France: Alstom’s La Rochelle plant has handed over the TW20 model to RATP, the Paris public transport operator.
The new trams are part of the fleet upgrade on Line T1. The line was built in the early 1990s, ending a 35-year hiatus in the development of the Paris tram network. The €130 mln contract for the trams was signed in 2021, providing for the delivery of 37 five-car trams with an option for a further 83 vehicles.
The Alstom Citadis X05 for Paris. Source: Alstom
Each low-floor TW20 is 33 m long and 2.4 m wide. It has six 1,300 mm double doors, three on each side. New pivoting bogies under the cabs are said to minimise the space between the doors and the boarding platform, improving accessibility for people with reduced mobility.
The TW20 offers passengers solutions that have become standard today, such as air conditioning, LED lighting, LCD screens, USB sockets, etc. According to Alstom, 95% of its components are recycled and 99% are reusable.
