AMSTERDAM Municipal Transport (GVB) has invited manufacturers to bid for a €391m contract to supply up 78 low-floor LRVs, which will be ordered to replace part of the current fleet and provide additional capacity on the city’s light rail network.
The new tender comes shortly after transport authority Vervoerregio Amsterdam awarded GVB a new 11-year concession to operate the city’s public transport network. The authority is implementing a partial fleet renewal strategy, as placing one single large order to replace its entire LRV fleet would be costly.
It also reduces the risk of service disruption should the new LRVs fail to perform as expected, and enables the authority to respond more flexibly to future demand.
The new LRVs must be no longer that 30m, enabling two LRVs to occupy at the same time the 60m long stops on humpback bridges over canals in the historic centre of Amsterdam. They must also be able to operate on the entire network, including on Roetersstraat where the alignment over a canal bridge forces the cars of an LRV to move both horizontally and vertically at the same time.
The contract also includes the supply of spare parts, modifying and equipping depots to maintain the new fleet, and staff training. The new LRVs must enter service in 2032.
The most recent light rail fleet order for Amsterdam comprised 72 low-floor bi-directional CAF Urbos 100 LRVs. The contract included an option for 51 more LRVs, but neither Vervoerregio Amsterdam nor GVB chose to exercise it.
Alongside the order for new LRVs, GVB technical director, Paul Carstens, says that the operator will focus on extending the working life of its existing fleet by implementing a specialised maintenance regime. GVB is also exploring a small-scale trial of autonomous operation, looking to assist rather than replace its drivers.
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