French transport group Alstom has delivered the first of the 11 Citadis trams to the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) of Dubai (UAE).
Designed and assembled at Alstom’s La Rochelle plant in France, the trams will be operational on the new 10km Al Sufouh Road tram line that is scheduled to open by the end of 2014.
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Claimed to be the first tramway project in the Gulf region, Al Sufouh Road tram line will include 11 air-conditioned stations and connect the Burj Al Arab Hotel area, Dubai Media City, the Marina and the metro destinations.
The line is planned to be extended up to 14.7km as part of the second phase of project.
As well as supplying Citadis trams, Alstom will be responsible for track laying, signalling (using Urbalis CBTC1), communications systems, integrated operation control centre, platform screen doors and ticketing system for the turnkey tramway project.
In addition, Alstom will maintain the tramway project for 13 years.
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By GlobalDataDubai RTA chairman of the board and executive director Mattar Al Tayer said: "Now that Alstom has conducted the initial systems tests on the tram in their facilities in France, we are starting technical tests on the depot’s rails and test runs on the line. All operational aspects will be continuously assessed until the line opens."
The tram is claimed to be the first to run exclusively on the Alimentation par le Sol (APS) method and also the first with tropicalised next-generation equipment tailored to the weather conditions of the Gulf.
Image: Alstom Citadis tram. Photo: courtesy of Alstom.
