CZECH REPUBLIC: A KC2·4bn framework agreement for the supply of up to 40 ForCity Smart 34 trams and 40 Type 27Tr trolleybuses was signed by Brno urban transport operator DPMB and Škoda Transportation on February 2.
The first 20 trolleybuses are to be delivered in January 2022 and five trams by February 2023, with Brno becoming the third Czech city after Plzeň and Ostrava to operate the latest generation of Škoda ForCity Smart trams.
Further orders are dependent on funding being available, with the options required to be exercised by 2026.
The 31 m long three-section 100% low-floor bidirectional trams rated at 560 kW will have a maximum speed of 70 km/h. They will have 64 seats and a capacity of 233 passengers at 5/m2, with two large multi-purpose areas to accommodate wheelchairs, pushchairs or bicycles.
They will be equipped with air-conditioning, CCTV, wi-fi and an LCD screen passenger information system
Intended to replace KT8D5 articulated vehicles built by ČKD in the 1980-90s, the trams will primarily be used on Route 8, with a 9 km extension to a university campus and hospital in the southwestern suburb of Bohunice scheduled to open in late 2022.
The extension is being built by a consortium of Metrostav and Firesta-Fišer under a KC1·497bn EU co-funded contract signed in June 2019, and will include a 619 m long cut-and-cover tunnel under Mikuláškovo náměstí.
‘Not only will our modern trams gradually change the face of Brno’s streets, but they will help attract more passengers onto public transport and make it more attractive than individual car transport’, said Tomáš Ignačák, Deputy Chairman of the Škoda Transportation Group. ‘Investments in modern vehicles clearly have a positive effect on reducing emissions and thus contribute to improving air and life in cities.’
