The ABS consortium of Alstom, Besix and Sercoa has signed a contract worth over €550 million ($860 million) with Dubai’s Road Transport Authority (RTA) for the execution of first phase of the Al Safooh tram network.

The Alstom’s share in the project's first phase will be nearly €300 million ($469 million). This agreement ratifies the decision to award the contract to the ABS consortium, as announced in April this year.

The project, which should go into commercial service in 2011, will initially include the provision of 11 trams and the construction of a 10 kilometre line with 13 stations.

The second phase would involve another 14 trams as well as an additional 4 km of track and six stations. Dubaï will be the first city in the Gulf region to be equipped with a tramway transit system, an Alstom official said.

Alstom Transport will provide Citadis 402 type tramways equipped with the catenary-free APS technology, as well as the signalling and ticketing system,  he added.

Al Safooh tram stops will be fitted with specially-designed automatic platform doors to enable street-level air-conditioning for maximum passenger comfort. This system is a world first for an outdoor tram station.

In operation in Bordeaux (France) since 2003, and ordered by the French cities of Reims, Angers and Orléans, the APS technology is a street level power supply system which allows to avoid traditional catenaries, in order to protect the integrity of historical city centres and high quality architectural environment.

To date, over 1166 Citadis have been ordered by 29 cities across the world and more than 60 other cities have a tramway project scheduled for the next few years.

This type of modern tramway is becoming a must in urban transport policy because they make it possible to offer sustainable mobility, to rethink and re-energize urban space, to preserve architectural heritage or fit with cutting edge architectural projects and contribute to city growth, he said.

This cutting-edge technology fits with the modernity of the city of Dubai, the official added.-TradeArabia News Service