New Škoda trams started passenger service in Cottbus

On 15 August 2025, the Škoda ForCity Plus 47T trams have started operating with passengers at Cottbusverkehr. The use of the new trams represents a significant technological step forward and a fundamental modernization of local tram transport. 

The ceremony took place under the motto BOOMTOWN COTTBUS, an activity through which Cottbus wants to become a European model city for climate protection, sustainability and growth. Over 4 billion EUR will be invested in the future in the next decade as part of the dynamic transition from the fossil era to knowledge, technology and new energy. Around 15,000 new jobs will be created in national and international development projects. One of the latter is the new ICE depot in Cottbus.

The three-section ForCity Plus 47T cars, with a length of almost 29 m, are 70 % low-floor, 2.4 m wide, can accommodate up to 158 passengers, of them 66 seating (61 fixed seats and 5 tip-up seats) and offer a high standard of comfort and safety. Cottbusverkehr has ordered a total of 22 vehicles - having confirmed the option for 15 ones in addition to the seven originally ordered.

The delivery is part of a joint contract that the German cities of Frankfurt an der Oder, Cottbus and Brandenburg an der Havel concluded in 2021. Škoda Group is supplying a unified ForCity Plus FCB vehicle platform, which is adapted to the specifics of each city. In Frankfurt an der Oder, new Type 46T trams entered service in June, and in Brandenburg an der Havel, they expect the start of operation of the Type 48T trams soon.

Cottbus has been operating a 1,000 mm gauge tram network since 1903. It forms the backbone of urban transport and currently includes four lines with a length of approximately 35 km (three lines on weekends), which serve a total of 49 stops. The tram network has a length of 26 km. Cottbusverkehr‘s fleet currently consists of more than twenty modernized KTNF6 trams, which are rebuilds the original high-floor KT4D trams manufactured in Czechoslovakia, which now include a low-floor middle section and a modern control system.