OREANDA-NEWS. Tramrus LLC, a joint venture of Alstom and its partner Transmashholding (TMH), has been awarded a contract by the St Petersburg transport operator in Russia to provide a low-floor tram for St. Petersburg. Alstom and TMH will supply it by 1 December 2014.

This is St Petersburg's first fully low-floor. The tram is currently undergoing testing at Tramrus LLC's OEVRZ plant in St. Petersburg, where Alstom and TMH plan to localize tramway engineering and production.

The tram is 25m long with a capacity of over 200 passengers, nearly double that of existing fleets. It offers commuters a high level of comfort with spacious interiors and spaces dedicated to luggage, wheelchairs and prams. Additional comfort features include air-conditioning, ergonomic seats and reduced noise levels.

Modern engineering solutions such as composite materials, innovative bogies and modular structures will ensure reduced operation and maintenance costs. Equipped with a modern traction system, the new tram's energy consumption is over 10% lower than current trams. With its 30-year lifecycle, the tram's lifespan is far greater than that of existing ones (18 years). It has been specially designed to cope with the cold climate, complex ground profile and heavy passenger flows of St Petersburg.