Polish operator Gdańskie Autobusy i Tramwaje has awarded Pesa Bydgoszcz a contract to supply 20 Twist 3.0 five-section tram vehicles, according to railwaygazette.com.

Pesa’s bid of 524.2 million zloty beat Škoda’s offer of 524.5 million. GAiT had to increase its original budget of 516.6 million zloty to reflect the offer prices. The domestic supplier also earned higher points for technical parameters including inside and outside noise levels and body width.

The contract is expected to be signed after the standstill period. From that point, Pesa will be due to deliver all the trams within three years.

GAiT envisages that the 46.8 m vehicles will be the longest trams operating in Poland. They are expected to be similar to the cars that Pesa is building for Kraków, which will be 43 m long.

The low-floor vehicles will have a design capacity of 321 passengers, including 100 seated. They will be equipped with seven wide doors on each side, LiDAR, radar sensors and cameras.

Each tram will have four powered bogies, all of which will be steerable, making them significantly quieter than the city’s existing rolling stock. Internally, the new cars will be fitted with 17 passenger information screens, USB-A and USB-C charging sockets, and automatic air-conditioning.

The deal is being financed by a preferential loan backed by the European Union’s National Recovery & Resilience Facility.