Tbilisi's first new metro train in 34 years is due by the end of this year — the other 110 cars arrive through to 2031

On 30 September 2026 Mayor Kakha Kaladze said the first fully modern four-car train is complete and expected in Tbilisi by the end of the year. It is the first new rolling stock the Tbilisi metro has taken in 34 years. The full order is 111 cars arranged as 25 trainsets — fourteen of four cars and eleven of five — and the five-car sets are reported as destined for the Akhmeteli Theatre to Varketili line. No delivery schedule for the remaining cars was given in the September statement.

The order was awarded in July 2025 to GT group, representing the Chinese manufacturer CRRC, ahead of bids from Kamkor Lokomotiv and Škoda Transportation. Railway Gazette reported deliveries in batches across 2026 to 2031, cars of 18.5 to 19.5 metres with through gangways, and backing from the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, with Line 1 the stated priority. Front News reported the deal at 150 million euro excluding VAT, with support from the bank, central government and the city. The fleet being replaced is 197 cars built between 1974 and 1991.

Buyers price walking distance to a metro station, and what they are really pricing is the journey: frequency, reliability and whether the train is tolerable in August. A fleet replacement spread over six years will not change any of that at once, and the honest expectation is slow, uneven improvement by line rather than a step change. What it does suggest is that the city is committing capital to the network it already has rather than to new stations, which is a reason to watch service levels on the existing lines rather than to speculate on where track might one day be laid.