Rail transport company Škoda Transportation has secured an order from the German federal state of Brandenburg for the delivery of new low-floor trams.
Valued at nearly €110m, the order was were placed jointly by the cities of Frankfurt an der Oder, Brandenburg an der Havel and Cottbus.
Škoda will supply around 24 vehicles with an option for another 21.
Škoda Transportation president and board of director’s chairman Petr Brzezina said: “With this order, we have started the second hundred of ordered modern, comfortable trams from Škoda factories, which will offer ecological transport in nine German cities.”
Škoda Transportation sales senior vice-president and board of directors member Zdeněk Majer said: “The customer will get the latest addition from the Škoda ForCity Plus family, which is a partially low-floor, unidirectional tram with three sections, two radial drive bogies and one regular non-radial bogie. The new order underlines the purpose of our long-term investments in developing and improving the level of our trams, making them suitable for modern transport throughout Europe.”
The new Škoda ForCity Plus vehicles will replace the current high-floor trams that are soon going to reach the end of their service life.
The vehicles will be delivered in two widths to cater to the individual requirements of each city.
The company noted that around 13 of the 24 ordered vehicles will go to Frankfurt, four and possibly eight more from the option will travel to Branibor, and the remaining seven with 13 from the option will be supplied to Cottbus.
The new trams will be ideal for passengers with compromised mobility and will provide air-conditioning, easy boarding, multifunctional spaces for prams, bicycles, and more.
The company stated that this is the first tender in which the contracting authorities requested technically identical trams for three different cities.
Frankfurt transport company SVF CEO Christian Utuk said: “The winner of the tender won thanks to its modern vehicle concept and the implementation of basic low-floor, space utilisation and energy efficiency requirements, as well as its modern, timeless design.”
Škoda Transportation stated that low-floor trams are already operating in Schöneiche-Rüdersdorf.
In addition, around 14 Škoda ForCity Classic trams are currently operating in Chemnitz, and a contract for ForCity Smart low-floor trams for Heidelberg, Mannheim, Ludwigshafen and Bonn is already in discussion.
