Alstom wins Toulouse contract

Toulouse’s joint public transport authority, SMTC, confirmed during its General Assembly that the city’s tramway contract is to be awarded to Alstom. This will bring the total worldwide networks running Alstom’s Citadis tramways to 21.

The total contract worth €65.7 million comprises a fixed portion for design studies and the production of a full-scale model as well as four other parts for the supply and maintenance of 27 tramway sets.

The contract signature, which is scheduled before mid-June, will be for the fixed portion. The first 18 tramways, corresponding to the first conditional section of the contract, will be ordered as soon as the Declaration of Public Interest is received by the SMTC, which is expected to be no later than February 2007.

The trams will run on the 11km Line E serving 20 stations. This first tramway line is an integral part of the extension of Toulouse’s transport network. The line is scheduled to enter into service in 2009, the tramways being delivered from the end of 2008 through to the first quarter 2009.

The Toulouse Citadis will be built partly in the Midi-Pyrenees region. Alstom’s Tarbes site will provide the propulsion system, which will be assembled at the company’s La Rochelle plant, along with other equipment, notably engines from Ornans, bogies from Le Creusot and on-board electronics from Villeurbanne.