Ulm to increase tram passenger capacity

On 17 May an EUR 45.9M contract was signed with Siemens to add two modules to each of 18 Avenio trams to increase passenger capacity from 185 to 256 passengers by 2028. EUR 28M will be spent modifying the depot and workshops for the longer trams. 

 

Stadtwerke Ulm ordered 12 Siemens Avenio 31.5m 100% low-floor articulated trams for EUR 32M in May 2015. They entered service on the new line 2 in December 2018. Another six followed in 2022-2023. All will be extended to become seven-section trams. 

 

Klaus Adler, General manager of Stadtwerke Ulm, said, ‘Through the increase in capacity of our trams, more people will be able to travel through Ulm in a climate-friendly way in the future. We can achieve this without increasing staff costs. We thank the Land of Baden-Württemburg for underwriting 40% of this investment, and half the cost of rebuilding the depot and workshop’. 

 

Ulm also has 10 examples of the Avenio’s predecessor, the Siemens Combino, delivered in 2003-2008. Plans are being developed to replace these with new trams in 2030. Trams have been running in Ulm since 1897 and the two-line 19.1km system carries about 30 000 passengers/day.