Brazil: A fleet of four seven-section vehicles began carrying passengers in test mode on 29 June along a 4 km section with six stops in Salvador. Completion of the entire 36.4 km light rail system in the Salvador metropolitan area is expected in 2029.
Each bidirectional Urbos 100 tram, 44.2 m long, is reported to be able to carry up to 400 passengers, including 77 seated. Maximum speed is 70 km/h, while average speed on the line is 25 km/h. Salvador has so far received eight such vehicles.
The Spanish manufacturer originally supplied a fleet of 40 Urbos 100 trams in 2013-2014 for the light rail system of another Brazilian city, Cuiabá. However, construction was halted in 2015 due to a corruption scandal and delays. Five years later the project was fully cancelled: the cost of resuming the tram line construction turned out to be twice that of building a bus rapid transit system instead.
In August 2024, the government of Bahia state purchased all the trams from Cuiabá. Due to the years-long inactivity, the entire fleet had to be sent to CAF’s site in São Paulo state for repairs. During the work, the interior layout is being changed at the customer’s request, and the vehicles are also receiving a new livery. The cost of the rolling stock, the modernisation, and the commissioning test programme came to around €170 mln for the state.
