Saint-Étienne tramway

The tram Saint -Etienne (French Tramway de Saint- Étienne ) is a meterspuriges tram network in the French town of Saint- Étienne. The town of Saint -Étienne heard - along with Lille and Marseille - the three cities in France, where the tram has survived the closure of the postwar wave. Without interruption in operation since 1881, Saint- Etienne has the oldest tram operation in France. With daily 70 000 passengers tram provides 49 % of the performance of public transport in the region Agglomà Stéphanoise.

History

The beginnings of the tram back to December 4, 1881, when the first meter gauge steam tramway was opened for a distance of 5.5 kilometers between Terrace and Bellevue. Another line began production in February 1882 of Bellevue after Firminy in operation. A 30 -km-long line from Saint- Etienne to Rive- de-Gier was opened in November 1882. Then took the " Compagnie des Chemins de Fer à Voie étroite ( CFVE ) " the network. Since April 17, 1897, the first electric trams were on the routes Bellevue ↔ train station and Place Chateaucreux Dorian ↔ Rond Point; these were operated by the " Compagnie des tramways électriques (TE ) ". By 1914 most steam trams were electrified; on the net 26 million passengers were transported per year. In 1930 the tram network included a line length of 90 kilometers. In the same year, the TE went bankrupt, the company was taken over by the CFVE. On July 15, 1931, the last steam- powered trains were shut down due to high operating losses. On April 1, 1932, the first electric tram lines were shut down and replaced by bus lines. In the following years, all overland tram lines were, except for the line to Firminy, converted to bus operation.

During the Second World War, the city decided to abolish the streetcar and its replacement by the trolleybus. The first line was changed on 1 January 1942 trolleybus operation. By 1952, the highest demand line 4 ( terrace -Bellevue ) was only left because on this route could not meet because of the narrow road cross-section buses. Ultimately, it is thanks to the passengers of the tram that this important but outdated line was saved. After lengthy persuasion of a passenger association, which had to contend with the opposition of the press, politics and car lobby, we were finally able to push through the purchase of new cars.

1958 setup Großraumwagen type PCC 30 were acquired after the Brussels model, which was followed in 1968 five PCC articulated railcar. The new car was followed by a complete modernization of the line. They created their own routes and designed the new stops. In the 1960 years, the tram carried 22 million passengers. On January 1, 1980, the newly founded Société de transport de l' Agglomà Stéphanoise took over the management of the entire public transport in the region and also the tram. On November 1, 1982, the one-man operation started. On February 17, 1983, inaugurated by the end of the Second World War, with the extension of the distance of 1.5 kilometers to the south, the first new line in France. In the north, the line was extended on 8 December 1991 by 2.2 km from terrace to the Hôpital Nord. At the same time, the new low-floor trams of Alsthom -Vevey went into operation.

Line network

The tram network reached in 1930 with 90 km its maximum length. In 1932, the first lines were converted with low passenger numbers on trolleybus. The main line (line 4) between stops La Terrace and Bellevue remained as only one because in this area the roads were too narrow for buses. In 1983, the line was extended to 4 to the south of the new terminus Solaure 1991 then north to the Hôpital Nord. In total there are now 27 stops along this route.

In October 2006, the third new route from Place du Peuple to Central Station (Gare de Châteaucreux ) was put into operation. It includes six stops. Since then, in Saint- Étienne two tram lines. In addition to the existing line 4, line 5 has been put into operation, the mitbenutzte part of the route of the line 4 and in an additional loop snapped at the main train station.

On 30 August 2010, the line was 5 separated with her cycle ride to Central Station in two lines ending at the main station each. In addition, the line numbers of the tram lines, as in other French cities, the line identification T ( tramway ) was preceded by. Thus, the route network since the following lines includes:

• The T1 line operates from Hôpital Nord to Solaure, serving 27 stations.
• The line T2 runs from terrace to Châteaucreux SNCF, serving 17 stations.
• The line T3 runs from Châteaucreux SNCF to Bellevue and serving 13 stations.

Rolling stock

New rolling stock - in the form of trams of type TFS ( Tramway français standard) - came on December 7, 1991 by Vevey (now Bombardier ) and Alstom. The low-floor streetcars solved successively from the old PCC cars, which had secured the survival of the tram in the city. The low-floor trams are 23.2 m long and the entry height is 36 cm. Each vehicle has four doors on the left side in direction of travel and provides 204 passenger capacity, of which 43 seats.

The first series was delivered in 1991 and included 15 tracks, numbered from 901 to 915 They were taken together with the extension of line 4 to the Hôpital Nord in operation. At this time the old PCC trains still wrong, the new tracks were equipped with bar pantographs. When was the last vehicle was taken from the type PCC from the service on July 4, 1998 the trolley booms were replaced by single-arm pantographs.

1998, the second series of 20 lanes was delivered that were numbered 916-935. They were equipped from the start with single-arm pantographs and reach a top speed of 70 km / h Overall, the car park tram Saint -Étienne now includes 35 low-floor trams. It is one-way vehicles. The engine vehicles since 1993, maintained at the depot " Saint -Priest -en- Jarez " (near the bus stop Escale ). Previously, the Deposit was south of the Bellevue stop.

In September 2013, the renovation of 20 trams was announced.