On Saturday 25th June, the city of Angers in western France held an official opening ceremony for the opening of their new 12km tram line.
The Mayor of Angers Jean-Claude Antonini officially opened the new line.
Line A connects Avrillé to La Roseraie with a non-stop service from 05:30 until 00:30 and has 25 stations along the route.
The festivities carried on late into the night, with the National Orchestra of Pays de la Loire and bands playing for the huge crowds.
The Mayor said the project had helped to create 1000 jobs during the construction phase, and has now created more within Keolis.
At around 13:00 the first passengers boarded the trams, which take 37 minutes to cover the entire length of the route.
The tramway is the main goal of development for the area of Angers Loire Métropole.
It was originally expected to be complete in 2009 to replace bus routes after construction began in 2007 but Line A was only recently completed, Line B will be inaugurated in 2015.
Alstom supplied the Citadis 302 trams for a contract worth €47m.
It’s expected up to 35,000 people will use the trams every day, which run every 6 minutes.
