TURKEY: Kocaeli municipality centred on Izmit has awarded Bozankaya a TL697m contract to supply 10 trams.
The 100% low-floor bidirectional trams will be 33 m long and able to carry 298 passengers, including 66 seated.
Bozankaya says that the trams are to be designed and built entirely domestically and are intended ‘to fit the city’s historical texture and cityscape’. The cars are to be delivered within 540 days of the contract award on April 27.
The fleet will augment the 12 Panorama trams that were supplied to Izmit by Durmazlar.
The city’s sole tram line opened in June 2017, initially running from Sekapark in the west to Otogar in the east via the city’s main line station. It was extended west by 2·2 km from Sekapark to Playjolu in February 2019, and a further one-stop, 900 m extension opened on April 20, linking Plajyolu with Kuruçeşme.
A 3·5 km long branch is currently under construction to connect Mehmet Ali Paşa on the existing line to Şehir Hastanesi in the north of the city. Another 3·5 km long branch that would run from Yahya Kaptan to Alikahya Stadyum in the southeast is currently going through the tendering process.
