov pantograph, has collapsible doors and roof mounted side destination signs(2120-2122), and  variant 3 is fitted with a Lekov pantograph, has collapsible doors and has its side destination signs mounted in its windows(2123-2124). Car 2123 has an expanded cab with an extra seat for driver training purposes.

The original contract for modernizations called for two batches: one to be completed from 1998-2000 (2115-2119), and the second to be completed from 2001-2002 (2120-2122). Generally pleased with the K2S, Newman Transit added an additional two units to the contract in 2004 (2123-2124).

The lack of wheelchair lifts on the 2^nd and 3^rd variants was the source of a controversy between Newman Transit and Pars Nova in 2000 – 2115-2119 had been installed with a very failure-prone type of plug door, and Pars Nova announced in October of that year that they would be installing collapsible doors, incompatible with wheelchair lifts, on the rest of their modernizations.

Newman Transit expressed outrage at this, given how they had managed to sort out the issues with the doors within their shops, and even threatened to cancel the contract, but Pars dug their heels in and with no other company to complete the modernizations (Pragoimex would not appear on the scene until later), Newman gave in. Various surveys found that wheelchair ridership was the lowest in North America, and that the existing streetcars could handle it adequately, so the rest of the K2S cars modernized came with collapsible doors, as planned. Besides the lack of amenities for wheelchair-bound passengers, Newman Transit has been generally pleased with the K2S modernizations – in 2012, they looked into purchasing several new builds from Pars Nova, but plug doors continued not to be available, so transit declined to expand the fleet.

Unit Number (old fleet number)	Built	Rebuilt	Division	Status	Notes
2115 (2002)	1975	September 1998	Kennedy Park	In service
2116 (2012)	1982	February 1999	Kennedy Park	In service
2117 (2014)	1977	July 1999	Kennedy Park	In service
2118 (2007)	1977	November 1999	Kennedy Park	In service
2119 (2005)	1982	April 2000	Kennedy Park	In service
2120 (2004)	1977	December 2001	Kennedy Park	In service
2121 (2003)	1975	July 2002	Kennedy Park	In service
2122 (2010)	1977	December 2002	Kennedy Park	In service
2123 (2011)	1977	October 2004	Kennedy Park	In service	-Has expanded cab with extra seat for driver training
2124 (2006)	1982	May 2005	Kennedy Park	In service