THE German cities of Zwickau and Görlitz have issued a joint tender for the supply of 14 new 1000mm-gauge LRVs with options for a further 18 vehicles. The announcement means the cities are moving on from a contract with Heiterblick, which entered insolvency in April and was due to supply new LRVs for Zwickau, Görlitz and Leipzig under the Saxon Platform - Trams of the Future project announced in 2021.
The tender requires delivery of the new fleet by 2028 and asks bidders to demonstrate that they are able to supply 1000mm-gauge LRVs similar to those previously ordered. The vehicles must be approved for use elsewhere in Germany by early 2026 when the contract will be awarded.
The original Saxon Platform order was placed with a consortium of Heiterblick and Düsseldorf-based Kiepe Electric in late 2021. Zwickau and Görlitz together ordered 14 30m-long LRVs with options for another 12. An additional hydrogen-powered LRV for Görlitz was later added financed mainly by research and development funding.
Leipzig public transport operator LVB also ordered 25 45m-long LRVs for its 1458mm-gauge network with options for another 105 LRVs under the joint procurement exercise.
The original contract called for delivery of the first completed vehicles by Heiterblick to both Leipzig and Görlitz in 2024. None had been completed when Heiterblick entered insolvency, and in July sub-supplier Alstom told the company it would no longer supply bodyshells, citing contractual issues.
Three bodyshells manufactured by Alstom in Görlitz for the Leipzig order have been supplied and LVB told local media in July that it still hopes to receive the new fleet. Whether this will happen is currently unclear, as Heiterblick has reduced staff numbers and suspended deliveries to Würzburg where it has a contract to supply 18 metre-gauge five-section GT-F LRVs. The first of these was delivered in late 2024, around two years late, and started test running in March. The second LRV was delivered shortly before Heiterblick filed for insolvency.
