Think Railways

Alstom has launched two major innovative urban solutions at the UITP World Congress 2015, in Milan: Attractis, an integrated tramway system for growing cities, and SRS, a new ground-based static charging system for both trams and electrical buses. 

Thanks to optimised project management and construction methods, Attractis is available in the record time of 30 months from the design phase. Designed to optimise acquisition costs and the total cost of ownership, Attractis can offer up to 20% savings in investment compared to a traditional tramway system.

Attractis is a concentrate of Alstom’s proven know-how and expertise designed for growing cities with high population density not yet equipped with a tramway system. It includes Alstom’s  tram and all associated infrastructure: the track, power supply, passenger stations, communication and information system, line operation supervision and control systems, ticketing, and maintenance. In partnership with a civil works company, Alstom builds all the necessary infrastructure and ensures the testing and commissioning of the entire line working with the operator.

“Attractis allows cities, especially those experiencing rapid growth, to acquire a tramway system enabling them to rapidly reduce congestion and pollution, while offering city-dwellers a clean, safe and comfortable mode of transport,”declared Eric Marie, Vice President for systems at Alstom Transport.

Able to carry from 4,000 to up to 14,000 passengers per hour and per direction, Attractis can be easily adjusted to the level of ridership. The footprint of a two-way Attractis line is comparable to that of a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT). Should ridership increase, the capacity of Attractis can easily be adapted using the same dedicated lane, whereas the footprint of a BRT lane needs to be doubled.

To ensure the availability of Attractis in record time, Alstom has developed optimised construction methodology involving intelligent section-by-section scheduling of civil and electromechanical works to minimise construction time, disturbance and costs. The Attractis package also includes a 3D driving simulator, enabling drivers to practice during the construction period, further optimising the timing of the project.

Attractis is also the first rail system to adopt ITxPT (Information Technology for Public Transport), an open IT architecture designed to improve interoperability between IT systems and decrease costs related to multiple equipment. With this new norm, the integration of multimodal urban transport systems (tram, bus, electric car sharing services etc.) is synchronised, allowing transport authorities to offer passengers innovative information solutions, journey planners and e-ticketing systems.

SRS is based on the technology and safety principles of the proven Alstom APS solution used by Citadis trams. Whereas APS supplies power to the tram while it is still running, SRS charges the tram when stopped at stations in less than 20 seconds. Electrical power comes from compact power supply cabinets that are smoothly and easily integrated into stations. Collector shoes (contact blocks), fitted under the tram, make contact with the conductor rail, providing electric traction power to the tram. Supercapacitors installed on the roof of the tram store energy via a ground-based conductive rail which provides traction power to the vehicle through the collector shoes.