Alstom has been awarded a contract worth more than €100m (£89m) to supply 52 Citadis tramsets to the cities of Brest and Dijon in France.
Brest will receive 20 tramsets, with the remaining 32 going to Dijon.
The Citadis tramsets will be designed at Alstom's Valenciennes site. Five other sites will also be involved in the manufacture of the trams. Tarbes will provide the electrical and electronic equipment for the traction systems, Ornans the engines, Le Creusot the bogies, and Villeurbanne the onboard electronics, while La Rochelle will handle the assembly.
Features of Alstom's Citadis trams include an integral low floor, air-conditioning and a video-surveillance system as well as on-board visual and audio information. Each tramset will be 32m long, accommodating more than 200 passengers.
According to Alstom, the vehicle is 98 per cent recyclable. With its composite materials and improved traction system, it also consumes 10 per cent less energy than a traditional tram.
To date, 1,239 Citadis trams have been ordered by 30 cities worldwide, and more than 60 other cities plan to launch tramway projects over the coming years.
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