Valma, Nordic region's 47-metre tram, enters service in Tampere

ePressi reports that Valma, the city’s first extended tram and the Nordic region’s longest at 47 metres, will begin passenger service on Saturday 7 November. The first run departs Hervanta campus at 08:28 on line 1, and Valma will later operate on both tram lines as needed. The change follows the April decision to add a roughly 10‑metre midsection to Valma and the summer type tests that confirmed the tram's new 47‑metre configuration.

YLE adds that the existing 37-metre trams were becoming regularly full during rush hours. With intervals already tightened to a six-minute minimum, extending the vehicles was the only practical way to meet demand.

According to YLE, Valma arrived in Tampere from Kajaani over the summer, and YLE visited the new vehicle in June as part of the testing and driver-training phase.

Valma (TRO02) was sent to Skoda Transtech’s Otanmäki factory in April for a 10-metre midsection. That modification raised seating capacity from 264 to 345 passengers, an increase of more than 30 percent. Petri Hakala, public transport engineer at Tampere Region public transport Nysse, said ridership has grown faster and larger than expected and praised the 2015 procurement decision that allowed the fleet to be lengthened.

Type tests ran in Tampere from June until mid-September to verify system compatibility, followed by driver training. Drivers have given Valma positive feedback, Rauhala said. The driving feel is similar to shorter trams, though the longer vehicle rolls more smoothly. He added that operators must pay extra attention to length, mass and precise stopping, and that use of camera displays becomes more important.

Tampereen Raitiotie Oy plans a wider roll-out of extended ForCity Smart Artic X45 trams. YLE states that the next phase of the project includes new track work towards Pirkkala and Linnainmaa, which is already under construction. The aim is to have 19 extended X45 vehicles and 16 shorter X34 vehicles in service by the opening of the Pirkkala–Linnainmaa section in summer 2028. Production of the 10-metre extension modules is already underway at Otanmäki, with 11 modules plus the prototype ordered and deliveries beginning at year-end, continuing through summer 2028. The company has also ordered seven brand-new long trams; the first is due in early summer 2027, with the rest arriving by the end of 2027.

Most stops on Tampere’s network are already sized for 47-metre trams. Koskipuisto, Tulli and Hervantakeskus are being lengthened and the work will be completed in time for Valma’s entry into service. Vehicles will enter passenger traffic as they receive safety approvals. The company said at least eight recently delivered trams, Martta, Pirkka, Sointu, Sampsa, Paavo, Arsi, Elias and Oiva (TRO21–TRO28), will receive extension modules, and future tram names will follow the existing arrival-date naming practice or, where multiple names apply, be decided by a public vote.