ALSTOM and the RATP sign a 181 million contract
for 70 CITADIS trams

Lcitadis-2000,0.jpg

Each tram will be 40 meters long and 2.65 meters wide and able
to carry 300 passengers. The full low floor will facilitate
access for passengers with reduced mobility.

The trams will serve the Maréchaux Sud line, for which
the City of Paris and the RATP are co-contractors. The tramway is
in a dedicated lane of the city’s southern interior ring
road. The first phase of the project includes an eight-kilometer
section with 17 stations linking the 13th, 14th and 15th
arrondissements.

The project, which is part of a regional plan for transport
development, was approved by the STIF, the transport authority of
the Ile de France region, on December 7, 2001 and by the Paris
City Council on November 20, 2001. (
Map
and information in French on the RATP Web site.)

The interior and exterior design of the trams will be
presented in 2004.

Signing the contract were Yves Ramette, director of the
rolling-stock department at the RATP, and André
Guyvarc’h, president of ALSTOM Transport France.

Philippe Mellier, president of ALSTOM Transport, said:
“I’m delighted with this renewed show of confidence
in ALSTOM by the RATP, which allows us to continue our
collaboration and partnership begun several decades ago. With
regard to tramways, ALSTOM and the RATP signed their first tram
contract in 1990 for the launch of the Saint-Denis-Bobigny line.
This new order brings the number of CITADIS trams sold around the
world to more than 500.”

ALSTOM will build the trams at its site in Aytré, near La
Rochelle. Delivery of the first vehicles is set to begin in 2005,
with service beginning in 2006.

The
CITADIS
family of trams offers flexible, modular solutions for
rapidly growing cities. The CITADIS concept combines
standardization of components with customization of interior and
exterior design in order to meet the individual requirements of
each city in terms of aesthetics, comfort and accessibility.

ALSTOM has sold 500 CITADIS trams to 15 cities around the
world. Paris, Barcelona, Rotterdam, Dublin and Melbourne have
chosen CITADIS. Today, 150 are in commercial service and have
carried 360 million passengers over 13 million kilometers.

With more than 35 product lines and a presence in more than
60 countries, ALSTOM's Transport sector offers complete
products and services for new rolling stock, signaling and
electrical and mecanical infrastructure as well as maintenance
and rehabilitation services to four distinct types of
customers: urban transit authorities and operators; intercity
passenger rail operators and rolling stock owners; rail freight
operators; and intercity railway infrastructure owners.
ALSTOM's Transport sector, with sales of
€5.1 billion in financial year 2002-2003, is among
the world's leading suppliers to the railway industry.

Press information:

Helen Connolly

Tel. +33 (0)1 41 66 91 43

helen.connolly@transport.alstom.com

• Visit the RATP site