GERMANY: Darmstadt transport operator HEAG Mobilo has ordered a further 11 Stadler ST15 low-floor trams to support a planned increase in services and enable the withdrawal of 30-year old ST12 high-floor cars.
The order announced on June 30 has been placed as an option on a €62m contract for an initial 14 trams which was agreed in January last year, and takes the total value to €100m. Deliveries are scheduled to start in late 2022, with the trams entering service between mid-2023 and mid-2024.
The five-section unidirectional ST15 trams will be 43 m long with 103 seats and a total capacity of 284 passengers. They will feature a driver assistance system with traffic sign recognition, a revised bogie design to optimise the use of space and improve maintainability, and an air-conditioning system which will use CO2 as the refrigerant to offer better environmental performance than conventional coolants.
