The 6th ElectroTrans exhibition was held in Moskva on 6-8 April, concluding just ten days before the city marked 117 years of electric tramway operation. There were no full-size tramway exhibits this year, but the occasion was used to sound a warning about the future for tramways in Russia with the news that smaller towns such as Krasnoturinsk and Volchansk are proposing to abandon their tramways (plus Toshkent in Uzbekistan). Under Russian law all tenders for transit operations have to be treated equally regardless of mode, which favours cheap combustion-engined buses as opposed to ageing tramways requiring large investment in infrastructure and vehicles. MAP GET, the International Association of Urban Surface Electric Transit Operators advised its members to increase their marketing efforts and provide new services to attract more passengers, plus modern fare collection technology to replace conductors.
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