ForCity Trams For Brandenburg

On 17 February 2021, Škoda Transportation announced that it will supply its ForCity Plus trams to the cities of Frankfurt (Oder), Brandenburg an der Havel and Cottbus. The Czech manufacturer won an international tender, invited jointly by the three transport companies, SVF, VBBr and CVBB, together with Brandenburg Land (which provides financial support), for 24 trams with an option for 21 more, worth total of 110 million EUR. 

Stadtverkehrsgesellschaft Frankfurt (Oder) will receive 13 ForCity Plus trams, Verkehrsbetriebe Brandenburg an der Havel will have four (+ 8 in option) and Cottbusverkehr GmbH seven (+ 13 in option). Deliveries are scheduled to start in 2023. If the Brandenburg state subsidy, as dealt in the coalition agreement, will continue beyond 2022, the three operators can quickly order the 21 vehicles in the option. The latter trams are expected to be delivered by 2026.

The ForCity Plus vehicles will replace the existing high-floor TATRA trams, which are nearing the end of their service life, being around 40 years old. The new trams are the three-car 70 % low-floor unidirectional vehicles, mounted on two powered pivoting bogies and one non-powered non-pivoting bogie. The air-conditioned barrier-free trams will be delivered in two widths, because despite the large number of identical requirements and conditions, there are also various individual requirements of each urban transport company. The trams will also offer multifunctional spaces for wheelchairs, prams or bikes, and will be fitted with the CCTV.

Petr Brzezina, Škoda Transportation group President, said: „With this order we have started the second hundred of our trams on order in Germany. For us this means another success in Brandenburg Land, where there are already Škoda trams in service at Schöneicher-Rüdersdorfer Straßenbahn and in Chemnitz. Moreover, the contract for ForCity Smart trams for Mannheim, Heidelberg, Ludwigshafen and Bonn is currently ongoing.“