Light Rail Transit Association   URBAN TRANSIT NEWS 2004

Bombardier Marseille order: Bombardier Transportation is to developing a new bidirectional FLEXITY Outlook tram for the new tramway network of Marseille, which is due to open in 2006-2007. The initial contract awarded by the Communauté Urbaine Marseille Provence Métropole (MPM) calls for the engineering work and the conception of the industrial design as well as the production of a 1:1 mock-up of the vehicle. It is expected that this will be followed in the autumn by the order of 25 to 30 vehicles for the first phase of the project.

Although vehicles of the same family operate in the cities of Linz (Austria) and Lodz (Poland) and have recently been ordered by the cities of Eskisehir (Turkey), Geneva (Switzerland) and Brussels (Belgium) the Marseille cars will have an exclusive and innovative design to fit in with the maritime background of the city. Wide windows will offer a panoramic view and create a feeling of transparency. The natural wooden seats and blue interior colour scheme are intended accentuate the Mediterranean influence even more.

11 June 2004