TURKEY: The Mayor of Istanbul attended a ceremony on February 3 marking the entry into service of the first 14 of 37 Citadis trams being supplied by Alstom Transport. The remainder will enter traffic in the coming weeks.

The ai??i??73m contract for the trams was awarded by operator Istanbul Ulasim in September 2007, acting on behalf of Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality. The new cars are being used to provide a completely low-floor fleet on route T1 from Zeytinburnu to Kabatas, and are replacing high-floor cars on T2 from Zeytinburnu to Bagcilar. They operate in coupled pairs, carrying up to 500 passengers per set.

Trial running will begin shortly on the Bagcilar – Ikitelli – Olimpiyat extension of the Hafif light metro, using 20 four-car Metropolis metro trains which Alstom delivered between October 2008 and February 2010.