In 2010, the Silesian Trams (Tramwaje Śląskie, TS for short) procured the first Düwag Pt bidirectional light rail vehicles from VGF in Frankfurt am Main. TS acquired a total of 12 of these trams, 2 of which were donated as spare parts. A further five Ptb trams followed at the beginning of 2013.
The vehicles were adapted for operation on the 178 km long route network (as of June 2024). In addition to the red paintwork with beige decorative stripes, the magnetic rail brake control system also had to be adapted to Polish standards. The railcars were given the numbers 900 to 914 in Katowice.
The main reason for the procurement of the so-called “Helmuts” (as second hand trams purchased from Germany are usually called in Poland) was primarily the planned use on temporary lines with stub ends during construction work. The Silesian tram network, which had been neglected for decades, was modernised from the 2010s in particular (and to this day), which led to longer interruptions to individual lines.
Between 2016 and 2021, 10 of the 15 Frankfurt trams were thoroughly modernised in the TS workshops and fitted with low-floor centre sections. The new type designation was now Ptm. The conversion from dual to single-unit operation also took place. Five railcars remained as bidirectional vehicles and were provisionally decommissioned at the end of May 2024.
As, on the one hand, the demand for bidirectional cars has declined and, on the other hand, the Pt carriages built between 1972 and 1973 have reached the end of their service life at 52 and 53 years of age and also have folding steps for boarding due to their high-floor design (for operation on elevated platforms), making them a particularly difficult obstacle for older people, families with pushchairs and wheelchairs to negotiate, the five remaining original Pt trams have now been decomissioned. According to reports, the vehicles will remain in reserve for a while.
Following the procurement of low-floor and partially low-floor trams from the manufacturers Pesa and Modertrans in recent years, the tender for the procurement of 40 to 65 low-floor trams with a length of 25 metres began a few days ago. The TS tram fleet currently consists of 292 vehicles, of which 125 (around 42%) are low-floor or at least partially low-floor (with a low-floor centre section).
The Frankfurt Pt trams are not the only used vehicles purchased by TS. From 2011 to 2021, used Vienna E1 articulated railcars also travelled through Silesia. The TS procured a total of 24 railcars. We reported here:
