The northern Italian city of Brescia (population 196 600), that has been operating a 13.7km 17-station Ansaldo automated metro since 2013, has announced that plans for a second line to be built as a tramway have been approved by the Ministry of Transport. State funding of EUR 244.5M for the EUR 326M project has been agreed. A contract for the construction and equipment of the 11.3km line has been awarded to a consortium made up of Menelli Impresa, Alstom and Hitachi Rail, with completion programmed for 2030. Battery power will be used on 3.1km of the line, using 18 five-section Hitachi LIVe trams (a development of the Sirio platform). T2 will run from Capolinea Pendolina in the north-west, via the city centre and Stazione FS, to Fiera in the south-west.
Brescia had a first-generation tramway from 1892 to 1949 when it was replaced by trolleybuses that ran until 1968.
The Hitachi trams for Brescia will be based on the Sirio platform. (Hitachi Rail)
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