Transport in France

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This article contains material from the CIA World Factbook (2003 edition) which, as a US government publication, is in the public domain.

Contents 1 Railways 1.1 Rail links with adjacent countries 2 Roads 3 Waterways / canals 4 Pipelines 5 Seaports and harbours 6 Merchant marine 7 Air travel in France 8 Airports — with paved runways 8.1 Airports — with paved runways 8.2 Airports — with unpaved runways 8.3 National airlines 8.4 Heliports 9 History 10 Railways 11 See also 12 Notes and References

[edit] Railways

Total: 31,939 km (31,840 km are operated by French national company)

• 31,840 km 1435 mm (4 ft 8½ in)
• 99 km 1m gauge (1998)

Trains, unlike road traffic, drive on the left (except in Alsace-Moselle). Metro and tramway services are not considered trains and thus generally follow road traffic in driving on the right (except the metro of Lyon).

See also: TGV, high-speed rail, French railway history, Chemins de Fer de Provence, Channel Tunnel.

Métros:

• Paris Metro, operated by the RATP (Régie Autonome des Transports Parisiens) and the RER
• Laon, Poma 2000
• Lille, VAL (Véhicule Automatique Léger, "Light Automatic Vehicle"), operated by Transpole.
• Lyon Metro
• Marseille, operated by the RTM (Régie des Transports de Marseille)
• Rennes Metro, VAL
• Toulouse, VAL

Tramways and light railways:

This mode of transport started disappearing in France at the end of the 1930s. Since the 1980s, several cities have re-introduced it.
List of cities operating a tramway or light rail system:

• Bordeaux, since 2003
• Caen, since 2002, 'trams on tyres' guided bus system featuring a single guidance rail while running on tyres (partially separate tracks)
• Grenoble, since 1987
• Île-de-France
  • T1 between Saint Denis and Noisy-le-Sec, since 1992
  • T2 between La Defense and Issy Plaine, since 1997
• Lille — Roubaix — Tourcoing
• Lyon, since 2001
• Marseille
• Montpellier, since 2000
• Nancy, since 2000, 'trams on tyres' guided bus system featuring a single guidance rail while running on tyres (partially separate tracks)
• Nantes, since 1985
• Orléans, since 2000
• Paris
• Rouen, since 1994
• Saint-Etienne
• Strasbourg, since 1994
• Valenciennes, since 2006

Under construction:

• Mulhouse
• Nice
• Paris, T3 around the city

Planned:

• Angers
• Brest
• Le Mans
• Toulon
• Tours
• Fort-de-France

Closed:

• Paris, since March 1937
• Caen, 1935

[edit] Rail links with adjacent countries

• Andorra — no
• Belgium — yes
• Germany — yes
• Italy — yes
• Luxembourg — yes
• Monaco — yes
• Spain — yes — break-of-gauge 1435mm/1676mm
• Switzerland — yes
• United Kingdom — yes; see Eurostar

[edit] Roads

Total: 893,300 km (including 10 300 km of Motorways and 30 500 km of Route Nationales) (1998 est.). Most motorways in France are toll and operated by private companies such as the Société des Autoroutes de Paris Normandie (SAPN).

All french roads have tarmac surfacing.

See also

• List of motorways in France
• Paris's ring road, the Périphérique

[edit] Waterways / canals

14,932 km; 6,969 km heavily traveled

See also:

• List of rivers of France
• List of canals in France

[edit] Pipelines

Crude oil 3,059 km; petroleum products 4,487 km; natural gas 24,746 km

[edit] Seaports and harbours

Bordeaux, Boulogne-sur-Mer,Calais, Cherbourg, Dijon, Dunkerque, La Pallice, Le Havre, Lyon, Marseille, Mulhouse, Nantes, Paris, Rouen, Saint-Nazaire, Saint Malo, Sète, Strasbourg, Gennevilliers.

[edit] Merchant marine

total: 55 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 1,155,286 GRT/1,693,030 DWT
ships by type: Bulk 3, cargo 5, chemical tanker 6, combination bulk 1, container 5, liquefied gas 4, multi-functional large load carrier 1, passenger 3, petroleum tanker 16, roll-on/roll-off 6, short-sea passenger 4, specialized tanker 1 (1999 est.)
note: France also maintains a captive register for French-owned ships in Iles Kerguelen (French Southern and Antarctic Lands) (1998 est.)

[edit] Air travel in France

There are ~478 airports in France (1999 est.) (see List of French Airports).

Among the airspace governance authorities active in France, one is Aéroports de Paris (see http://www.aeroportsdeparis.fr/ADP/en-GB/Passagers/ homepage]), which has authority over the Paris region, managing 14 airports including Charles de Gaulle International Airport and Orly Airport.^[1] The former, located in Roissy en France near Paris, is one of Europe's principal aviation centers and is also France's main international airport.

[edit] Airports — with paved runways

Total 479 (as of 2005)

[edit] Airports — with paved runways

total: 288
over 3,047 m: 13
2,438 to 3,047 m: 28
1,524 to 2,437 m: 96
914 to 1,523 m: 82
under 914 m: 69 (2005 est.)

[edit] Airports — with unpaved runways

total: 199
1,524 to 2,437 m: 3
914 to 1,523 m: 72
under 914 m: 116 (2005 est.)

[edit] National airlines

• Air France

[edit] Heliports

3 (2005 est.)

[edit] History

France naturally has a system of large, navigable rivers, such as the Loire, la Seine and le Rhône that criss cross the country and have long been essential for trade and travel.

The first important human improvements were the Roman roads linking major settlements and providing quick passage for marching armies. These routes these roads followed are copied today by many 'N' class roads.

Throughout the Middle Ages improvements were sparse and mediocre and transport became slow and cumbersome. The early modern period saw great improvements. There was a proliferation of canals connecting rivers (like the Canal du Midi). It also saw great changes in oceanic shipping. Rather than expensive galleys, wind powered ships that were far faster and had far more cargo space became popular on the coastal trade. Transatlantic shipping with the New World turned cities such as Nantes, Bordeaux, Cherbourg and Le Havre into major ports of international importance.

[edit] Railways

(see also French railway history)

Even in France, where, because of water transport, railways were of lesser importance than in other nations, railways were still an extremely important area of economic development. Despite already having a well developed water transport system, by 1875 railways were carrying four times as much cargo as canals and rivers combined.

French railways started later, and developed more slowly than those in other nations. While the first railway built in France was in operation in 1832, not long after the first line had opened in Britain, French progress failed to keep pace over the next decade.

After the war of 1870 the French rail system was overhauled and made far more efficient. By 1914 the French rail system was a match for Germany's and played a crucial part in France's victory in the First World War.

In the 1930s Léon Blum's socialist government nationalised the French rail system, along with many other industries, and the transport system was successful in World War II.

After the war the French railway system began a slow movement to electric trains. Eventually TGV high speed trains were introduced providing extremely quick links between France's urban centers.

[edit] See also

• France
• SNCF web site
• SNCF UK web site

[edit] Notes and References

1. ^ "Laurine Feinberg appointed to guide the Parisian airports towards the ISO 14001 certification (Press Release)", Aéroports de Paris, February 16, 2005.