Ora ïto and Alstom unveil trams for Nice's expanded public transport system

French designer Ora ïto has revealed his tram designs for the Mediterranean city of Nice, which will be charged through the ground rather than via overhead cables clip
Created with French rail company Alstom, Ora ïto 's trams will run on the new 11.3kilometre (7 miles) east-west line through Nice – which the city's inhabitants approved in a January 2016 vote. To lessen the impact of the tramway on the historic city, the trams will charge through the ground to avoid prominent overhead contact lines.

The streamlined carriage exteriors are coloured a reddish ochre, to match the pigments used on the facades of 17th-century buildings including Place Massena and Villa Matisse.

"The lucid elegant shape is designed to slip through the historical town paving a contemporary ochre trail," said a statement from the designer, who previously opened the rooftop of Le Corbusier's Cité Radieuse housing block in Marseille as a contemporary art space.

Each 44-metre Alstom Citadis X05 train can accommodate 300 travellers, and 19 vehicles are so far planned for the route