Rostov Tram: from network concept to city-wide programme

Challenge

In the early 2010s the Rostov tram was in decline. The depot held 79 cars, but only about half ran on the lines. The network was shrinking and did not reach new districts. The city was looking at a metro instead: a first line estimated at 75–100 billion roubles, with decades to deliver.

Mihail Veklenko proposed another route. Make the existing tram the backbone of a modern light rail system — faster, cheaper and built on infrastructure the city already had.

What was done

• Network concept (2013). Urban Factory presented the first version of an expanded tram network at Urban Festival Rostov in September 2013, with a simple comparison: about 25 billion roubles for a developed tram network against 75–100 billion for one metro line.
• Fleet renewal proposal (2014). Urban Factory proposed a plan built on the depot’s real resources: return about 40 idle Tatra T3 cars to service, fit new components, renew the interiors and restyle the front and rear with composite parts, extending service life to 30 years. A full-size mock-up of the updated front was shown at Urban Festival Rostov 2014. Work on the proposal stopped in 2015; under the 2023 concession the city is getting 76 new trams.
• Keeping a line (2015). The reconstruction project for the tram line on Stanislavskogo Street was ready when it was proposed to remove the tracks instead. Urban Factory prepared the case for keeping the line and ran a public campaign: round tables, media and street actions. The tracks were kept. The line was part of the network Urban Factory proposed as an alternative to the metro: fleet renewal and new lines.
• Strategy and competition (2018–2019). Mihail proposed a three-level rail system based on the tram: a high-speed tram (metrotram) on segregated track, partly in tunnels and on viaducts; an express tram with dedicated sections and priority at junctions; and the regular tram in mixed traffic — with about 20 district routes. Interchanges link the system with city trains and buses. This work fed into the competition documents for the tram programme.
• Expert advice (2021–2023). Specialists of the concession winner consulted Mihail on network development.

Result

The tracks on Stanislavskogo Street were kept and later relaid on a concrete base. The tram moved back to the centre of the city’s transport debate. In 2015 the city closed its metro directorate, and in 2016–2017 it bought about 30 new low-floor trams.

In March 2023 a concession was signed for the tram system. The concept informed this programme; the city and the concessionaire are building it. Construction of new lines started the same year.

Numbers

• 79 cars in the depot, about 40 of them idle (2014)
• 75–100 billion roubles: estimated cost of a first metro line
• 61 billion roubles: the 2023 tram concession
• 119 km of new and upgraded track, 76 new three-section trams, 30 existing trams upgraded, 2 depots