Second option for Tampere trams

On 12 December 2024, Škoda Group and Tampereen Raitiotie signed a contract for the delivery of seven new four-car bi-directional ForCity Smart Artic X34 trams and one additional module to extend one of the existing three-car trams. The contract, worth 70 million EUR, is part of an option from the 2017 framework contract and also includes a ten-year full vehicle service package. This contract follows a September 2024 order for ten-metre modules for 11 existing 37 metre trams, which will increase the capacity of each tram from 264 to 345 passengers, an increase of more than 30 %.

In 2017, Tampereen Raitiotie ordered 19 trams. Subsequently, an agreement was signed that allowed the TR 020 to be assembled from spare parts. On 25 May 2022, the customer ordered a further five three-car trams from the option and confirmed a further three three-car Artics in December 2022.

Last year, the company announced that due to the planned development of the tram network in Tampere, the target is to have 34 Artics available by the beginning of 2030, and 19 of them with a length of 47 m. This number will be slightly exceeded, as a total of 35 trams are currently ordered. Deliveries of the cars from the first option are already underway - the first, TR 021, was delivered on 26 July 2024. Currently, TR 025 arrived in Tampere on 25 January 2025, and the last three-car tram, TR 028, is scheduled to arrive in April 2025. The seven four-car trams from the second option are scheduled to be delivered between early 2027 and mid-2027.

The extending module project will start this year at the Škoda Otanmäki works with the production of a prototype that will be installed in one of the trams and undergo comprehensive factory testing, which should take approximately two months. This first long tram will then be transported to Tampere for type testing during 2026. Once approved, the remaining 10 batch-built modules will be produced, with installation to start in summer 2027 and finnish in summer 2028 with the delivery of the second option module, i. e. the twelfth one in total.

Due to the expansion of the tram network in Tampere and the growing vehicle fleet, the extension of the Hervanta tram depot was started in December 2024. The facility is open 24 hours a day and employs more than 100 people at different times of the day. The expansion will include increasing the hall and the number of tracks in it from six to nine, expanding the office and welfare facilities by approximately 200 m² and building new storage facilities. In addition, the car park will be enlarged and the possibility of charging employees' electric vehicles will be explored.

The extension will include the establishment of green roofs to manage rainwater and promote biodiversity. Tampereen Raitiotie has also installed solar panels that will provide approximately 20 % of the current electricity needs of the depot in 2023 with zero-emission energy and also provide charging for work vehicles. According to the current construction schedule, the depot will be completed at the end of 2027. Implementation planning for tests of traffic control or other functions in the depot area will begin in the next few weeks.