Swedish tram arrives in Ukraine

UKRAINE: The first of a fleet of M29 trams that Göteborg’s municipal transport operator is donating to Mykolaiv has arrived at its new home in Ukraine. The M29 cars which have been operating in the Swedish city since the late 1960s are being replaced by modern Alstom Flexity low-floor trams. Instead scrapping them, Göteborgs Spårvägar will send around 40 vehicles to Mykolaiv. The Ukrainian city has faced significant difficulties in maintaining its trams during the war, as much of the existing fleet dates from the Soviet era and spare parts had to be sourced from Russia.

The collaboration between Mykolaiv and Göteborg was initiated by Ragnar Lund of Stockholm University’s ‘Rethinking Cities in Ukraine’ programme, after Mayor Oleksandr Senkevych mentioned the need for more trams. In return, the Swedish operator will obtain information about operating during times of high alert and war.

The Swedish Civil Defence and environmental protection agencies have been involved in ensuring that environmental regulations for exports to a non-EU country are being followed.

The new arrivals will be converted from 1 435 mm to 1 524 mm gauge at operator Mykolaivelektrotrans’ own facilities, where the engineering staff have practical experience of tram maintenance and modernisation.

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