Alstom to Provide Ecuador's First Trams

July 2, 2013
Alstom was awarded a contract by the city of Cuenca to supply 14 Citadis trams, along with electrification, power supply and system integration.

Alstom was awarded a contract by the city of Cuenca to supply 14 Citadis trams, along with electrification, power supply and system integration.

The part for Alstom is worth approximately €70 million. The 10-kilometer line will be the first tramway system in Ecuador. It will include 20 stations and will cross the historical city center over 4 kilometers. The line - which will be inaugurated in 2015 – will be able to carry up to 120,000 passengers per day.

Cuenca, the third largest city in Ecuador, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. To preserve its architectural heritage, the city chose Alstom’s APS3 technology, a catenary-free solution with a 10-year success record that powers the tram through a third rail embedded in the ground between the running tracks. Cuenca will be the first city in the Americas to obtain a catenary-free tram, already in service in several French cities as Bordeaux, Reims, Angers and Orleans and soon in Tours as well as Dubai in United Arab Emirates.

The Citadis tram for Cuenca is about 33 meters long and can accommodate around 300 passengers. Its full low floor and wide doors enable easy passenger access, especially for those with reduced mobility. Additionally, Citadis features large central aisles allowing passengers to move inside.

“This project and our Citadis will improve the urban mobility of Cuenca, home to about 500,000 inhabitants, with one of the cleanest, most efficient and most comfortable means of public transportation. It is also an opportunity to show other Latin American countries that similar projects can be developed in their cities” says Michel Boccaccio, senior vice president of Alstom Transport in Latin America.

The trams and the infrastructure components will be produced at the Alstom Transport sites in France. The project is mainly financed by the French Treasury through the ECR (Emerging Country Reserve) loan scheme.