Yekaterinburg Mayor Alexey Orlov announced the signing of a protocol for the lease delivery of 50 three-section trams. The winner of the auction was SberLeasing, with a total contract value of 10.9 billion rubles. The first 20 cars are expected to arrive in the city by September 30, and the remaining 30 by December 25 of this year.
The exact model of the new cars has not yet been named – it will be determined by the lessor, however, low-floor three-section vehicles from several Russian manufacturers meet the procurement requirements. The new trams will be equipped with climate control, multimedia screens, charging ports for mobile devices, and an intelligent door opening system.
Previously, the city had already received several batches of modern rolling stock:
- 2025: 15 three-section 71-639 "Kastor" cars manufactured by Ust-Katav Car-Building Plant (part of Roscosmos) were delivered. The fully low-floor vehicle with a capacity of 261 passengers (64 seats) cost the budget 2.1 billion rubles.
- 2024: The Gortrans fleet was replenished with two trams – one three-section "Kastor" (a prototype purchased after testing) and one single-section car.
- 2025 (trial operation): The first five-section tram 71-665 from UKVZ also arrived in the city for testing and final assembly.
The purchase is part of the transport reform of the Ural capital, supported by Sverdlovsk Oblast Governor Denis Pasler.
Five years ago, shortly after taking office, Orlov criticized the outdated tram and trolleybus fleet – the trolleybus fleet has since been completely updated, and now it's the trams' turn.
