ŠkodaTranstech to provide two trams to Germany’s SRS

ŠkodaTranstech has finalised a deal to provide two ForCity Smart Artic pre-series trams to Germany’s Schöneicher-Rüdersdorfer Strassenbahn (SRS).

Based in Finland, ŠkodaTranstech is a subsidiary of Škoda Transportation Group’s.

Finland’s Helsinki City Transport (HKL) is also involved in the deal, which was reached after a two-month trial period.

Designed based on the idea propagated by HKL, the ForCity Smart Artic Helsinki tram is developed under a partnership between HKL and Škoda Transtech.

Škoda Transportation Group vice-president and Škoda Transtech chairman Zdeněk Majer said: “I am happy that in addition to Chemnitz and Rhein-Neckar-Verkehr, Schöneiche is the third city where trams from Škoda Transportation will be in operation.

“This is Škoda’s first tram to receive homologation in Germany according to BoStrab.”

In 2013, Škoda Transtech supplied two pre-series ForCity Smart Artic trams to Helsinki for testing.

Since 2016, Škoda Transtech has been delivering the series vehicles to Helsinki every three weeks. HKL has so far bought altogether 70 ForCity Smart Artic trams.

Earlier this month, Škoda Transportation secured a contract worth over CZK1bn ($44m) to supply up to 22 trams to Plzeňské městské dopravní podniky (PMDP).

The low-floor, three-section, bi-directional, high-capacity ForCity Smart trams will be deployed in PLZEŇ, Czech Republic.

Trams will include a fully swivel chassis and low axle pressure to prevent wear on the top of the track. They are estimated to increase the number of low-floor trams in PLZEŇ from the current 69% to 86%.