Modernizing Trams in Odesa: New Opportunities for People with Disabilities
Odesa is starting a series of upgrades to the «Tatra» trams by equipping them with lifts.
The first upgraded tram is already operating on route No. 15, with plans to add two more trams equipped with new lift mechanisms developed by specialists at KP «OMET» which are currently undergoing patenting.
According to Mayor Hennadiy Trukhanov, participation in the InnTrans exhibition in Berlin helped find a solution to a long-standing issue faced by post-Soviet countries.
The «Tatra» trams are among the best modifications of Czech transport, still in use in Prague even after modernization. The inclusive technologies developed by Odesa engineers adapt these trams to modern standards for comfortably transporting people with disabilities.
Before the modernization of the «Tatra» trams, extensive discussions were held with key users of the lift mechanisms, including veterans, representatives of mobility-impaired groups, individuals in wheelchairs, and their companions.
Participants in the meeting assessed the new mechanism as convenient and reliable. Serial installation of lifts on the upgraded trams will begin at the KP «OMET» workshops.
