A consortium of Siemens Transportation Systems and Kiepe Elektrik has recently been asked to supply 40 Combino low-floor tramcars to the Budapest transit authority in a contract that is worth about E150million.

These trams are the first articulated vehicles to be designed with a total of nine sections. This means they can accommodate 351 passengers - 72 seated and 279 standing - and will enable the transit authority to reduce its fleet of trams from 800 to 680 units.
The vehicles are 53m long and 2.4m wide, double-ended, with double doors on both sides. They will be built at Siemens' Krefeld-Uerdingen plant and delivery is scheduled to run through 2005 and 2006.
Siemens TS is responsible for the mechanical part and for the drive (motor, transmission, coupling), Kiepe for the supply of the electrical equipment. This project enables Siemens TS and Kiepe Elektrik to continue the partnership which brought them together for the Combino order in Dusseldorf. In addition, a
two-year maintenance contract was concluded with Siemens TS Integrated Services.
The company says the Combino is the most successful low-floor tramcar in the world with 593 vehicles ordered by 16 cities on three continents. m

For more information, www.siemens.com/ts