FRANCE: Transport authority Syndicat des Mobilités de Touraine has awarded CAF a contract to supply 19 Urbos trams for use on the future Tours Line 2.
The order which includes depot tools has been placed as part of the Lignes2tram project to build a 12·5 km route running from La Riche in the west, through the city centre to Chambray-lès-Tours in the southeast, with 22 stops. Line 2 is scheduled to open in 2028, serving residential and commercial areas and destinations including hospitals, schools, universities and sports, leisure and cultural facilities.
CAF has adapted its Urbos design to meet Tours’ specification for use on both the new line and the existing Line A. This includes a 2 km catenary-free section where the new trams will be powered by batteries rather than Alstom’s APS ground-level power supply system used by the existing Citadis trams.
CAF’s fully low-floor air-conditioned trams will be 42 m long with 76 seats and a capacity of up to 280 passengers. There will be multi-purpose areas for wheelchair users, pushchairs and bicycles. The eight doors will include six double doors for rapid passenger flows.
The interior and exterior styling will follow the striped theme of the Line A trams, adapted to suit the Urbos platform.
‘This order strengthens the position of the CAF Bagnères-de-Bigorre site as CAF’s centre of expertise in France for tram manufacturing and will help sustain its workload’, said Alain Picard, Managing Director of CAF France, after the contract was signed on February 28. ’The economic climate is very favourable for the development of public transport in France and Europe, and CAF intends to play a leading role.’
