Three French cities – Besançon, Brest and Toulouse have launched a joint order for 22 Citadis trams manufactured by Alstom.
These new trams, which are expected to be delivered from 2025, will be manufactured at the group’s plant in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region. Other trams may be ordered during the 8 years of the contract in order to meet the needs of the metropolitan areas’ transport services.
The order for 22 light rail vehicles will be worth more than EUR 78 million excluding taxes for the three French cities. As regards Besançon, the five trams ordered are worth EUR 18 million excluding tax. The Community Council has left this purchase in order to cope with the increasing demand for transport seen recently.
The first deliveries will take place in Besançon in March 2025, with entry into service scheduled for September of the same year. The first deliveries will follow for Brest in July 2025 and for Toulouse in January 2026 for commissioning in January 2026 and September 2026, respectively.
The new trams are intended to improve the transport offer on two of the city’s lines in order to improve frequency, which will be reduced to five minutes on the joint section between lines 1 and 2 and to 10 minutes on line 1. These new trams manufactured by Alstom will each have a capacity of 201 passengers and are equipped with fully glazed doors to enhance the feeling of comfort and safety for passengers.
With a length of 32.5 metres and a width of 2.40 metres, the new trams have 4 double doors of 1.30 metres and 2 single doors per side.
In compliance with the PMR (Persons with Reduced Mobility) regulation, the trams are equipped with door opening buttons at the right height, wider seats and areas reserved for wheelchair users and pushchairs.
At the same time as providing an increased level of service and comfort for passengers, these Citadis trams will reduce energy consumption by at least 25% compared to the current trams, thanks to a new motorisation, efficient management of climatic comfort and 100% LED lighting. These trams are eco-designed, 95% recyclable and 99% reusable.
The 22 trams will be built on the same Alstom production line in France. Engines will be manufactured in Ornans (Doubs), bogies and buffers in Creusot (Saône-et-Loire), transformers and traction systems in Petit-Quevilly (Normandy), electric traction in Tarbes (Occitania), railway electronics in Villeurbanne, and equipment assembly and integration in La Rochelle.
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