The public transport operator of the city of Jena in south-western Thuringen, Germany, plans to tender new low-floor light rail vehicles for its tramway network. According to local media reports, the city and Jenaer Nahverkehr are currently preparing the funding and respective tendering process. Thuringen’s transport ministry recently announced to fund the procurement with ca. 40 million €. The new fleet shall be tendered in three batches of which the first would include a series of 12 trams, financed by the European Regional Fund (Efre), and a second batch of 12 trams, funded by Thuringen’s transport ministry. There are also reports about a possible third batch of 9 trams. The procurement shall take place between 2022 and 2029. The new generation trams are planned to be 10 cm wider than the current fleet which consists in 33 ADtranz/ Bombardier-built GT6M from 1996 – 2003 and 5 Solaris Tramino trams, built in 2012 – 2013.
Some of the 33 existing GT6M ADtranz/ Bombardier trams have been repainted with the operators’ latest colour scheme I © Jenaer Nahverkehr GmbH 
GT6M in the “old” livery in Jena Burgau I © Klaus Jördens 
The five Solaris Tramino trams are Jena’s latest tram generation, built in 2013 I © Jenaer Nahverkehr GmbH
