BOLIVIA: The first two Metelitsa trams that Stadler is supplying to Cochabamba have left the manufacturer’s factory at Minsk in Belarus.
One of the vehicles is being transported by road to the port of Klaipeda in Lithuania to be shipped to Arica in Chile before continuing its journey by road to Cochabamba.
The other vehicle have been transported to Olsztyn in Poland to carry dynamic tests, as this is the closest 1 435 mm gauge network to Minsk. The tests, which are expected to last around one month, will be carried out with the assistance of the Baltic Test Centre.
In February 2018 Stadler was awarded a contract to supply 12 trams for the Cochabamba project. Work on the vehicles began in October, and nine are currently in production.
The three-section vehicles are 34 m long, 2 500 mm wide and 3·6 m high with capacity for 376 passengers at 8/m2.
The Asociación Accidental Tunari consortium of Joca Ingeniería y Construcciones and Molinari Rail is building the US$537m tram project, which would comprise three routes totalling 42·3 km and serving 42 stops.
