Rouen tramway

Tramway network in Rouen, France From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Rouen tramway (French: Tramway de Rouen) branded as the Rouen Metro[3] (French: Métro de Rouen)[4] is a light rail[5][6][3][7][8][9] network in the city of Rouen in Normandy, France. Construction began in 1991 and the network opened for service on 17 December 1994. The network includes an underground tunneled section running 1.8 km beneath the city centre, before splitting into two street-level branches south of the Seine River.[3]

Native nameMétro de Rouen
Transit typeLight rail
Number of lines2
Quick facts Overview, Native name ...
Rouen tramway
Overview
Native nameMétro de Rouen
LocaleRouen, Normandy, France
Transit typeLight rail
Number of lines2
Number of stations31
Daily ridership67,000 (2010)[1]
Annual ridership18.85 million (2018)[2]
Operation
Began operation16 December 1994[2]
Operator(s)TCAR
Technical
System length15.1 km (9.4 mi)
Track gauge1,435 mm (4 ft 8+12 in) standard gauge
System map
Map of Rouen public transit system, including the tramway (in blue).
Boulingrin
Beauvoisine
Gare Rue Verte
TGV TER
Palais de Justice
Gisèle Halimi
Théâtre des Arts
Joffre-Mutualité
Saint-Sever
Avenue de Caen
Europe
Jean Jaurés
Honoré de Balzac
François Truffaut
Voltaire
Place du 8 Mai
Garibaldi
Saint-Julien
Hôtel de ville
de Sotteville
Charles de Gaulle
14 Julliet
Provinces
Jean Zay
J.F. Kennedy
Champ de Courses
Léon Blum
Ernest Renan
Paul Cézanne
Le Parc
Georges Braque
Maryse Bastié
Technopôle
Close

Modern network

The tramway consists of two lines that share a common route in the north in and diverting into two southern branches to Saint-Étienne-du-Rouvray and Le Grand-Quevilly. The northernmost section of the line within Rouen city centre runs through a 1.7-kilometre (1.1 mi) underground (subway) section in the Rouen city centre encompassing stations Joffre–Mutualité through Bouvoisine. At the Théâtre des Arts station, transfers between the tramway and Rouen's three bus rapid transit lines (T1-T3) can take place; while transfers between the tramway and the SNCF railway line take place at Gare–Rue Verte station. The remainder of the tramway to the south of the underground portion runs on the road surface and on reserved track.

Although the system is technically a tramway, it is commercially branded and commonly called the "métro" by both the operator (TCAR)[4] and the inhabitants of Rouen and its suburbs.[10] In September 1997 the tramway was extended to the Technopôle du Madrillet.[11]

Technical data

  • Length of the network : 18.2 km (11.3 mi)
  • Number of stops : 31
  • Number of tramcars : 27
  • Average commercial speed : 19.125 km/h (11.9 mph)
  • Maximum speed: 80 km/h (50 mph)
  • Daily traffic: 65,000 journeys
  • Opening hours: 5:00am to 11:30pm
  • Frequency of service: every 3 minutes (peak); every 20 minutes (off peak)

Rolling stock

The original rolling stock used by the system until 2012 was the GEC Alsthom Tramway Français Standard (TFS),[12] identical to those used on the Grenoble tramway (1987) and Paris Tramway Line 1.

In January 2010, Alstom was awarded a €90m contract to supply 27 Citadis 402 trams in 2011–2012 to replace the TFS cars.[12] All TFS trams were removed from service in 2012 and were subsequently shipped to Gaziantep, Turkey as an expansion fleet for a newly built tram line in that city.[13]

Network Map

Former tram system

Rouen's first-generation tram network operated from 1877 to 1953. Horse-drawn carriages and omnibuses were introduced in the late 18th century but proved insufficient for the growing city. Steam trams followed, with the first line authorised to use steam power from Maromme from 29 December 1877 and full electrification by Thomson Houston in 1896,[14] resulting in 15 million passengers carried that same year. The network expanded to 70 km (43 mi) in 1915, the longest electric network in France at the time.

Despite a record year in 1928 with over 30 million journeys,[15] the rise of private motoring, buses, trolleybuses, the Great Depression, and World War II led to the tramway's decline.[16] In March 1950 the municipality decided to close the tramway, and the last trams of this system ran in 1953.[17]

See also

References

Sources

Related Articles

Wikiwand AI