Poland: Late last year, rolling stock manufacturer Pesa signed an agreement to acquire 100% of the shares in Leipzig-based tram builder HeiterBlick. The transaction, whose value has not been disclosed, is expected to close in the first quarter of this year. It follows Pesa’s €1.6bn financing package to expand production capacity, secure new contracts, and strengthen R&D.
Pesa told Polish railway publication Rynek Kolejowy that the HeiterBlick name and logo will be retained. To optimise costs, some production processes, including R&D and welding, will be transferred to Pesa’s main plant in Bydgoszcz, Poland. Final assembly and the commercial department will remain at the Leipzig facility.
Pesa says the acquisition will enable the company to enter the German tram market more rapidly. The manufacturer had previously bid for tram contracts in Germany but failed to secure any. Pesa plans to offer operators both HeiterBlick’s variable-floor tram designs and its own next-generation low-floor platforms Twist 3.0 and Swing 3.0.
Founded in 2004, drawing on tram manufacturing and repair expertise dating back to the 1920s, HeiterBlick filed for bankruptcy in April 2025. The company cited supply chain disruptions and rising component costs caused by the Covid-19 pandemic and the conflict in Ukraine. At the time of filing, HeiterBlick’s order book included 40 Saxon-platform trams for Leipzig, Görlitz, and Zwickau; 34 Vamos trams for Dortmund; and 18 GT-F trams for Würzburg. Görlitz and Zwickau later cancelled their orders and launched a new joint tender. Pesa has stated it intends to fulfil all remaining contractual obligations.
