Commissioning of the first French cross-border tramway designed by Alstom and Peugeot Design Lab

The style of the new Citadis tramway is the fruit of collaboration between Alstom’s Design & Styling department and the Peugeot Design Lab. Alstom has already delivered 12 of the new Citadis trams to CTS, out of a total of 22 ordered under a framework agreement signed in late 2014. The project won 9,000 votes in an online campaign launched by the city’s transport manager, CTS (Compagnie des Transports Strasbourgeois).

“The identity of this third addition to Strasbourg‘s Citadis tramway needed to reflect the aesthetic quality of the city, right down to its modes of transport. This new tram had to live up to the two earlier versions, which were both outstanding successes, and it needed to reflect a leap from one generation to the next,” said Xavier Allard, director of Alstom Transport’s Design & Styling department.

The new Citadis trams are slick and modern. The wrap-around tilted windscreen heralds a free-flowing, agile tramway. At the front wheels, the way the body moves is inspired by the curves of a car. Overall, the smooth, non-aggressive design is welcoming.

“PEUGEOT’s stylists don't just design cars. The commissioning of the new Citadis tramway is a concrete example of the public-transport expertise at our Global Brand Design studio,” said Cathal Loughnane, manager of Peugeot Design Lab.

The commissioning of this first French cross-border tram line is a historical event. No tram had run between Strasbourg, in the Bas Rhin department of France, and Kehl, in Germany, for 72 years. The new trams will serve the extensions of the two existing lines. The D line, which has been extended to Kehl (Germany) makes life easier for the nearly 20,000 Strasbourg residents who work in Germany. The A line serves the town of Illkirsch south of Strasbourg. French and German politicians came together for the inauguration, and its arrival was enthusiastically celebrated over a weekend of festivities.

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