Marseille
Marseille has a long tramway history: Horse trams from 1876, steam trams from 1892 and electric trams from 1900. However, all lines of the once dense network were closed down till 1960 – with one exception: Former line 68 remained on a short 3 km stretch, because this line possessed a 0,6 km tunnel dating back to 1893 with an underground terminus in the heart of the city centre. In the seventies and eighties, two heavy metro lines were added to the network. Eventually, a major project to revitalise and expand the tramway was launched in the year 2000. Former line 68 was closed in 2004 and reopened in three steps as line T1 in 2007/08, together with an extension to the eastern suburbs. New line T2 was added to the network in 2007 as well. This line includes parts of the future line T3 and will therefore be split at a later date. Much attention attracted the new tramway vehicles, which are designed like ships – a reference to Marseille’s role as the largest seaport in France.
Lines
Tramway
T1 Noailles - Les Caillols (6,1 km)
T2 Arenc - La Blancade (5,4 km)
Métro
M1 La Rose - La Fourragère (12,9 km)
M2 Bougainville - Sainte-Marguerite Dromel (8,2 km)
History
Original Network (only events related to line 68)
23/12/1893 68 Gare de l’Est - Saint Pierre (3,0 km) - originally built as a steam tramway
29/10/1904 68 Start of electric operation
03/03/1984 68 Underground station Noailles - replaced Gare de l'Est
08/01/2004 68 Service temporarily suspended
Reconstructed Network
30/06/2007 T2 Euromediterranée Gantès - La Blancarde - Les Caillols (4,7+3,7 km)
08/11/2007 T1 Eugène Pierre - La Blancarde (1,5 km) - further via Line T2 to Sainte-Thérèse
27/09/2008 T1 Noailles - Eugène Pierre (0,9 km)
29/09/2008 T1 Extended to Les Caillols
29/09/2008 T2 Cut back to La Blancarde
27/03/2010 T2 Euromediterranée Gantès - Arenc (0,7 km)
Métro
22/11/1977 M1 La Rose - Saint-Charles (6,3 km)
11/03/1978 M1 Saint-Charles - Castellane (3,0 km)
03/03/1984 M2 Castellane - Joliette (3,3 km)
01/02/1986 M2 Castellane - Sainte-Marguerite Dromel (2,5 km)
14/02/1987 M2 Joliette - Bougainville (2,4 km)
05/09/1992 M1 Castellane - La Timone (1,1 km)
05/05/2010 M1 La Timone - La Fourragère (2,5 km)
Projects
T2/T3 Cours Saint-Louis - Castellane (1,2 km, 2014)
M2 Bougainville - Capitaine Gèze (0,9 km, 2015)
T2/T3 Cours Saint-Louis - Quatre Septembre - Project currently suspended
M2 Sainte-Marguerite Dromel - Saint-Loup
Rolling Stock
26 Outlook, delivered as from 2007 - initially 33m long, extended to 43m in 2010-2013
6 Outlook, ordered for 2014
Links
Le Tram - http://www.le-tram.fr/
Régie des Transports de Marseille - http://www.rtm.fr/
Marseille Provence Métropole - http://www.marseille-provence.com/
Métro Marseille at UrbanRail.Net
Photos
Please click here to visit the Marseille Photo Gallery!
© http://www.trams-in-france.net by Christoph Groneck