GEORGIA: The city of Tbilisi has selected GT group, representing Chinese rolling stock manufacture manufacturer CRRC, for a contract to supply 111 cars to replace the ageing metro fleet.
The metro currently has 197 cars built in 1974-91 and mostly refurbished in 2006-19.
This winning bidder was announced by Mayor Kakha Kaladze on July 10, when he said replacing the Line 1 fleet was the priority. Bids were also submitted by Kamkor Lokomotiv and Škoda Transportation.
The 14 four-car and 11 five-car sets are scheduled to be delivered in batches in 2026-31. The cars will be 18·5 to 19·5 m long, and have through gangways.
The order is backed by the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank.
In 2021 Transmashholding subsidiary Metrowagonmash was awarded a contract to supply metro cars, with the order to be financed by the European Bank for Reconstruction & Development. However, international sanctions imposed following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 meant EBRD was no longer able to provide financing and the order was cancelled.
