French Delights – Paris’s Tramway line 1 & Line 2
In 1992 trams (LRT)Ai??Ai??returned toAi??Ai??Paris, afterAi??Ai??their abandonmentAi??Ai??in 1938. The new tramAi??Ai??line,Ai??Ai??Line T1Ai??Ai?? ran fromAi??Ai??La Courneuve to Bobigny and was extendedAi??Ai??few months later to Gare St. Denis. So successful was line T-1, that it tripled theAi??Ai??ridershipAi??Ai??of the bus route it replaced. In 1997, after the success of the new tramway, Line T2 opened, running fromAi??Ai??Issy Val de Seine-La Defense andAi??Ai??runs on theAi??Ai??former track of a local regional electric railway, with electric hauled passenger cars replaced by trams.
Ai??Ai??In 2003 T1 (which routeAi??Ai??lies in the north-eastern part of the city)Ai??Ai??was extended 3 km east to Noisy-le-SecAi??Ai??. LineAi??Ai??T1 interchanges with local railways (RER) at Gare St. Denis, Noisy-le-Sec, and with 3 metro lines at Bobigny, Corneuve and Basilique St. Denis. Further extensions are planned: a western extension from Saint Denis to AsniA?A?res and Gennevilliers, southern extension from Noisy-le-Sec to Montreuil and Val de Fontenay RER station.
Ai??Ai??Line T2 (which route runs south-west) interchanges with local railways at Issy Val de Seine and La Defense, and with one of the metro lines at La Defense. Two extensions are in advanced planning phase: eastern extension from Issy Val de Seine to Porte de Versailles (transfer point to and from metro L12, tram T3), northern extension from La Defense to Bezons.Ai??
What is interesting is that both lines that they cost about CAD $16 million per km. to build and combined,Ai??Ai??carry over 50 million passengers annually.
| Country | France |
| Line | T1 |
| Inhabitants | City 2.150.000, District 11.175.000 |
| Date opening | 1992 |
| Future development: | western extension (2011) from Saint Denis to AsniA?A?res, Gennevilliers and Ile-Saint-Denis; eastern extension (2013) from Noisy-le-Sec to Montreuil and Val de Fontenay RER station |
| Length (km) | 11 |
| Track sections | ground level mostly in reserved lanes |
| Stops | 26, average distance m 450 |
| Platforms | heigth 35 cm |
| Platform doors | — |
| General characteristics | — |
| n. of vehicles | 35 |
| n. of cars per vehicle | 3 |
| Type | steel wheels, bi-directional |
| Vehicle dimensions (m) | length 29.4; width 2.30 |
| Vehicle capacity (pax) | 178 (52 seated) |
| Frequency | 5’/8′ |
| Current/Voltage | 750 V DC overhead |
| Type of guide/gauge | standard gauge rails (1435 mm) |
| Speed Km/h | Comm 24, Max — |
| Accel./Decel. (m/sec2) | Ai?? |
| System capacity | — |
| Ridership | 30 millions pax/year |
| Total cost | 10 M Euro/km |
| Staff | — |
| System builder | ALSTOM |
| Model | TFS |
| NOTE | construction phases: Gras St. Denis-Bobigny Picasso (1992); Bobigny-Noisy-le-Sec (2003) |
Line T2
| Country | France |
| Line | T2 |
| Inhabitants | City 2.150.000, District 11.175.000 |
| Date opening | 1997 |
| Future development: | eastern extension (2009) Issy Val de Seine-Porte de Versailles (transfer point to and from metro L12, tram T3); northern extension (2011) La Defense-Bezons |
| Length (km) | 11.3 |
| Track sections | ground level mostly in reserved lanes |
| Stops | 13, average distance m 950 |
| Platforms | heigth 35 cm |
| Platform doors | — |
| General characteristics | — |
| n. of vehicles | 26 |
| n. of cars per vehicle | 5 |
| Type | steel wheels, bi-directional |
| Vehicle dimensions (m) | length 32.2; width 2.40 |
| Vehicle capacity (pax) | 231 (48 seated) |
| Frequency | 5’/8′ |
| Current/Voltage | 750 V DC overhead |
| Type of guide/gauge | standard gauge rails (1435 mm) |
| Speed Km/h | Comm 24, Max — |
| Accel./Decel. (m/sec2) | Ai?? |
| System capacity | — |
| Ridership | 20 millions pax/year |
| Total cost | 10 M Euro/km |
| Staff | — |
| System builder | ALSTOM |
| Model | Citadis |
| NOTE | further 34 Alstom Citadis trams for the future extensions (16 for Issy Val de Seine-Porte de Versailles, 18 for La Defen |
I rode all the Tramways in Paris recently, and it reinforces my belief that any critics of LRT simply haven’t ridden LRT, and lack any serious knowledge. LRT works. It works really well. It’s one thing to talk about stats, and talk about 90 seconds(like serisously, most riders are not that impatient), but at least experience the mode before critizing. I am looking forward to when the first Transit City opens up, so it can shut the LRT critics up.
I am sure that LRT will work in Vancouver, just as well as skytrain, WCE, trolleys and regular buses.
Paris is planning expansions of all their modes for transport, including four métro extensions, one RER expansion, and nine tramways.
Of note the Arc Express, a planned ring route around Paris, will be automated metro.
http://www.thetransportpolitic.com/2009/03/18/paris-announces-biggest-rapid-transit-investment-since-rer/
http://www.infrastructurist.com/2009/03/17/ambitious-30-billion-rail-system-to-be-installed-in-paris/
Zweisystem replies: Yes but compare populations of Paris, 2.2 million with a regional population of 10.1 million with Vancouver, 578,000 and a regional population of 2.1 million, the greater population means there is a need for metro and has the tax base to pay for it. TransLink is in trouble because we squandered $8 billion on 3 metro lines that in essence, has only given the bus rider a questionably faster travel time at greater inconvenience. We could have built at least 9 LRT lines, serving more people, for the same amount of cash. There is precious little monies left for more transit in the region like valley rail.