About 25 km of new tram lines may appear in Nizhny Novgorod.

      October 2, 2025, 18:26 Society The State Budgetary Institution "Institute for the Development of Agglomerations of the Nizhny Novgorod Region" has begun preparing planning documentation for extending the tram network in Nizhny Novgorod. According to the plan, about 25 km of new lines may appear in the Sormovsky and Prioksky districts, as well as in the settlement of Novinki. Orders to begin the work were approved by the regional Ministry of Urban Development; the estimated completion date for the preparation is October 2026.

      The agency notes that the choice of routing for the new tracks is related to active development: new houses have been commissioned in the Sormovsky District, and comprehensive development projects are being implemented in the village of Olgino and the settlement of Novinki. According to Darya Shunaeva, Minister of Urban Planning Activities and Development of Agglomerations of the Nizhny Novgorod Region, the development of "green" electric transport should ensure transport accessibility to these locations and reduce the load on main roads. The simultaneous development of the tram in three directions, the ministry emphasizes, will improve mobility for more than 500,000 residents who will have stops within walking distance.

      The new tracks are planned to be laid outside the street-road network. This will allow launching an additional mode of public transport independent of road traffic.

      It is expected that a fast and environmentally friendly tram will cover both existing neighborhoods and areas of active development, increase the city's investment appeal and make travel more convenient for residents.

      Construction is proposed to be carried out in stages. In the first stage, in the Prioksky District the line will be extended from Myza to the Hippodrome along Gagarin Avenue; the 5 km section will improve accessibility for 126,000 residents. In the second stage the tram will go to Olgino and Novinki, where comprehensive development projects are being implemented; the new 11.5 km line will serve 193,000 people. In the Sormovsky District it is planned to extend the existing line to cover the territories of Svetloyarsky Park, the 6th and 7th microdistricts and the Korabli residential complex, with the possibility of further extension to the Narodnaya railway station. The length of this section is about 8 km, with an estimated catchment area of 200,000 residents.

      Preliminary estimates indicate that the total passenger flow on the new lines will be 41,500 people per day and 13.2 million per year. Considering modernization of existing routes, the city's total annual passenger traffic could grow to 62.1 million, 2.5 times the 2021 figure.

      As Oleg Serednev, Head of the Department for the Preparation of Planning and Survey Projects of the State Budgetary Institution "Institute for the Development of Agglomerations of the Nizhny Novgorod Region," explained, the urban planning documentation should determine the optimal corridors for the facilities, placement zones and land allocation parameters, and also serve as the basis for design. At the design stage, key technical solutions for the network’s structural elements and construction organization will be refined, and approximate costs for site preparation will be calculated.

      After completion, the planning documentation will be approved by the regional Ministry of Urban Development and sent to the Ministry of Transport of the Nizhny Novgorod Region for preparation of design and estimate documentation. Funding is expected from budgets at various levels; a concession model is also being considered. The initiative is part of a large-scale program to modernize urban electric transport in Nizhny Novgorod, one of the largest in Russia.

      Earlier, the editorial staff of NIA "Nizhny Novgorod" reported where tram tracks will be replaced in 2026.

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