Prague City to Purchase Up to 200 New Trams

The Prague City Council yesterday approved the purchase of up to 200 new trams. The Prague Public Transit Company (DPP) has been conducting market consultations in the past months.

This is the first tender for the supply of new trams in Prague in 17 years.

DPP is calling for 30-meter-long, air-conditioned, low-floor trams “adapted to Prague’s specific conditions”. Price, power consumption, warranty period, and life cycle costs will all play a role in the tender.

Prague will order 40 vehicles to be delivered by the end of 2026 at an estimated CZK 2.42 billion. Up to 160 additional vehicles are to be purchased under a framework contract.

The growing tram network and the need to replace old T3 trams have caused the need for new vehicles, according to the city administration.

Prague’s tram network is currently undergoing unprecedented development. DPP has started three new construction projects this year.

The Sidliste Barrandov – Holyne line was completed in spring and a tender for the continuation of the line has been announced. Other projects are in preparation.

The Prague tramway network consists of 142.4 km of track, 882 tram vehicles (one of the largest fleets in the world) and 26 daytime routes, 2 historical and 10-night routes with a total route length of 518 km. Prague’s first horsecar tram line was opened in 1875, and the first electric tram ran in 1891.

Expansion plans were scaled down since the 1970s with the introduction of Prague Metro, however, trams still serve as a crucial transit and tourist element serving Prague’s city centre as well as Prague’s suburbs.

The Prague tram system (including the Petřín funicular) served 373.4 million passengers in 2018, the highest number in the world after Budapest.