THE board of Ostrava Public Transport (DPO) has unanimously approved the acquisition of 40 low-floor trams from Škoda Transportation in a deal worth around Koruna 1.9bn ($US 86m).

Each 26.5m-long two-section ForCity Smart vehicle will accommodate around 200 passengers. The LRVs will be air-conditioned and equipped with CCTV, passenger Wi-Fi and USB charging sockets.

The first vehicles are due to enter service in September 2020.

The order is being funded via a loan from the city of Ostrava, which is the statutory authority for DPO.

Five suppliers submitted offers for the contract, but Škoda was reportedly to be the only one bidder to meet all requirements of the tender. The Czech company also offered the lowest-priced bid.

DPO is currently introducing a fleet 30 Stadler Tango LRVs and all of these vehicles are due to be in service by the middle of next year.

A further tender for 32m-long vehicles is also planned and DPO says it expects to have the most modern tram fleet in the Czech Republic by 2021.

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