A new tram for Bonn to start testing in Plzeň
Testing in the streets of Plzeň will take about two months.
Test operation of the new Škoda 41T tram will begin next week on the tracks of the Pilsen City Transport Company (PMDP). The Pilsen-based Škoda Group completed the first tram of the series in August this year. It will subsequently operate in Bonn, where Škoda Group will deliver a total of 26 trams.
PMDP announced the start of the test runs on Facebook, pointing out that it is a completely different tram from the 40T, which is already running in the city in PMDP livery.
The trams for Bonn are bidirectional, three-section, low-floor trams with rotating bogies. With a length of 30 meters, they offer space for 180 passengers. Among other things, they will be equipped with a camera system. The contract, which could be worth up to EUR 162 million, also includes the supply of spare parts for 25 years.
The Bonn transport company operates trams on three lines, with Duewag trams from the first half of the 1990s in service in the city. The transport company expects the new trams to significantly reduce maintenance costs and increase reliability.
For the Skoda Transportation Group, the Bonn order is not the only major tram success in Germany. In the coming years, eighty trams will be delivered to Mannheim, Ludwigshafen, and Heidelberg, where rnv (Rhein-Neckar-Verkehr) operates trams.
Edited and translated by Lucie Trávníčková