en.Wedoany.com Reported - The city of Graz, Austria, has officially commenced commercial operations with the first Alstom Flexity tram. Holding Graz and Mayor Elke Kahr attended the ceremony to celebrate the commissioning of this 34-meter-long tram, the longest in Graz. As of the ceremony date, eight vehicles had been delivered to Graz Linien, with the first units deployed on the high-ridership lines 4, 7, and 17. According to the plan, the first batch of 15 trams will all be in place by the end of this year, with an additional 16 units ordered, scheduled for delivery starting in March 2027.
The Graz Flexity is a 34-meter-long, fully low-floor articulated tram developed specifically for the operational characteristics of the Graz Linien network. Each vehicle features wide doors for full-length barrier-free boarding, full-cabin air conditioning and a modern passenger information system, and multifunctional areas accommodating wheelchairs, strollers, and bicycles. These vehicles are manufactured at Alstom's Vienna-Donaustadt plant and have undergone approximately 1,800 kilometers of testing, including 25 nighttime runs, brake tests, electronic safety verification, air conditioning performance checks, and route and gauge clearance assessments. Type certification was issued on July 7, 2025, and the operating license was granted following an application in April 2026.
The Graz Flexity enters a European light rail market where three manufacturers dominate the low-floor tram segment. Siemens Mobility's Avenio platform offers modular configurations from approximately 31 to 72 meters, with the Munich Avenio M measuring 36.8 meters and accommodating 220 passengers (source: Siemens Mobility, 2023). CAF's Urbos series is deployed in cities such as Edinburgh, Utrecht, and Budapest, with lengths ranging from 18 to 43 meters; the Urbos 3, at 33 meters, accommodates approximately 200 passengers (source: CAF, 2022). Alstom's Flexity portfolio, inherited through the 2021 acquisition of Bombardier Transportation, ranges from Toronto's 28-meter Flexity Outlook to Brussels' 43-meter Flexity 2. The Graz variant, at 34 meters, positions itself in the mid-range for typical medium-sized European networks. The choice of domestic production in Vienna-Donaustadt reflects a trend among EU member states to prioritize regionally manufactured products in publicly funded rolling stock procurement. The total fleet is planned at 55 vehicles, with 31 confirmed and an additional 24 pending city council approval, representing one of the larger Flexity deployments in Central Europe outside Berlin and Brussels.
Graz's fleet renewal strategy illustrates a pattern observable among medium-sized European tram operators: incremental batch procurement rather than single large-scale order replacement cycles. This approach allows for network adjustments between batches—for example, the second batch of 16 units will not begin delivery until March 2027—while operators can concurrently undertake infrastructure upgrades, such as the Line 1 double-track project. In contrast to North American greenfield projects, where California's high-speed rail project spent over a decade acquiring land and contracts for its initial 171-mile Central Valley segment (source: Construction Dive, 2024), Graz moved from type certification to commercial operation in under a year. Partial support from the European Investment Bank indicates the EU's willingness to finance urban light rail rolling stock under climate-aligned lending conditions, a funding avenue largely absent in comparable municipal transit procurements in the United States. The total contract value for all batches and the specific contribution from the European Investment Bank have not been disclosed by Holding Graz, the City of Graz, or Alstom. Leipzig ordered 25 Flexity trams in 2023 at an estimated cost of €110 million, but a direct comparison with the Graz project's specific procurement cost is not possible due to non-disclosure.
By the end of this year, the first 15 Flexity trams will be delivered to Graz, but the operator has not specified the number that will be in commercial operation by then. Lines 4, 7, and 17 are already in service as the initial high-ridership routes, and Graz Linien has not yet announced a timeline for expanding Flexity operations to other lines.
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