London Tramlink are now the proud owners of seven Stadler Variotrams following the delivery of the first of second batch of the trams at the Therapia Lane Depot. 2560 was delivered during the early hours of Monday 4th May having made the journey from Stadler’s plant in Berlin, Germany.
2560 is the first of four trams due to be delivered in this batch with the Therapia Lane Depot have recently undergone work to allow for these extra vehicles to be housed. Tramlink previously welcomed six other Variotrams with the last of these delivered on 7th June 2012 and these extra four trams will be more or less identical although it is understood there will be some minor differences.
The tram was spotted parked at Whyteleafe South during the evening of Sunday 3rd May presumably awaiting the go-ahead to move forward to Croydon for unloading which was achieved a few hours later. Once 2560 was unloaded it was moved into the workshops where it is expected to undergo commissioning work ahead of an entry into service at some point in the next few months. These four new trams will help Tramlink to increase capacity further on the network.