Clay Lucas
September 27, 2010 - 1:46PM
Fifty new low-floor trams for Melbourne will be largely built in Dandenong, Public Transport Minister Martin Pakula said this afternoon.
The $1 billion contract to built the trams has been given to Bombardier, a Canadian owned firm that has promised to build 51 per cent of the trams completely in Melbourne.
The decision to weight the trams' manufacture locally follows the awarding of a $380 million contract for 18 new trains in 2007 to French firm Alstom, which is making them completely in Europe.
A subsequent order for 20 more trains will see them partly assembled in Victoria.
That decision provoked such a backlash from the manufacturing industry in Victoria that the government has this time awarded the contract to the firm that promised to manufacture most of the new trams in Australia.
Mr Pakula said construction of the 50 new trams would create more than 500 jobs in and around Dandenong.
"This is great news for jobs, and it's great news for the Victorian manufacturing industry," Mr Pakula said.
The contract will include the manufacture of the body shell as well as the assembly of the trams in Dandenong.
Each of the low-floor trams will be able to carry 210 passengers and will be 33 metres long.
Guess that means we'll be stuck with those yellow disasters seen in Adelaide.