FRANCE: Alstom has been awarded contracts to supply 27 additional trams to Strasbourg and eight trams for Le Havre’s future Line C, the manufacturer announced on March 19.
The contract signed by local authority Eurométropole de Strasbourg and operator CTS is exercising an option under an eight-year, €250m framework agreement, signed in April 2023, of which a firm order of 12 trams has now been called.
The new trams are planned to gradually replace the city’s fleet of distinctive Eurotram vehicles supplied by Bombardier, which are reaching the end of their service life. Deliveries are scheduled to start in 2026.
Le Havre Seine Métropole meanwhile ahs signed a four-year framework agreement with Alstom for the supply of at least eight trams, and a firm order for eight trams has now been placed. These are to run on the future northwest-to-east cross-city Line C. Deliveries are scheduled to start in 2027, when Line C is due to open for revenue services.
Improved preventive maintenance
Strasbourg’s trams will be 45 m long with a capacity of 286 passengers, featuring eight double doors 1·3 m wide on each side. Le Havre’s trams will be 33 m long, with a capacity of 206 passengers.
Each of the trams are to be 100% low-floor, 2 400 mm wide and will have door opening buttons at the suitable height for people with reduced mobility, and dedicated areas for wheelchair users and prams.
The trams are also to feature passenger information systems as well as illuminated and audio signals to assist visually and hearing-impaired passengers when they are boarding and alighting.
The vehicles are also to be equipped with air-conditioning, LED lighting and CCTV.
The trams allocated for use on Strasbourg’s tram Line D are to be certified for operation in Germany.
Alstom says that the new trams will have a 25% reduced energy consumption, and a will require 16% less preventive maintenance over their 30-year service life when compared to current rolling stock. The trams are made of 95% recyclable and 98% reusable materials.
The vehicles will be designed and assembled at nine of Alstom’s facilities in France.
