Label GEN_PRINT missing!!
Label GEN_SEND_EMAIL missing!!
|
A metamorphosis for Bordeaux as its new tramway opens
Dec. 21 was Jour-T or T-Day as the Communauté Urbaine de Bordeaux inaugurated its tramway. On hand were Bordeauxs mayor and former French prime minister, Alain Juppé, President Jacques Chirac, and thousands of residents of the city, many of whom came out to see the beginning of service at 5:00 AM. The regional newspaper Sud Ouest estimated that 350,000 people turned out along the 10 kilometers of tramway that were in operation, filling the ALSTOM-built CITADIS trams currently in service to their 300-person capacity. At the inauguration ceremony in the afternoon at the depot in the Bastide area on the right bank of the Garonne River, Mr. Juppé, president of the Communauté Urbaine de Bordeaux, congratulated and thanked the people who have made the new tramway a success. “Bordeaux has long dreamed of having a tramway,” said Mr. Juppé, adding that the “21st century” tramway fulfilled the city’s hopes for a “modern, silent, comfortable, non-polluting” means of transport and was “worthy of Bordeaux’s magnificent stone decor.” President Chirac said he had been impatient to see the tramway of which he had often heard the mayor of Bordeaux speak “with passion.” His trip on the tramway, he said, allowed him to witness firsthand its “comfort, rapidity and silence, which are combined with significant ecological advantages.” He noted particularly the ease of access for passengers with reduced mobility. “I am impressed by this magnificent work,” he said. Addressing Patrick Kron, the president and chief executive of ALSTOM, Mr. Chirac said, “This premier well demonstrates the exceptional know-how of the grand enterprise you lead.” After the inauguration ceremony, the guests took the tram back to the center of town, crossing the Pont de Pierre as the sun was setting. Crowds watched the tram cross the bridge over the Garonne to the lights of a fireworks display. The beginning of Bordeaux’s tramway service is the debut of the innovative system for ground-level power supply, INNORAIL, chosen for the tramway because it eliminates the need for overhead lines, thus respecting the historical and architecture heritage of the city center. There were a few technical problems with the system, normal for the beginning of operation, that halted trams during the day, but they were promptly resolved so that service could resume.
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:  |
|||||||||||||
Label GEN_NEXT missing!!" href="http://www.transport.alstom.com:80/pr_transp/2003/13896.EN.php?languageId=EN&dir=/pr_transp/2003/&idRubriqueCourante=6267" class="bluelink">
Label BROWSE_PRESSRELEASE missing!!
