Alstom has delivered the first vehicle in a fleet of new trams for public transit company Västtrafik for use on the tram network in the city of Gothenburg, Sweden. 

The first of the 60 M34 trams, built at an Alstom factory in Bautzen, Germany, was delivered to a depot in Rantorget, Gothenburg ahead of its entry into service by Västtrafik in December. 

Björn Asplund, customer director at Alstom, said: “As always when building advanced vehicles, the production process is a journey in itself, and we have had a very good and close collaboration with Västtrafik through all stages. Now we look forward to continuing to deliver the rest of the fleet.”

The trams are 12 metres longer than the M33 model currently used on the network, at 45 metres in length, and can carry 319 passengers each, almost twice as many passengers as the M33s.

Västtrafik placed its initial €100m ($111.5m) order for 40 of the trams from Alstom in September 2021 and later added another 20 vehicles to the agreement, with all trams set to be delivered in 2026. 

Lars Backström, CEO of Västtrafik, said: “This is a milestone in our investment in developing public transport in Gothenburg. 

“With 60 new and longer trams, we are making it even easier for Gothenburg's citizens to get to their jobs, schools and activities in a sustainable way.” 

The deal is just one of many for Alstom in Sweden, with the company also recently expanding a contract with the Stockholm metro system to bring its order of Movia C30 trains up to 116 vehicles.