eKapija: New Turkish Bozankaya trams too wide for Belgrade streets

The first of 25 new trams purchased from Turkey arrived in Belgrade at the end of May. A source from the Belgrade City Public Transport Company (GSP) said unofficially that current tests of the first Byzantine-blue Bozankaya tram show that the vehicles ordered for Belgrade traffic are wider than others that run on city rails, which will cause problems in everyday traffic.

“The width of these trams is such that when they approach from opposite directions, they will not be able to pass through all intersections simultaneously. The tram from one direction will have to allow the one from the other direction to pass first before continuing,” the source told eKapija.

They added that this is and oversight that should not have happened during the procurement process for purchasing new trams for the needs of GSP Belgrade.

Additionally, eKapija said it has learned that the first Belgrade Bozankaya has already sustained damage. The turn signal and external camera on the new tram were damaged while a Turkish representative involved in testing and training GSP employees was operating the vehicle, it reported.

Ivan Bankovic, a transportation engineer and head of the GSP Belgrade Union who was among the first to publicly raise concerns about the controversial procurement of the 25 new trams, told eKapija that there are several issues with the new tram model. One of the key concerns is the vehicle’s width, which he explained could lead to problems on certain city streets and necessitate technical adjustments to existing infrastructure.

Bankovic says it is indeed important that Belgrade purchased the 25 new trams the city needs, but that the overall situation is marred by the fact that the tender outcome was essentially predetermined, with the Turkish manufacturer “having to” win the contract.