Recent deals and tenders in the urban rail transport market.
Serbia — Turkey’s Bozankaya was the only bidder in a €188 mln tender to supply Belgrade with 85 trams. The tender, now closed, called for unidirectional three-section vehicles between 18 and 21 m long. Several European manufacturers argued that the unusually detailed specifications, combined with the tight delivery schedule, were anti-competitive. They had the procurement suspended in February, but their objections were dismissed the following month. Five-section Bozankaya trams have been running in the Serbian capital since last year; the final units of the original 25-vehicle order were handed over in April.
Romania — The European Investment Bank has signed a €266 mln loan agreement with Bucharest to fund the purchase of 63 trams, with deliveries due by 2030. Part of the funding will go towards infrastructure upgrades. Between 2022 and 2024, Romanian manufacturer Astra delivered 100 four-section Imperio Metropolitan trams to the city, although the bulk of Bucharest’s fleet still consists of Tatra T4R and V3A vehicles built by Czechoslovak manufacturer ČKD and local builder URAC from the 1970s to the 1990s.
Russia — Nizhekotrans, the Russian joint venture of Belarusian manufacturer BKM Holding, has completed delivery of 144 single-section T811 trams to Nizhny Novgorod. The company has also supplied seven three-section T856 vehicles, with the remaining 19 due by year-end. The trams are being procured under a concession agreement signed with the Nizhny Novgorod Region government in 2022. Final assembly takes place at the plant in Vorsma.
T811 MiNin in Nizhny Novgorod. Source: Golub_NN/TransPhoto
Russia — Saratov will receive RUB 6.8 bln ($90.5 mln) in federal subsidies to modernise its tram network and acquire 41 trams. State Duma Chairman Vyacheslav Volodin said the funds will be released in stages between 2026 and 2028. The regional budget and VEB.RF, a Russian state development corporation and investment company, through their concessional leasing programme, are also expected to contribute. Earlier this year, Saratov used a separate federal subsidy to procure 16 three-section 71-931M Vityaz-M trams from PC Transport Systems.
Visualisation of a Stadler tram for Görlitz. Source: Stadler
Germany — Stadler will supply eight low-floor TINA trams to Görlitz and a further six to Zwickau. Operators GVB and SVZ awarded the contract following a tender that also included an option for 18 more vehicles. The three-section, metre-gauge trams will be built at Stadler’s plant in Poland, with entry into service planned for 2028.
T811 trams in Pavlodar. Source: Artem Viktorov/Kazinform
Kazakhstan — T811 trams with autonomous range increased to 20 km have entered service in Pavlodar. Three of the four vehicles delivered so far are now in operation, with the remaining six of the 10 ordered from BKM Holding due by the end of April. According to news agency Kazinform, citing the city’s akimat, KZT 3.8 bln (€7 mln) has been allocated for the rolling stock procurement.
