Tramway de Nantes
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The Tramway de Nantes is a tramway system in Nantes, France. The first tramway opened in 1879 and closed in 1958 while the present tramway opened in 1985.
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[edit] The old tramway
The history of the tramway in Nantes began on 13 December 1879 with the opening of the first line, using compressed air.
The network was electrified in 1911 and the company standardised its fleet of 100 tramcars, all on Brill trucks with vestibulled platforms.
Extensions opened after 1914, all articulated around the Place du Commerce. There fourteen lines in 1932. Thirty tramcars were modernised and lengthened to raise capacity and comfort.
Unfortunately, the network was heavily damaged during the bombings of World War II and a few lines were immediately converted to bus operation at the sight of the cost of repairs. The decision to replace all tram services by buses was taken in 1949 with the last tram running between Pont de Cens and Saint Joseph on 25 January 1958.
[edit] The new tramway
The new tramway opened in 1985 and is operated by Semitan. the network is now 38.3km long and is the largest tramway network in France.
Nantes' municipal council gathered a team of engineers in 1979 to discuss the possibility of a new tramway system. The project is set up on 10 February 1981 and financial details sorted. The government accepted financing 30% of the construction. Alsthom was chosen for the construction of twenty tramcars.
The first line opened in 1985 with a bang; soon after its opening, traffic rose above projections, and extensions were envisioned.
The network is constituted of three lines, articulated around Nantes' city-centre.
- Line 1 (Beaujoire - François Mitterrand) was the first line to open on 7 January 1985. It was opened in 1985 and originally ran between Bellevue and Haluchère and was entirely built on reserved track, following the trackbed of a line of the former tramway network. It serves the Stade de la Beaujoire, the exposition centre, Gare du Nord and the central library.
- Line 2 (Neustrie - Orvault Grand Val). Extended on 29 August 2005 towards the South, it is the tram-line that transports the most passenger a day in France, being always close to saturation, especially on rush-hours, as it serves for exemple the two university campus of Petit Port and Hôtel-Dieu.
- Line 3 (Hôtel Dieu - Sillon de Bretagne) will be extended in 2007 to follow the itinerary of line 2 towards Gare de Pont Rousseau
[edit] Rolling stock
The fleet is composed of two types of tramcars.
- Adtranz (Incentro) tramcars. Built by the German builder Adtranz (now part of Bombardier), they run on lines 1 & 3.
[edit] References
- (French) "Le Tramway Nantais" - SEMITAN, 1986
| Tramways and métros of France | ||
|---|---|---|
| Métros: Lille • Lyon • Marseille • Paris • Rennes • Toulouse | ||
| Tramways: Angers* • Bordeaux • Brest* • Grenoble • Le Havre • Le Mans* • Lille • Lyon • Marseille* • Montpellier • Mulhouse • Nantes • Nice* • Orléans • Paris • Reims* • Rouen • Saint-Étienne • Strasbourg • Toulon* • Tours* • Le Havre • Valenciennes | ||
| Guided trolleybuses: Caen • Clermont-Ferrand* • Nancy | ||
| * Under Construction | ||
| Transport in France • Trams in France • Railways in France | edit | |
