December 1, 2023 – On the first day of December, behind the first window of the advent calendar, the residents of the Croatian capital received a special gift. The first of the “new” Zagreb trams, i.e. of the 11 used German trams has arrived.
The first one is in ZET’s garage, writes Večernji. It arrived early this morning and, as they wrote, it is ZET-blue. It is now waiting for the finishing works to be able to run Zagreb’s tracks. It is necessary for the tram to pass homologation and technical inspection, followed by the installation of ticket validators and traffic management systems, i.e. Atron devices, so that the lines and duration of the rides are visible on the display.
For this work, the earlier estimate is that it will take several weeks, or approximately up to a month. It is also necessary for the service, technical, and traffic personnel, i.e. the drivers, to undergo training for this model of tram. It is an AD Tranz model GT6 produced in 1996 in Germany. Until now, the new Zagreb tram has operated in the public transport system of the Bavarian city of Augsburg.
It is 27 years old, although there was a controversy about it and even the mayor Tomislav Tomašević claimed that the tram is 15-20 years old. However, although it is older, as far as is known, the trams of that model were modernized in Leipzig 10 years ago and are technically correct and safe, ZET assures, backed up by the Augsburg public transport company.
It was also confirmed that they are not equipped with air conditioning and a cooling system, but ZET is considering this option, and later they explained that during the summer heat, as before, the summer reduced timetable will be in force when the city is empty, with priority given to vehicles with air conditioning.
And while the City of Zagreb repeated over and over again that it was a firefighting measure to patch up the ZET timetable, as vehicles up to half a century old go out of rotation every day, part of the public and trade unions are dissatisfied. Thus, the ZET Workers’ Union, which provided us the photos and videos for Večernji, points out that while hydrogen-powered trams, the fuel of the future, are being introduced into traffic elsewhere, Zagreb is introducing “old iron” into traffic.
