RUSSIA: Moskva tram Route 90 between Sokolniki and Paveletsky station was launched on September 10, using a newly-built 2·1 km section of catenary-free track along ul Mashi Poryvaevoy, pr Akademika Sakharova and Sretenskiy Bulvar.
Services are operated using 20 single-section PK TS Lionet trams with batteries to give the off-wire running capability. As the trams are single-ended and there is no turning facility near the Paveletsky stop, they have to run 4 km empty to the nearest reversing loop at Proletarskaya metro station before returning.
The new link means a 5 km section of tramway which had been the only route in the centre of the city since the tracks were cut back almost 70 years ago is no longer a stub. However, the catenary-free section means only small part of the tram fleet can operate on the new tracks.
The new section only partially covers the former route, with more than two-thirds of the new section being on streets which did not previously have trams.
