GERMANY: Dresden transport authority DVB signed a contract for Bombardier Transportation to supply 30 Flexity trams on August 22.
Bombardier beat eight other bidders to win the €197m contract, which includes maintenance of the vehicles for 24 years under Bombardier’s FlexCare programme. There is an option to extend this by eight years, and an option to supply 10 more trams.
Bombardier will build the bodyshells at it plant in Görlitz, and final assembly will take place at its Bautzen factory. The first tram is to expected to be delivered in mid-2021, with all 30 due to be in Dresden by the end of October 2023.
The 1 450 mm gauge vehicles will be equipped with Bombardier’s Obstacle Detection & Assistance System. They will be 43 m long and 2 650 mm wide, making them 350 mm wider than DVB’s current vehicles. This will allow each of the new trams to carry 290 passengers, which is an increase of around 10% on the existing trams. DVB needs this in order to keep up with growing ridership. Nine trams will be bidirectional and the remaining 21 will be unidirectional.
