Kasseler Verkehrs-Gesellschaft (KVG), which runs transport in the German city of Kassel, has ordered twenty-two new trams from the Škoda Group with an option to buy a further eighteen.

Public transport in Kassel is based on trams, which carry around forty-eight million passengers per year. This amounts to four-fifths of the total number of passenger journeys, with the remaining fifth being taken by bus or train.

Production of the new two-way trams for Kassel will begin at the end of next year, with the first trams due to be delivered in 2026. The new trams will then go through technical tests and trials on the city’s streets. Once they obtain approval from the Technical Supervisory Authority (TAB) of Darmstadt Regional Council, the trams will enter regular operation in 2027, within the urban network operated by KVG. As well as Kassel itself, this includes Vellmar, Baunatal, Lossetal and other neighbouring areas.

At thirty metres long, the new trams will be the same length as the city’s existing trams. They will have an Albert coupling, which allows an extra motor car or trailer to be attached. Each vehicle will have four passenger doors on each side and a low-floor design to facilitate boarding and alighting for people with impaired mobility.

The tram also features kid’s new, advanced anti-collision system for improved passenger and pedestrian safety. Škoda exhibited this new safety feature  at the InnoTrans 2022 trade fair. The system creates a virtual tunnel ahead of the tram, detects any obstacle within the tunnel, alerts the driver and activates the emergency brake. Sensors monitor the surrounding area, and include:

• LiDAR, which is responsible for three-dimensional mapping of the area around the trams over a range of 100-150 metres both horizontally and vertically
• an IMU unit, which provides information about the vehicle’s tilt and helps the sensor output from the anti-collision system to reflect the track profile
• a camera, which provides high-resolution two-dimensional images which capture more detail.

Škoda Group’s trams are already operating in the German cities of Chemnitz and Schöneich, and the group is currently producing new vehicles for seven other cities.

The contract (not including the option to purchase more trams) is worth 88 million euros, making it the largest investment in vehicles in KVG’s history.

Jan Christoph Harder, President Region West Škoda Group, said, “Another German city will soon be using our new Škoda trams. I am glad that KVG has chosen our solution and we can start working on the new trams which will be equipped, among other things, with our anti-collision system which we presented at the InnoTrans 2022 trade fair,”

Dr. Olaf Hornfeck, a member of the board of directors of KVG, commented that, “Efficient and attractive local rail transport ensures a sustainable quality of life in cities. For this we need a strong vehicle fleet. Škoda produces well-designed and reliable trams and submitted the most cost-effective bid. This contract paves the way for the gradual modernisation of our public transport system, as this is a prerequisite for revamping mobility in Kassel and the surrounding area.”