Toulouse tramway

The tram Toulouse (French Tramway de Toulouse ) is a tramway in the southern French city of Toulouse, which, due to a strike two weeks late, 11 December 2010 went into operation. It complements the public transport network of the city, which was marked in front of two metro lines ( VAL system ), two TER lines and bus routes. In the first stage of the line T1 leads to a length of 10.9 km from the junction Arenes northwest to the suburbs Blagnac and Beauzelle. It is operated by the transport undertaking Tisséo.

As in many other French cities, the new network is a renaissance Already 1887-1957 there was a tram service in Toulouse.

The tram 1887-1957

Already on 31 July 1887, the Société des transports en commun de la région toulousaine the first tram service, first as a standard gauge horse tram. 1906 held the electric tram feeder until 1950, the network was further expanded. 1948, the city attempted to replace the tram by an O bus, but failed. Finally, the operation in favor of buses and the automobile traffic was set on July 7, 1957.

The return of the streetcar in 2010

With the growth of Toulouse as Métro Toulouse ( lines A and B ) and as TER - line (line C) were planned more lines on their own path, even after the opening of three important transport arteries. To connect the north-western metropolitan area, however, you chose not Métro or bevorrangte service, but a classic streetcar line, which had been found in various studies as a sensible solution. In 2004, we set the route for future T1 line in July 2007, work began.

T1 line

The T1 line - called in earlier planning than line E - marks the return of the streetcar to Toulouse. Starting from the junction Arenes, is at the given one to transfer to metro line A, TER - line C as well as to various bus, she served for a distance of 10.9 km with 18 stops the northwestern districts, and the suburban municipalities Blagnac and Beauzelle. The latter is the terminal Garossos - Aeroconstellation. The average distance between stops amounts to 641 m.

Line T2

The future T2 line will run from the airport to the Grand Rond or initially to the Palais de Justice. To this end, the network is in addition to the branch Envol extended ( see the next section, Ligne Garonne).

Extension

1 extension Ligne Garonne ( in operation since 2013)

The end of 2013 was the extension of the line T1, initially designated as line G from node Arenes in town to the east of the Grand Rond ( Metro station Palais de Justice ) in operation. This extension, two variants were investigated. Construction began in early 2012 and testing began in October 2013, two months before start-up ( see above, section T1 line ).

The arrived at the execution plan was a crossing of the Garonne via the Pont Saint- Michel, then should the distance to the Palace of Justice, its terminal point lead. It was originally intended to lead to the Jardin des Plantes Station -Museum, there will be later switched to Line Canal. This route is more expensive ( 115 million euros ), but also longer ( 3.8 km with seven stations ) and served a higher catchment area, offering easy access to the metro line B and can be extended easily.

The second proposed variant, however, provided for a crossing the Garonne via the Pont Pierre -de- Coubertin, making the Stadium Municipal could be served. The terminal would be in this variant, Saint -Michel on the Boulevard des Récollets. This proposal was not only significantly shorter ( 2.9 km with only five stations ), but also cheaper ( 85 million euros ). However, the catchment area is small, a longer Umsteigeweg to metro line B would have to be taken into account and an extension would prove problematic due to the nature of the Avenue Crampel.

2 extension Ligne Envol ( under construction, planned Fertiggestellung 2015)

The connection of the tram at the Toulouse-Blagnac Airport - Ligne Envol ( airline ) - to be made possible by a 2.5 km long branch line of the T1 line. The extension will include three stops, the vehicle needs is three cars. The start of construction in early 2013, with completion expected in spring 2015. The cost will be 55 million Euros for this 2.5 km long section, three stops to be built. On the section 9500 passengers are expected daily.

Although the T1 line carries 800 meters from the airport over to a direct connection you had but omitted in the first phase. As an alternative, was next to this branch line, a direct tram line from the airport to Toulouse- Matabiau in conversation, but fell back due to financial reasons on this solution. In addition, the branch circuit has the advantage that it also be operated factories that operate under other Airbus and ATR.

3 extension Ligne Canal (planned)

This compared to the first two grid extensions significantly longer distance, formerly known as line F is also traced along the Canal du Midi from the Pont Jumeau to the Pont des Demoiselles the city center in the east, and this is also be connected to the Marengo Station. The implementation is expected by 2020.

Fleet

For the T1 line 18 low-floor cars were purchased from the type Citadis 302 of the French manufacturer Alstom, the order can be increased to 24 cars. With a length of 32.4 m and a width of 2.40 m, the vehicles take 212 passengers ( 48 seated and 164 standing). An extension of the tram around 10 meters with two modules for type Citadis 402 is possible, so the capacity would increase to nearly 300 passengers. The design is individualized as with almost all French street railway companies and was designed by Alstom in collaboration with Airbus.