First Tram Media is a socio-cultural project organised by VEB.RF in the city. Tram Depot No. 1 hosted a presentation on the debut issue of Route 5 under the project. Initiated and supported by VEB.RF, the Nizhny Novgorod Region Government, and Centre 800, the First Tram Media project is carried out by Tikhaya Studio in collaboration with Ecological Projects. To sel ect the project’s locations, the media team studied the tramlines provided with new trams.
The first issue of the newspaper is based on stories and memories of city dwellers about the No. 5 tram route. The series of three publications is about the kea aspects of the local tram service. The front page of each issue will be designed by one of Nizhny Novgorod’s artists living next to the tramlines. The number of copies of the first issue is 5,000.
“We believe that carrying out city infrastructure projects is inextricably linked with their cultural and social content. The First Tram Media project, bringing together creative industries and local residents of Nizhny Novgorod, is an excellent example of such synergy. This approach adds a cultural dimension to the modernisation of public transport in Nizhny Novgorod: the tram becomes not only a means of transport, but also media uniting city dwellers through their personal stories,” emphasised Oleg Rakitov, Director and Head of Socio-cultural Programmes, VEB.RF.
The First Tram Media project is to continue until December 2025. Designed in the style of a newspaper, the publications are available in hard copy and electronic form and distributed at district cultural centres, on trams, and online.
Under the large-scale government programme to modernise electric public transport and with support from VEB.RF, work is under way on upgrading the Nizhny Novgorod tram network, including renewing its infrastructure and rolling stock. In total, the project involves supplying 170 new trams, replacing 149.3 kilometres of tramway tracks, and repairing 15 traction substations and three tram depots by the end of 2026. To date, Nizhny Novgorod has received 110 MiNiN trams with financial support fr om VEB.RF. Ninety-two of them are already in operation.
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This was stated by VEB.RF Deputy Chairman Oleg Govorun, speaking in Saratov about tram modernisation at a meeting chaired by Russia’s State Duma Chairman Vyacheslav Volodin.
To date, the Saratov project to modernise urban electric public transport has already resulted in building 44.48 kilometres of tramway tracks, rehabilitating seven traction substations, and putting three tram routes (No. 9, No. 8 and No. 6 trams) into operation. Work on improving the infrastructure of the No. 6 and No. 8 tram routes is nearing completion, while all work on improving the infrastructure of the No. 9 tram route has been done in full to a high specification. Work is well under way on upgrading the No. 3 route, the longest tramline with the largest passenger traffic, along with rehabilitating the Strelka flyover.
Oleg Govorun, Deputy Chairman, VEB.RF: “To ensure the project is completed on schedule, all work should be finished in July 2026; following the rail break-in period, all the tram routes should be put into operation by August 31 of that year. The deadline for the general contractor to fulfil all of its obligations is October 17, 2026. It is also worth noting that Saratov is ahead of the other projects under the urban electric transport programme in terms of its volume and share of completed construction work in 2025.”
All the project participants confirmed that the project deadlines were realistic and that they were committed to keep to the schedule. The project includes rehabilitating four tram routes with a total length of 67 kilometres and modernising 11 traction substations as well as a flyover to carry trams over a railway.
The new passenger experience has already been appreciated: the rehabilitated No. 8 and No. 9 high-speed trams were inaugurated in May 2025. The modernised tramlines use new Bogatyr-M tramcars. Overall, financial support from VEB.RF for the project to modernise urban electric transport in Saratov is 2.21 billion roubles. Apart from new rolling stock and tramway tracks, the city will also receive an improved urban environment with new tram stops, lighting systems, green spaces, and water drains.
With support from VEB.RF and with the involvement of local residents and creative industries, Saratov carries out a socio-cultural project entitled “Guides”.
As instructed by the Russian Government, VEB.RF acts as the financier, project office and coordinator under the large-scale government programme to modernise urban electric public transport. The programme is changing the lives of nearly 8 million people in nine regions of the country for the better. Russian Deputy Prime Minister and Chief of Staff of the Government Executive Office Dmitry Grigorenko was appointed to oversee the programme on behalf of the government.
Work is in progress on renewing urban electric transport in Kursk, Rostov-on-Don, Volgograd, Saratov, Perm, Yaroslavl, Lipetsk, Nizhny Novgorod and Krasnodar. The total value of the programme is 227.8 billion roubles. To date, the cities have received 398 trams under the programme, and 318 of them are already in operation. Five cities, namely Kursk, Lipetsk, Yaroslavl, Volgograd and Perm, received all their trams.
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