The first Citadis tramset for the Dijon urban area arrived in the new operating and maintenance centre in Dijon on 26 January. The tramset had left the Alstom site in La Rochelle for the Dijon region six days earlier. François Rebsamen, Mayor of Dijon and President of the Greater Dijon urban area, will present the tramset to all elected representatives from Dijon communities on 27 January.

Trials of the Citadis tram will begin on lines in the Greater Dijon urban area in February 2012. It is scheduled to come into commercial service in September 2012. Line T1 will be 8.5 km long and serve 16 stations. Line T2 of the tramway will cover 11.5 km and serve 21 stations.

In 2009, the urban communities of Brest and Dijon announced their decision to select Alstom Transport to supply 53 tramsets in a deal worth over €100 million. The Brest and Dijon urban communities decided to issue a joint invitation to tender in order to streamline their investments and pool their requirements. Twenty tramsets will be delivered to Brest and 33 to Dijon.

Trams in the Greater Dijon urban area are fitted with the latest equipment in the Citadis range. Designed to ensure passenger comfort, they include closed-circuit video surveillance, sound and visual information systems, and integral low floors. Each tramset is 33 metres in length and can accommodate over 200 passengers. The Citadis also enhances the quality of city life: four times quieter than road traffic, it generates about five decibels less noise.

The Citadis tramsets are designed and assembled in France at the La Rochelle manufacturing site. Four other French Alstom Transport sites will also be involved in the project: Tarbes will provide equipment for the traction systems, Ornans the motors, Le Creusot the bogies, and Villeurbanne the onboard electronics and passenger information systems.

The Greater Dijon urban area will benefit from a proven product based on extensive feedback on over 1,000 Citadis trams currently in operation in 36 towns and cities worldwide.