Romania: The first four-section low-floor tram produced by Astra Vagoane at the Arad plant was delivered the country’s capital in June by order of the Societatea de Transport Bucuresti (STB) public transport operator.
A contract worth €200 mln for the supply of 100 trams of this series and their maintenance for 5 years was signed last spring following the results of the tender. There was another participant in the competition, the Turkish Durmazlar, that was at first named by Bucharest City Council as the most preferrable supplier. However, under the court decision later the Turkish company was disqualified, since the tram model proposed for the competition was not certified and was not operated in the EU. Moreover, it was reported that Durmazlar included illegal additions to its offer.
It is worth noting that during the court proceedings and in the contract announcement the CRRC participation in the project as a partner of the consortium with Astra was indicated. But the Chinese manufacturer was no longer mentioned in recent publications, and it was not possible to find any actual information about CRRC’s contribution to the tram project.
Interior of the Imperio Metropolitan tram by Astra Vagoane for Bucharest. Source: forum.metrouusor.com
Initially, the first tram was supposed to be delivered to Bucharest in August, and from September the city will receive four trams per month. But Astra managed to start deliveries several months ahead of schedule: it intends to reach a monthly supply of four trams in August and complete the contract by 2024.
The Imperio Metropolitan tram is 36 m long and has a maximum passenger capacity of 322 people, including 56 seats. Its undercarriage includes two motorized swivel bogies and four traction motors with a power of 120 kW each, due to which it can reach a maximum speed of 70 km/h that is the highest speed compared to other trams operating in Bucharest. Traction equipment was partly supplied by Siemens Mobility, partly by the local ICPE-SAERP. The Imperio Metropolitan has 5 two-leaved doors, which are located on one side of the tram and are equipped with a passenger fall prevention system. The tram is also equipped with a passenger counting system, information displays and video monitoring system.
Bogie of the Imperio Metropolitan tram by Astra Vagoane for Bucharest. Source: mobilitate.eu
Drive’s cabin of the Imperio Metropolitan tram by Astra Vagoane for Bucharest. Source: forum.metrouusor.com
The Imperio platform developed jointly with Siemens Mobility has been in the Astra’s portfolio since 2014 and includes four tram models: Imperio, Metropolitan, Civitas and Autentic. At the customer’s request, the tram can include from 2 to 6 sections 9 m long each. Currently, trams of Imperio platform are being operated in four Romanian cities.
The Bucharest tram network is one of the most extensive in the world. It consists of 27 lines, where 506 trams produced from the 1970s to 1990s by URAC and Tatra are operating. Some trams underwent modernization in the 2000s. Astra’s competitor for subsequent contracts in Bucharest might be another Turkish producer, Bozankaya. Its first five-section low-floor tram with batteries (drive range of 60 km) was put into operation in Timisoara at the end of June. Bozankaya won the corresponding tender for the supply of 21 trams in 2019, beating Pesa.
