ForCity Smart trams for Mainz

In early May 2025, the supervisory board of Mainzer Stadtwerke (MSW) decided at an extraordinary meeting to purchase 22 new trams for its subsidiary Mainzer Mobilität. Škoda will deliver them in 2028 - 30, the investment volume exceeds 100 million EUR, and an option for eight more vehicles is available. The order is largely financed by Mainzer Stadtwerke, in addition, the company will receive grants from the city of Mainz and financial support of 5 million EUR from the Rhineland-Palatinate Ministry of Mobility (MKUEM) to support innovative components in the new trams.

The trams will be built on the ForCity Smart platform. They will be bidirectional, for a 1,000 mm track gauge, with rotating bogies and a length of 43.5 m. Interesting features include panoramic windows. The new vehicles will play an important role in the development of public transport in the city and will replace the 22 current trams: six high-floor Type M8C trams (DÜWAG, 1984), which are therefore more than 40 years old, and 16 low-floor Type GT6M-ZR trams (Adtranz, 1996). Each ForCity Smart  can accommodate 258 passengers, 96 of them seated. For comparison: M8C trams have space for 139 passengers and GT6M-ZR trams for 143 passengers.

In addition to the types described above, MSW/Mainzer Mobilität, also has unidirectionaly Variobahn trams from Stadler in its fleet, with a length of 30.07 m and a capacity of 177 passengers, of which 65 are seated, namely nine cars from 2012 and ten cars from 2016.

By purchasing new trams, the city, which has approximately 223,000 inhabitants, is now responding to the necessary renewal of the fleet, since the Type M8C trams are more than 40 years old and, among other things, their high floor no longer meets today's requirements.

The eight optional Škoda trams were supposed to cover traffic on the planned expansion of the network, which was agreed in 2020. However, only one of the three projects is currently being implemented - the approximately 300 m long connecting line in Bingerstrasse between Alicenplatz and Münsterplatz at the main train station. Work began here in June 2024 and the line is due to open in December this year.

The second project is a new line in the area east of the main station, from Schillerplatz in the city centre northwards to the Neustadt district, with construction work currently scheduled to start in 2029 and an unclear completion date.

And the third project, a line from the university clinic in the centre, south of the main station, to the new Heiligkreuz district in the south-east of Mainz, which has been under construction since 2017 and will offer around 2,000 apartments for around 6,000 residents, currently does not even have a construction start date set. For these reasons, the option for eight ForCity Smart cars was not confirmed, as they will not be needed for a long time.

MSW told us: "Whether the option for the additional eight vehicles is exercised depends largely on whether subprojects 2 and 3 are implemented. Only once this decision has been made can a decision be made regarding the option. It is currently uncertain when this will happen."

MKUEM explained us that the following innovative components of the new Mainz vehicles will receive partial funding from the Rheinland-Pfalz Land:

- Pre-installation for no-catenary operation. The small storage units enable the trams to cover short distances using batteries. This offers greater reliability during disruptions and greater flexibility in the design and expansion of the tram network, ensuring minimal impact on the urban landscape.

- Pre-installation for an automated check-in and check-out ticketing system. The implementation of a fully automated ticketing system optimizes passenger flow. This results in shorter waiting times at stops, which in turn directly improves travel times.

- Innovative air conditioning system. This will include the neutralization of disease-transmitting particles, location-dependent whisper-quiet operation, the use of environmentally friendly refrigerants, and a supporting lighting concept. This innovative system not only ensures a pleasant interior climate but also contributes to controlling the perceived temperature while reducing energy consumption.

- Innovative bogie concept. With a specially developed bogies, we enable quiet and low-wear running dynamics. At the same time, we ensure a consistently low-floor, which enables excellent space utilization for passengers and facilitates barrier-free entry.

- Innovative driver assistance systems. The equipment includes state-of-the-art cameras and sensors that automatically detect dangerous situations and obstacles and can intervene accordingly if necessary. These technologies significantly increase the safety of all road users.

- Innovative signaling of the passenger doors. A previously unavailable visual traffic light system indicates the door status. This creates clear communication of operational readiness and increases safety and user-friendliness. This is particularly helpful for passengers with limited visual or acoustic perception.

Jan Christoph Harder, President Region West & North Škoda Group, said: “Mainz is a city with a rich tram tradition, and it is great to see how this heritage is combined with modern vehicles. This order is an important step for us, as it means that our trams will be operating in the 11th German city. This contract also confirms our position as the leading supplier of trams for narrow-gauge lines in Germany.”

Nine transport companies that provide tram services in eleven German cities have ordered a total of 242 trams from Škoda Group: Mannheim, Heidelberg, Ludwigshafen, Frankfurt an der Oder, Cottbus, Brandenburg an der Havel, Bonn, Chemnitz, Schöneiche, Kassel, Mainz.