GERMANY: ‘We are now launching the new flagship of our fleet — the 60 m long tram’, said Christian Specht, Mayor of Mannheim and Chair of the Rhein-Neckar-Verkehr supervisory board at the unveiling of the operator’s first Škoda ForCity Smart 38T LRV.
Specht reported that the car was ‘the longest metre gauge tram in the world, and it will provide urgently needed additional capacity on our tracks, playing an important role in public transport’.
In 2018 RNV awarded Škoda a €250m contract to supply 80 trams for the metre-gauge network serving the three cities of Mannheim, Ludwigshafen and Heidelberg, with options for 34 more.
Škoda is supplying 31 three-section 36T trams 30·5 m long, 37 four-section 37T trams 40·7 m long, and 12 six-section 38T trams 58·2m long.
Unveiling the first of the long trams in September, Specht said RNV had decided to exercise the option for 34 additional 36T trams. Delivery of all 114 vehicles is expected to be completed by the end of 2026.
