Recent deals and tenders in the urban rail transport market.
Serbia — Alstom has disclosed details of its €915 mln turnkey contract to supply 32 driverless Metropolis metro trainsets to Belgrade. The three-car units will be built at the company’s Valenciennes plant in France, with the scope including Urbalis CBTC signalling, communications, cybersecurity, power supply, platform screen doors, depot equipment and a new control centre.
Sweden — Gothenburg tram operator Västtrafik has issued a pre-qualification notice for a SEK 5 bln (€460 mln) tender to procure up to 65 trams measuring 45 m. Following industry consultations, the procurement—similar to the M34 (Alstom Flexity) vehicles in service since 2024—is scheduled to begin after 2030.
Russia — Chelyabinsk has tendered for 12 three-section low-floor bidirectional trams at a starting price of RUB 2.5 bln ($32 mln) or RUB 212 mln ($2.7 mln) per unit. Specified for metrotram operation with ALS-ARS safety system, the 28.1 m units must accelerate to 75 km/h, offer 1.5 km catenary-free range and carry 200 passengers (66 seated). Bids close on 24 April, with delivery by end-2026. Last year, the city procured five similar 71-638-02 Altair trams from Ust-Katav Car-Building Plant under its metrotram programme.
Visualisation of driverless Innovia APM R trainsets for Houston. Source: Alstom
USA — Alstom will supply eight two-car trainsets for Houston’s international airport. The contract covers driverless rubber-tyred Innovia APM R trainsets, which transferred to Alstom following its acquisition of Bombardier Transportation in 2021. In recent years, the French manufacturer has won several contracts to upgrade similar automated transport systems at airports in other US cities.
Three-section 71-931M Vityaz-M tram in Saratov. Source: PC TS
Russia — PC Transport Systems has completed delivery of 16 three-section 71-931M Vityaz-M trams to city operator Saratovgorelektrotrans under a RUB 2.8 bln ($36 mln) contract awarded earlier this year.
