Recent deals and tenders in the urban rail transport market.
Kazakhstan — BKM Holding has completed the delivery of 13 trams to two Kazakh cities. In Pavlodar, the last of the 10 ordered low-floor T811 trams, with an autonomous range extended to 20 km, have entered service. In Ust-Kamenogorsk, the Belarusian manufacturer has handed over partial low-floor T701 carbodies in first build specification to modernise old 71-605 (KTM-5) trams built by UKCP in the 1980s. Last year three vehicles were modernised under the same arrangement.
Modernised T701 trams by BKM Holding in Ust-Kamenogorsk. Source: VKO akimat press service
Singapore — The first CR151 metro train from CRRC, destined for the future CRL, has been delivered to the country. It will begin testing shortly. The local Land Transport Authority has ordered a total of 44 six-car driverless trains from the Chinese manufacturer for SGD 589 mln (around $440 mln). The rolling stock is being built at the CRRC plant in Qingdao.
Unloading the first CR151 metro train at the port of Singapore. Source: LTA
Sweden — Škoda Group has won a tender to supply up to 38 trams for Uppsala’s future transport system. The contract, whose value has not yet been disclosed, is to be signed with the Swedish state leasing company Transitio once the appeal period expires. The core order — 20 thirty-metre trams — is to be delivered in 2028. The options provide for a further 18 vehicles and for lengthening the first batch of trams to 40 m. The named manufacturer is Škoda’s Finnish subsidiary Transtech, which produces the Artic platform and is facing possible job cuts.
India — Kolkata’s metro is to acquire 60 trains over the next five years, India’s railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has announced. It is worth noting that a tender for 10 eight-car trains for Kolkata was announced last summer but was later cancelled. The city currently operates 59 trains from various manufacturers, including India’s Medha Servo Drives, ICF and BEML, as well as China’s CRRC.
