A contract for the procurement of fifteen new low-floor trams for the needs of public transport in the city was signed today in Sarajevo.
The agreement on the modernization of public transport was signed by the Minister of Transport of the Sarajevo Canton Adnan Šteta and Željko Davidović, Sales Director for Central and Eastern Europe of the company Stadler, the supplier of the mentioned trams.
It is a project implemented by the Government of the SC with a loan from the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), in the total amount of 34 million euros.
After the ceremonial act of signing the mentioned contract, Minister Šteta stated that this is a generational project and the largest investment in public transport in the last 40 years in Sarajevo.
He reminded that in addition to this, the procurement of 25 new trolleybuses has also been agreed whose delivery will start at the beginning of next year, as well as the reconstruction of the tram tracks that recently began on the section Ilidža - Nedžarići.
-In addition to these three projects, together with the EBRD and the EIB we are working on the development of new projects, namely the construction of a tram line from Ilidža to Hrasnica, expansion of the trolleybus network to Vogošća- said Šteta, adding that additional procurement of trams and trolleybuses has been agreed, in addition to the mentioned 15 and 25, respectively.
The signing of the Agreement was welcomed by the representatives of the EIB, the EBRD and Stadler, expressing the expectation that the cooperation within the mentioned projects will be successfully continued.
EIB Director for Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro Sandrine Friscia pointed out that the EIB "as the European Union's climate bank, wants to help the region move to more sustainable transport, which will result in a cleaner environment to mitigate climate change."
Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Stadler Dr. Ansgar Brockmeyer reminded that Sarajevo is one of the first cities on the European continent to introduce tram traffic, stating that the new trams, which will be delivered to KS, rely on the latest technologies.
The new trams, which will be at disposal to the citizens of Sarajevo, have wider doors, and, as it was explained, they are low-floor vehicles with only one step, with flexible wheels and drive that 'protects' the rails, and reduced noise and vibration levels, as well as lower energy consumption and adequate air conditioning.
As planned, the delivery of new trams, in accordance with the Agreement, should start 24 months after its signing, i.e., in September or October 2023, and be completed by the summer of 2024.
In December last year, the SC government selected five potential bidders for the purchase of new trams, and the bids were submitted by a consortium of Stadler Polska from Poland and Stadler Rail Valencia from Spain, Durmazlar Makina Sanayi ve Ticaret Anonim Sirketi from Turkey, CAF from Spain, Škoda Transportation from the Czech Republic and Alstom from France.
In addition to the procurement of new trams, the Ministry of Transport also initiated the reconstruction of the tram tracks and the works within that project began on August 26 that will include the renovation of 21.4 kilometers of the tram network in Sarajevo.