BOSNIA & HERZEGOVINA: The Canton of Sarajevo has awarded Stadler a contract to supply 15 trams to replace obsolete vehicles, the first order for new trams for the city in many years.
The €34·7m order signed September 1 is being financed with loans from the European Investment Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction & Development. The trams will be owned by the canton rather than by city transport operator GRAS.
Durmazlar, CAF, Škoda Transportation and Alstom had also bid.
The three-section 1 435 mm gauge trams will have a capacity of 180 passengers, including 79 seated, with six doors including four twin-leaf doors, air-conditioning, USB sockets, a passenger information system and CCTV.
The first is scheduled to be delivered in September 2023 and the rest by summer of 2024. An order for further five may follow.
Stadler Executive Vice-President Sales & Marketing Ansgar Brockmeyer said this was the first time since the 1960s that Sarajevo had acquired new tram rather than second-hand vehicles.
The canton’s transport minister Adnan Šteta also announced that 25 trolleybuses would be delivered by Belarusian manufacturer BKM at the start of 2022.
‘The citizens of Sarajevo, after decades of waiting, will finally get the public transport they deserve’, said Šteta. ‘With the reconstruction of the tram lines and the purchase of new vehicles we are continuing with the large public transport investment project. We are also planning to expand the tram network to Hrasnica and the trolleybus network to Vogošća.’
EIB said it had allocated €40m this year under favourable terms to improve public transport in Sarajevo, with the upgraded services intended to encourage a shift from private to public transport.
‘We are glad to see EIB investments are directly changing people’s lives for the better’, said the bank’s representative for Bosnia-Herzegovina and Montenegro Sandrine Friscia. ‘New trams will help reduce commuting times and the number of traffic accidents, thus improving living conditions for everyone. At the same time, they will lower the level of noise and pollution in the city, which will bring us closer to fulfilment of the EU Strategy for the Western Balkans and the EIB climate goals. As the EU climate bank, we want to help the region shift to more sustainable transport options, resulting in a cleaner environment and the capability to mitigate climate change more efficiently.’
