On 27 July 2019 at 4h19 am the first tram left the depot in order to start revenue service – Caen’s tram started its’ tram operation and celebrated the T-Day on July 27th with the T standing for its’ brand-new tram system. The system has been built by the Communauté urbaine Caen la Mer in a record time of 18 months. Three lines and 26 Alstom Citadis X05 low-floor trams operate the 16.2 km infrastructure. The official inauguration took place that day at 11h30 am with tram service for free during the entire weekend. First reports say that that the tramway has been very well received and passengers are particularly happy about the smooth ride with the brand new vehicles on the new infrastructure – which is notable improvement in comparison to the now disappeared GLT “trams on rubber tyres”.
Communauté urbaine Caen la Mer which is the intercommunal structure with some 265,000 inhabitants is the owner France’s latest tram system. The operation is handled by Keolis.
The test operation of the tram started in early 2019 – also with the decorated inaugural tram I Photo: Communauté urbaine Caenlamer
Alstom Citadis tram in the Rue d’Auge I Photo: Bernhard Kußmagk 
In Caen’s city centre, the new tram passes underneath the castle, as seen here in Rue de Géole at the tram stop Château-Quatrans I Photo: Bernhard Kußmagk 
In comparison to the former GLT network, a new branch to the terminus Presqu’Ile east of the city centre has been added I Photo: Bernhard Kußmagk
The tramway follows the route of the closed TVR/ GLT (guided light transit bus) system from north to south with 2 separate terminus in the north and south respectively. At the southern terminus a new 1 km extension from Grâce de Dieu to the depot has been added as the GLT’s were brought to the depot in diesel operation via public streets. Next to the depot a new terminus called Collège Hawking has been installed. In the city centre a new branch to the SNCF station Rives de l’Orne has been added to the network. This will be the terminus of the line T2. In total, the network has now a length of 16.2 km.
The festivities were visited by many inhabitants and tourists I Photo: Communauté urbaine Caenlamer 
Joël Bruneau, president of the Communauté urbaine Caen la mer with other delegates during the inauguration of Caen’s new tramway I Photo: Communauté urbaine Caenlamer
Each of the three lines is operated in 10 minute intervals, leading to 3 minute headways in the city centre. Ridership is expected to be as high as 64,000 per day – in comparison to today’s 42,000 passengers. The total project has a volume of 260 mio. € (without taxes).
In November 2016 26 five-car Citadis X05 low-floor trams had been ordered for a total volume of 52 Mio. € with Alstom. The first vehicles arrived in Caen at the end of 2018. As usual for Citadis, especially in French cities, the trams are characterised by a personalised exterior and interior design, including a customer-specific frontend. The Citadis for Caen are painted in grey with black window stripes.
One of the Alstom Citadis trams has been decorated specifically for the “T-Day” inauguration I Photo: Communauté urbaine Caenlamer 
Dense tram traffic during the inauguration day of Caen’s new tramway in the Avenue du 6 Juin I Photo: Bernhard Kußmagk 
Caen’s brandnew Alstom Citadis low-floor trams are five-section vehicles with a grey livery, combined with black window belt – here seen at Boulevard des Alliés
I Photo: Bernhard Kußmagk
Urban Transport Magazine reported about Caen’s tram history and test drives here:
