Finnish manufacturer Transtech Oy (
www.transtech.fi) is to supply the light rail vehicles for phase one of a new tram network in the city of Tampere in southern Finland.
Transtech, which is majority-owned by the Czech Skoda Transportation group (
www.skoda.cz), will build 15-20 light rail vehicles for the system.
The contract includes maintenance, plus options for up to 46 additional vehicles; the unit value of each tram will be between 3.2 and 3.8 million euros, depending on the final number, said Skoda. Other bidders included CAF, Pesa and Stadler Rail Valencia.
Zdenek Majer, vice-president of Skoda Transportation Group and chairman of Transtech Oy, said: “We are very pleased that we will deliver our modern vehicles to another foreign city.
This year, we received tram orders for Chemnitz in Germany, Eskisehir in Turkey and Riga in Latvia. Winning the tender for trams in Finland is proof that last year’s acquisition of a controlling stake in the Finnish company Transtech can be regarded positively.”
Awarding the order to Transtech means the vehicles will be built in Finland. A consortium of YIT Construction Ltd, VR Track Oy, Pöyry Finland Oy and Ratatek will build the line. Work is expected to begin next year.