Transport in France - Trams and Light Railways

Trams and Light Railways

In spite of the closure of most of France's tram systems in earlier years, a fast growing number of France's major cities have modern tram or light rail networks, including Paris, Lyon (Lyon having the biggest one), Toulouse, Montpellier, Saint-Étienne, Strasbourg and Nantes . Recently the tram has seen a very big revival with many experiments such as ground level power supply in Bordeaux, or trolleybuses pretending to be trams in Nancy.

This way of travelling started disappearing in France at the end of the 1930s. Only Lille, Marseille and Saint-Étienne have never given up their tram systems. Since the 1980s, several cities have re-introduced it.

The following French towns and cities run light rail or tram systems:

• Angers - since 2011;
• Bordeaux - since 2003;
• Brest - since 2012;
• Caen - since 2002, 'trams on tyres' system featuring a single guide rail while running on tyres;
• Clermont-Ferrand - since 2006, 'trams on tyres';
• Grenoble - since 1987;
• Île-de-France - (Paris metropolitan area) - since 1992
• Lille, Roubaix and Tourcoing - non-stop since 1909;
• Lyon - since 2001;
• Le Mans - since 2007;
• Marseille - since 2007;
• Montpellier - since 2000;
• Mulhouse - since 2006
• Nancy - since 2000, 'trams on tyres' system featuring a single guide rail while running on tyres;
• Nice - since 2007;
• Nantes - since 1985;
• Orléans - since 2000;
• Reims - since 2011;
• Rouen - since 1994;
• Saint-Étienne - non-stop since 1881;
• Strasbourg - since 1994
• Toulouse - since 2010 (previously existed from 1906 to 1952)
• Valenciennes - since 2006

Tram systems are planned or under construction in Dijon, Le Havre, Tours, Besançon and Fort-de-France.

The revival of tram networks in France has brought about a number of technical developments both in the traction systems and in the styling of the cars:

APS third rail: The ground-level power supply system known as APS or Alimentation par le sol uses a third rail placed between the running rails, divided electrically into eight-metre segments with three metre neutral sections between. Each tram has two power collection skates, next to which are antennas that send radio signals to energise the power rail segments as the tram passes over them. At any one time no more than two consecutive segments under the tram should actually be live. Alstrom developed the system primarily to avoid intrusive power supply cables in sensitive area of the old city of Bordeaux.

Modern styling: The Eurotram, used in Strasbourg has a modern design that makes it look almost as much like a train as a tram, and has large windows along its entire length.

Modular design: The Citadis tram, flagship of the French manufacturer Alstom, enjoys an innovative design combining lighter bogies with a modular concept for carriages providing more choices in the types of windows and the number of cars and doors. The recent Citadis-Dualis, intended to run at up to 100 km/h, is suitable for stop spacings ranging from 500 m to 5 km. Dualis is a strictly modular partial low-floor car, with all doors in the low-floor sections.