Prague will have two new trams for fifteen billion crowns Transport | News | Prague Gossip
The Prague transport company has issued a tender for the delivery of up to 200 trams with an estimated value of 15 billion crowns. This follows from the gazette of public contracts and the press release of the transport company. The company will purchase the first 40 cars on a binding basis, and will conclude a framework contract for the others until 2035. The company last purchased the latest 15T for City trams after 2010. It now owns more than 800 trams. Ondřej Prokop, the chairman of the Prague organization ANO and the control committee of the new city council, criticized the bidding.
Twenty new trams in 2025
According to information in the gazette, the company wants to take delivery of the first 20 trams in 2025 and another 20 in 2026. It will then be able to take delivery of others as needed on the basis of a framework contract in the following years. For the purchase of the first twenty cars, the company wants to use European subsidies from the National Recovery Plan. The cars will be needed to renew the car park and service the new lines.
The new low-floor trams should have a capacity of at least 220 passengers and a service life of at least 30 years from the delivery of the last vehicle from the order. “Preliminary market consultations showed us that there is interest on the market. We would like to have a tendered supplier and a signed contract with him within about one year, that is by the beginning of December 2023 at the latest,” stated the technical director of the surface transport company Jan Surovsky.
This year, the transport company started the construction of a tram line from Divoká Šárka to the Dědina estate, which should be put into operation at the turn of October and November next year, and is extending the tram line from Modřany to Libuš. In April of this year, the section from the housing estate in Barrandová to Holyně was put into operation, which continues to Slivenco. The plan also includes dormitories in the upper part of Wenceslas Square or the section connecting Bolzanova with Vinohradská street.
The tender announcement was criticized by opposition representative Prokop, referring to the Dosimeter case
“In addition, based on the decision of the Prague City Council, the DPP is planning to prepare another ten new tram lines, of which roughly half could be built in the next five years. For the past four years, we have been repairing and expanding the tram network in Prague, and we also need to modernize the fleet of cars.” added the outgoing deputy mayor Adam Scheinherr (Prague To Yourself).
The tendering was criticized by the opposition representative Prokop, referring to the Dozimeter case, in which, according to the police, an organized group of accused systematically occupied a key position in the transport company so that appointed friendly managers could influence tenders in order to receive bribes. “This case has reached the highest levels of politics. In addition, the transport company now does not even have proper control over itself, because even the supervisory board is not yet free from the shadow of the Dosimeter. It’s really unfortunate timing and I don’t think any of the citizens will have an iota of confidence in this public procurement.” stated that it would be appropriate to wait with the tender.
According to information on its website, the company has 802 trams in seven different types. The most numerous participants are the so-called solo cars of the T3 RP type, of which there are 347. The second most numerous participants are the newest 15T for City trams, of which the transport company also has 730 metro sets, 1216 buses and one trolleybus. It recently issued a tender for up to 70 additional low-floor trolleybuses for 1.18 billion crowns. The transport company also operates a cable car on Petřín.