Škoda ForCity Plus 52T: New trams for Prague (2. strana)
Trams for Prague unveiled: Škoda ForCity Plus Praha 52T to serve the capital
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technological progress and developments
in the continuous control of drives, espe-
cially motors. We can now fine-tune the
motor braking smoothness until the vehic-
le comes to a complete stop, bridging the
original shortcomings of the mechanical
brake while reaching the market's best va-
lues in energy recovery and therefore
operating costs," said Tomáš Ignačák, Vi-
ce-Chair and President of CZ&SK and
Central East Regions in Škoda Group.
"Prague and DPP have purchased new
14T and 15T trams in the past twenty ye-
ars, but those mainly served to renew the
fleet and replace the outdated high-floor
trams rather than to increase the number
of available vehicles. At a time when there
was hardly any construction of new lines
in Prague, this might have been enough.
However, we have started a tram boom in
Prague. We are building new lines. Last
year, we opened three lines with a total
length of five kilometres, and more are co-
ming. For example, we are going to start
construction on Wenceslas Square. These
new lines alone, which we plan to build
between 2024 and 2027, will require 45
new trams. They will be these 100% low-
floor, quiet trams with an increased sea-
ting capacity and anti-collision system,"
says Zdeněk Hřib, First Deputy Mayor of
Prague for Transport and Chair of DPP's
Supervisory Board.
"We have treated this public contract for
up to 200 new trams with the utmost ca-
re, as we do other tenders. It was prece-
ded by preliminary market consultations
and the chosen form of published negoti-
ating procedure allowed us to further spe-
cify the requirements for the vehicles be-
ing offered by the tenderers and to verify
that they could make the trams within the
required time and to the required techni-
cal specifications. We relied on our long
experience with operating the 14T and
15T articulated trams. We managed to se-
lect the successful bidder according to the
schedule, i.e. within one year from the
publication of the contract and without
any obstructions or appeals to the Office
for the Protection of Competition. We sig-
ned the contract with the winner in late
2023 and teams from the two parties are
now working to fine-tune the technical
details for the production documentation.
I firmly believe that the production and
delivery of the new vehicle will continue
on schedule. The first passengers could ri-
de the new trams in trial runs as early as
next year. We should be taking over the
first 20 vehicles by 2 December 2025 and
another twenty by 31 December 2026.
The option enables us to purchase up to
another 160 vehicles to gradually replace
a substantial part of the current high-floor
vehicles if the City of Prague manages to
get funding for the purchase. If we use the
contract to its full extent, the last vehicle
would be delivered in 2032," comments
Petr Witowski, Chair and CEO of DPP, on
the details of the public procurement pro-
ject and the concluded contract.
"In about a month, it will be five years
since the last 15T tram was delivered, but
we are still paying them off. With the last
instalment of about CZK 800 million, we
will have finally paid for the previous large
contract to upgrade the tram fleet of DPP.
This opens up space for us to purchase
new vehicles, which is what we have al-
ways planned," says Jan Šurovský, Chair
and Technical Director of DPP - Surface,
adding: "I see the new tram as a combina-
tion of advanced 21st-century technical
solutions and proven technological prin-
ciples successfully tested in everyday ope-
ration in Prague. That is why I expect high
operational reliability and really low main-
tenance costs."
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