Palermo mayor Mr Leoluca Orlando, as well as officials from the city's public transport authority, AMAT, and the consortium consisting of SIS, EDS, Bombardier, and Mosco, which has been responsible for the project since it commenced in 2007, attended the ceremony.
The consortium was appointed under a €192m contract in 2006 to develop the 15km network in the Sicilian capital and supply rolling stock, with Bombardier providing 17 five-section, 32m-long Flexity Outlook LRVs for an estimated €69m share. Bombardier will also maintain the vehicles for four years and is supplying its CityFlo 150 traffic management system.
The 5km Line 1 connects Palermo central station with Rocella, while lines 2 and 3 connect Notarbartolo station with San Giovanni Apostolo and Borgo Nuovo respectively.
AMAT will manage operations on the network, and despite an opening date not yet being announced, services are expected to begin "in the near future."
