School tram

"Please remain seated while the tram is mo—"

―A pilot droid, interrupted by an unruly minor — 20?cb=20250116042720

A school tram was a tram designed for transporting students to school. A unique type of repulsorcraft, school trams relied on a guidance rod system that aligned with a track embedded in the road. While they shared common traffic routes with other vehicles, they also utilized dedicated underpasses, enabling swift transportation to schools.

School trams were keenly employed on the Jewels of the Old Republic, a group of isolated planets that accommodated credit mints. During the New Republic Era, school trams provided convenient connections to suburban areas on the planet At Attin. At the same time, a school tram wreckage stood out in the rubble-strewn panorama of At Achrann.

Characteristics

"Hey, who did that? Hey, who did that?"

―A pilot droid to a misbehaving student — 20?cb=20250116042720

▶️ (file info)^[1]

A school tram from the inside, with students giggling and clamoring while seated on the blue seats

School trams were single-compartment, roofed repulsorcraft designed with an accordion joint to accommodate flexibility in motion. Unlike other repulsorlift vehicles, they were equipped with guidance rods that aligned with single tracks embedded in the road. On various sections of their routes, school trams could share traffic roads with other repulsorcraft or use^[1] dedicated underpasses.^[3]

Operated by a single RX-series pilot droid,^[2] school trams would stop at designated locations and specific times. When they arrived at the destination, they would line up with their fronts and backs touching each other.^[1]

School trams had smooth, boxy shapes and were primarily light beige, with darker accents along the edges of the large, panoramic viewports and the automatic sliding doors. Their interiors provided seating for students, with two rows of light-blue seats arranged along a gangway and a distinct bench seat featured at the rear. Additionally, school trams transporting At Attin Middle School Gamma students bore the school's emblem on their hulls.^[1]

Role

"Wim, you're gonna be late for school."

―Wendle to his son Wim — 20?cb=20250116042720

▶️ (file info)^[1]

School trams were used on^[1]^[4] the Jewels of the Old Republic, a group of isolated planets that accommodated Old Republic credit mints.^[5] On At Attin, they connected a city with its suburbs.^[1] On At Achrann, in turn, a school tram wreckage stood out among rubble and debris in the New Republic Era.^[4]

Students who lived in the suburban of At Attin areas would gather at designated locations to wait for their trams together. During the trip, they were required to remain seated. The passengers would get off at the final stop right next to At Attin Middle School Gamma, with security droids looking after them as they made for the school entrance.^[1]

History

"No! Wait! Stop the tram! I overslept!"
"You can make it!"
"I'm gonna take a shortcut!"

―Wim chases the tram while Neel cheers him on from onboard — 20?cb=20250116042720

▶️ (file info)^[1]

A school tram enters a dedicated underpass on At Attin.

In the New Republic Era, school trams were utilized on the isolated planet of At Attin. On a school day^[1] around 9 ABY,^[6] the human youngling Wim and his^[1] Myykian^[7] companion Neel had a pretend lightsaber duel, a play that stopped abruptly when they were noticed by their schoolmates waiting for the tram across the street. Wim and Neel quickly joined them to board the tram together, sitting on the bench seat at the rear. During the trip, the pilot droid warned the minor passengers to remain seated while the tram was in motion, only to have a piece of gum stuck to the back of^[1] his^[3] head by an unruly minor. When the vehicle reached the destination point, the students were free to get off, supervised by security droids. Later that day, the girls Fern and KB rode a double hoverbike on their way home. During the trip, they descended into an underpass and cut between two school trams, whose guidance rod systems made them close in on them. Ultimately, the girls managed to get out of the tunnel, passing by a third school tram which had emerged a few seconds before them.^[1]

The following day, when the Career Assessment Test was scheduled, the youngling Wim overslept for his tram, having stayed up late the day before. Although the boy attempted to catch up with the departing tram and screamed for it to wait as he ran, his efforts eventually proved futile, despite his elephantine friend Neel rooting for him from behind the back viewport. The tram's departure prompted the boy to seek an alternative means of transportation, and so he decided to ride on his hoverbike, taking a non-standard detour through the woods.^[1]

A burned-down school tram wreck on At Achrann

During an unexpected galactical journey that Wim soon embarked on along with Fern, KB, and Neel,^[1] the children arrived on At Achrann, originally mistaking it for their home planet. A world ravaged by the war between the Troiks and the Hattans, At Acharann looked nowhere near At Attin, full of abandoned buildings and playgrounds surrounded by overwhelming rabbis. Having made the acquaintance of Hayna of the Troiks, the younglings briefly took a shelter in a burned-down^[8] school tram,^[9] with Hayna leaping up and grabbing the upper part of the doorframe to break it open as she swung forth. Notably, the school bus wreckage contained a deactivated RX-series pilot droid, its robotic hands still resting on the control devices. Before they left their hiding, Hayna promised to take the At Attin younglings to her clan.^[8]

The four children eventually succeeded in returning to At Attin with the pirate Jod Na Nawood. By posing as an Old Republic emissary, Na Nawood gained entry the Supervisor's Tower. Upon discovering that the Supervisor was merely a droid, the pirate destroyed^[10] him,^[11] triggering a mass power outage all across the downtown area. With no electricity, all traffic vehicles came to a sudden halt, including two school trams. Moreover, one tram was destroyed by the invading frigate's turbolaser cannon. Although Na Nawood managed to lead his crew past the planet's Barrier, his plan to subjugate the population was thwarted by the arrival of New Republic forces, who freed the planet from pirate occupation.^[10]

Behind the scenes

"We didn't want to go so obvious as to turn it yellow. But there are very similar form languages in there and that was very specific because we didn't want to turn it into a subway car. It's a school bus, but our Star Wars version."

―Doug Chiang^[12]

School trams debuted in the live-action television series Star Wars: Skeleton Crew. — School trams debuted in the live-action television series *Star Wars: Skeleton Crew*.

School trams first appeared in the live-action television series Star Wars: Skeleton Crew, making their in-universe debut in the first episode, "This Could Be a Real Adventure,"^[1] which premiered on Disney+ on December 2, 2024.^[13] Before the premiere, school trams had been presented in the official trailer of the show, released on August 9, 2024.^[14]

The series co-production designer Doug Chiang admitted that school trams were a reference to American school buses. For the reference not to be too explicit, however, the creators did not choose to paint the vehicles yellow—a hint that, according to Chiang, would be too "obvious." In addition, the crew was cautious to avoid making the school buses look like subway cars. Conversely, co-production designer Oliver Scholl revealed that these vehicles were supposed to add to the "painfully dull and blissfully safe" image of the planet.^[12]

At the suggestion of series creators Christopher Ford and Jon Watts, sound designer David W. Collins incorporated a distinctive beeping sound into "This Could Be a Real Adventure" as the school tram pulls up. A devoted fan of Star Tours and Disney theme parks, Collins chose a sound from a real-world amusement ride, which the creators loved. This theme-park homage was further reinforced by the presence of an RX-series droid at the helm.^[15]