The model, on display in the Dresden transport museum, was unveiled in the presence of Saxony minister of economic affairs, Mr Martin Dullig, Dresden city officials, representatives from Bombardier and Dresden city transport board members, Mr Andreas Hemmersbach and Mr Lars Seiffert.
The mock-up of the 45m-long, 2.65m-wide LRVs was created to finalise the interior design, and includes a driver cab and a space for buggies and wheelchairs. Delivery is due to begin in summer 2021, while the last vehicle is due to be delivered in 2023.
The €197m contract includes 21 uni-directional LRVs and nine bi-directional LRVs, which Bombardier will manufacture at its nearby sites at Görlitz and Bautzen. The new LRVs will initially operate on Line 2, before introductino on lines 3 and 7.
Record passenger numbers
Meanwhile, DVB transported 164 million passengers in 2019, a new record for the company. DVB estimated that this could have been even higher were it not for two major construction sites. The operator expects traffic to increase to 173 million annual passengers this year, up from 153 million in 2013.
In 2019, DVB had a fleet of 186 LRVs, including 161 Bombardier low-floor Flexity LRVs and 18 Czech-built Tatra LRVs, which are scheduled to be withdrawn this year. The DVB fleet has operated an average of 83,000km.
