ROMANIA: The first of 13 trams which Durmazlar is to supply for the reopening of the abandoned tramway in Reșita was delivered on January 29.
Tram services ended in 2011 because the city could not afford to renew the ageing infrastructure and rolling stock. Since then, it has it has secured EU funding to support rehabilitation of part of the network.
A 268m lei contract for infrastructure renewals was signed with Austrian company Porr in April 2022, and work started the following month. This includes the provision of bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure.
In June 2020 Turkish company Durmazlar was awarded a 135·4m lei contract to supply 13 trams, entirely financed from the EU’s 2014-20 Regional Operational Programme.
The 18 m long bidirectional vehicles have 33 seats and a capacity of 135 passengers. Features included wheelchair ramps, CCTV, passenger counters, USB sockets, wi-fi and smoke detectors.
‘The idea of the trams’ grey-yellow-green livery came from Durmazlar, who knew the history of Reșița, that we have been producing steel for 250 years. And we thought it is a brilliant idea’, said Mayor Ioan Popa.
The rebuilt line will be 9 km long, following the disused Route 1 from RENK in the north to Piața Republicii in the southeast. The new northern terminus will be at Kaufland, 250 m short of RENK, and the route from Piața Republicii to Stavila will be permanently abandoned.
Driver training is underway in Timișoara and reopening of the tramway is scheduled for April 2024, although the municipality says works are running four months ahead of schedule.
