Citadis

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Image:Ac.newtram1.jpg.JPG The Citadis is a low-floor tram built by Alstom in La Rochelle, France, currently in use around the world, in (among others), the Paris region, Lyon, Montpellier, Bordeaux, Orléans, Rotterdam, Dublin (see Luas), Melbourne (see Trams in Melbourne), and Katowice / Metropolian Katowice (see Silesian Interurbans). Image:Paris-tramway.jpg The Citadis family includes both partially low-floor and 100% low-floor trams, in versions with three, five, and seven sections. The 70% low-floor Regio-Citadis variant allows for tram-train operation, in which trams run also on mainline railway tracks; it is used in the German city Kassel, and has just been delivered for the Hague. The Citadis family comprises:

Citadis 202 - double articulated 100% low floor (Melbourne)
Citadis 301 - also three section but with 70% low floor (Orléans and Dublin)
Citadis 302 - five carbody sections, 100% low floor (Lyon, Bordeaux, Paris T2, Valenciennes and Rotterdam)
Citadis 402 - seven carbody sections, 100% low floor (Bordeaux, Grenoble, Paris T3)
Citadis 401 - five setions and 70% low floor (Montpellier and Dublin)
Citadis 403 - seven section but with modified end bogie design (Strasbourg)

Like most trams, Citadis vehicles are usually powered by overhead electric wires, but Bordeaux uses ground-level power supply, with which they are powered by a third rail even in the city centre, where the tracks are not always segregated from pedestrians and cars. Safety is ensured by placing the third rail between the other two, and dividing it into eight-metre sections, each of which is only powered while it is completely covered by a tram. There is therefore no risk of a person or animal coming into contact with a live rail. In outer areas, the trams switch to conventional overhead wires. See this LRTA report for more information.

Major competitors to the Citadis include Bombardier Transportation's Flexity family (Outlook, Swift, Classic, and the Link tram-train), and Siemens Combino and Avanto trams.

Image:CitadisStrasbourg1.jpg