Citadis
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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), and Melbourne (see Trams in Melbourne).
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, and is used in the Hague and has been ordered for the German Kassel.
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 (http://www.lrta.org/art0212.html) for more information.
Major competitors to the Citadis include Bombardier's Flexity family (Outlook, Swift, Classic, and the Link tram-train), and Siemens Combino trams.
See also
- C class Melbourne tram (the specific model of Citadis used by Yarra Trams)
External links
- Citadis Trams Homepage (http://www.transport.alstom.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=OpenMarket/Xcelerate/View&inifile=futuretense.ini;futuretense_xcel.ini&c=at_product_type&cid=996157083810&pid=996157052219&rid=996157052103&mid=996157052190)
- Alstom Transport (http://www.transport.alstom.com)