99% availability and exceptionally high passenger levels :
the Bordeaux urban tramway is a resounding success

Availability has noticeably improved for each of the three
lines in service and has reached approximately 99%, close to
original targets. It confirms the potential offered by the
ground-level power supply system developed by ALSTOM Transport
and deployed in Bordeaux for the first time anywhere in the
world. Now work must continue to achieve 99.8% availability by
the end of 2006.

The tramways commercial success (up to 190 000
passengers daily) is a major reason for the urban
Communitys satisfaction : this system is already achieving
passenger levels that go far beyond initial forecasts. It is
contributing to a new travel culture and has helped to structure
the urban organization of the Bordeaux region. The network will
fully come into its own when the second phase of the tramway is
operational in 2007.

Within this context, the CUB is looking into the possibility
of acquiring additional rolling stock. Furthermore, the CUB has
signed a memorandum of understanding with ALSTOM Transport to
promote the commercial development of ground-level power supply
systems at both French and international level, including
regional financial, industrial and technological aspects.

Covering a total of 25 kilometres, the Bordeaux tram network,
inaugurated in December 2003, includes 11 kilometres of sections
equipped with ground-level power supply systems developed by
Innorail, a subsidiary of ALSTOM Transport and patent
holder.

To enhance this systems reliability as the three lines
went into service, ALSTOM Transport and its business partners (1)
committed to a dynamic action plan whose effects have been
manifest over the entire network since the final quarter of 2005.
Between June and December, the service disruption level was
reduced by a factor of four.

By the end of December 2005, the availability level for each
line was:


- 98.88 % for line A (0.92 % of disruption due to the
ground-level power supply system)


- 98.35 % for line B (0.97 % of disruption due to the
ground-level power supply system)


- 98.69 % for line C (no disruption caused by the
ground-level power supply system)

The line A extension towards the Pellegrin hospital complex,
equipped with a 1-kilometre long ground-level power supply
system, was inaugurated in September 2005, with availability
close to 100%. This is the first sector to have directly
benefited from the technical modifications generated by feedback
on the Bordeaux network.

To achieve these results, ALSTOM Transport and their partners
mobilized major financial, technical and human resources. The
total amount invested in R&D and in operational facilities,
in the field as well as on ALSTOM Transport sites, exceeds 10
M. From a technical viewpoint, two major decisions are
notable :


- the complete replacement of the main cable of the
ground-level power supply,


- all ground-level power supply batteries by new batteries
on the 44 train sets in service.

Two major causes of service disruption have thus been
eliminated. Thanks to the mobilization of all concerned, almost
the entire programme has been achieved. Only a few additional
tasks have been programmed for 2006. All the work has been
carried out in a spirit of cooperation by teams from the Mission
Tramway (CUB), Connex Bordeaux, AMEC Spie Rail, ALSTOM Transport
and Innorail. For example, the CUB and Connex have agreed to
close down evening tramway services on several occasions so that
major nighttime work could be completed. 

As in the case of any innovation of this significance, the
ground-level power supply system produced limitations that could
not have been forecast by tests undertaken prior to the network
inauguration. These problems concerned :


- adapting the system to the extremely demanding conditions
of commercial operation;


- interaction between the ground-level power supply system
onboard or laid in the ground and standard
tramway functions with its external environment (civil
engineering, power, signalling, supervision).

It has taken 24 months from the inauguration of the first line
for this system a complete departure from the
conventional overhead line system in service for over a century
to achieve its operating level. The problems encountered
have never brought the systems safety or design into
question.

These difficulties caused a serious drop in the quality of the
tramway service. However, they did not prevent an increasing
number of passengers from using the service. To meet increasing
demand, the CUB is now considering the purchase of additional
rolling stock or to increase capacity on line C (Quinconces -
Gare Saint-Jean) by extending trams from 33 to 44 metres.

Determined to meet the technological challenge posed by the
deployment of ground-level power supply systems as quickly as
possible, whilst maintaining service, ALSTOM Transport and its
business partners are looking into a long-term commitment with
the CUB, Connex and tramway users. In this spirit, local
partnerships have been signed between Innorail and the
Université de Bordeaux I to work on a new generation of
equipment for the ground-level power supply system. All parties
concerned will be involved in this task over the coming
years.

The CUB has made the ambitious choice of taking on an
innovative system involving an investment cost that is 3 times
higher than that of the overhead line system. The aim is now to
gradually reduce operating and maintenance costs, costs that
remained high throughout 2005. In the future, ALSTOM Transport
will endeavour to reduce costs to a level similar to purchase
cost.

Furthermore, the CUB now has a tramway that has allowed it to
modernize its public transport. The phase two extension,
increasing the length of the network to 43.5 kilometres, will
mark a new and important phase in the development of public
transport in Bordeaux.

Given the availability levels achieved, the high passenger
rate and the pioneering image of the Bordeaux region, ALSTOM
Transport and the CUB have just signed a memorandum of
understanding establishing the principles of a partnership to
promote ground-level power supply systems. According to the terms
and conditions of this memorandum, currently being finalized, the
CUB and its showcase system, would be financially involved in
commercial promotion of the ground-level power supply system to a
number of French and international regions, who seek to provide
an efficient transport system whilst maintaining their historical
heritage.

Press contacts

Alstom Transport 


E. Lenoir - Tel. 01 41 66 98 74

eric.lenoir@transport.alstom.com 


S. Trabitzsch - Tel. 01 41 66 97 16

susanne.trabitzsch@transport.alstom.com 

Bordeaux Urban Community


A. Lamaison - Tel. 05 56 99 85 29 / 06 16 33 78 12


 
alamaison@cu-bordeaux.fr

E. Bortolaso - Tel. 05 56 99 85 59 / 06 16 33 78 15


 
ebortolaso@cu-bordeaux.fr