Skoda wins Mainz order for 22 trams

The Supervisory Board of Mainzer Stadtwerke AG, the tram and bus operator in the German city of Mainz, has approved the purchase of 22 new 100% low-floor trams. The order has now been placed with Skoda Group that will supply 43.5m five-section double-ended ForCity Smart cars in 2028-2030 at a cost of just over EUR 100M (EUR 4.6M per tram), with EUR 12M coming from the city council. They will replace the last Stadtbahn-M cars in the city’s fleet and the 16 ADtranz GT6M dating from 1996. The new air-conditioned trams will each carry up to 258 passengers (96 seated) and have five double doors for rapid boarding and alighting. Skoda has already delivered trams to Mannheim (RNV) and Bonn, with a pending order for Kassel. 

 

Jan Christophe Harder, President of the North region of Skoda Group, said, ‘Mainz is a city with a long tram tradition and it is fantastic that this history is now being continued with modern and sustainable vehicles. Skoda Group’s collaboration with Mainzer Verkehrsgesellschaft further solidified our position as the leading provider of metre-gauge cars in Germany. We will deliver reliable vehicles to Mainz that will shape people’s mobility for years to come’. 

 

Joint Managing Directors of Mainer Stadtwerke AG, Jochen Erlhof and Florian Wiesemann said, ‘New vehicles are absolutely necessary to ensure their long-term reliable operation of the trams in Mainz. At the same time time the vehicles’ increased capacity will help cope with growing passenger numbers and meet today’s requirements for accessibility, modernity and air conditioning. This is especially true given the positive development in local public transport; last year our passenger numbers reached the record level of around 56.9M, exceeding pre-coronavirus total for the first time’. 

 

Mainz has operated trams since 1884 (electric from 1904) and the 29.7km system offers five lines worked by a fleet of 85 trams. The last purchase of new trams was nine Stadler Variobahn in 2011/12, followed by 10 more in 2015/16.