Russia: Dmitry Rogozin, CEO of the Russian State Space Corp. (Roscosmos), has published renders of retro-style and multisectional tram models, designed by its subsidiary Ust-Katav Car-Building Plant (UKCP), in his official Telegram-channel.
As the head of UKCP Roman Novikov reported to TASS agency, the retro-style model was named “Stilyaga” (the Soviet tram LM-57 had the same unofficial name, it was produced and operated in St. Petersburg in the 50-80s of the last century) and has a stylized antique exterior, while modern technologies will be applied in the cabin, chassis, control system, etc. A similar solution of a 71-415R retro tram was presented by Uraltransmash (a member entity of Uralvagonzavod) at the end of 2020. These trams are already being operated in Nizhny Novgorod as Sberbank Leasing is supplying it under an agreement for 11 trams worth almost 946 mln RUR ($12.9 mln USD). Earlier St. Petersburg has announced to make a significant order of retro style trams; the city is going to purchase 85 such trams for its the historic center.
Technical characteristics of the five-section 71-655 model are already available on the UKCP website. In particular, its undercarriage includes 3 bogies and 8 engines of 50 kW each, the minimum radius of passable curves is 16 m. According to the render, it is planned to install 6 double-leaf doors and their width should be at least 1,300 mm. The potential total capacity should be 270 people. Another Russian manufacturer, PС Transport Systems (PС TS), also has a project for a five-section tram – it is numbered 71-952 and was presented in 2016.
3d-render of the five-section 71-655 tram being developed by UKCP. Source: Roscosmos
With reference to Roscosmos, UKCP has multiplied the volume of its contracts in 2021. This year manufacturer signed contracts for 4.2 bln RUR ($57 mln USD), almost 2.5 times more than the result of 2020, and 143 tram cars are expected to be delivered (2.7 times more than in 2020 backlog). Significant assistance to UKCP is provided by partnership with Sinara – Transport Machines (STM): the manufacturers should jointly supply 90 single-section trams of 71-628M model for Moscow, 60 trams of 71-628 model will be delivered to Taganrog within the concession, also 30 of 71-623 trams with variable floor level are to be delivered to Chelyabinsk by the end of 2021. Recently, STM has signed an agreement with the Rostov region on cooperation in the development of tram traffic in Rostov-on-Don: the project involves the purchase of 98 three-section trams.
According to the State Transport Leasing Company (GTLK) data, there currently are 7.6 thousand tram cars in operation in Russia (-13.6% in comparison to 2010), the total wear level is 61%, the average age is 24 years.
