99% Availability and Exceptionally High Passenger Levels : The Bordeaux Urban Tramway is a Resounding Success
09 January 2006 10:24
Last June, Alain Rousset, President of the Bordeaux Urban Community (CUB) and Philippe Mellier, Chairman of ALSTOM Transport, agreed to undertake a joint review at the end of 2005 of the developments regarding the tramway and the ground-level power supply system (APS).
Availability has noticeably improved for each of the three lines in service and has reached approximately 99%, close to original targets. It confirms the potential offered by the ground-level power supply system developed by ALSTOM Transport and deployed in Bordeaux for the first time anywhere in the world. Now work must continue to achieve 99.8% availability by the end of 2006.
The tramway's commercial success (up to 190,000 passengers daily) is a major reason for the urban community's satisfaction: this system is already achieving passenger levels that go far beyond initial forecasts. It is contributing to a new travel culture and has helped to structure the urban organisation of the Bordeaux region. The network will fully come into its own when the second phase of the tramway is operational in 2007.
Within this context, the CUB is looking into the possibility of acquiring additional rolling stock. Furthermore, the CUB has signed a memorandum of understanding with ALSTOM Transport to promote the commercial development of ground-level power supply systems at both French and international levels, including regional, financial, industrial and technological aspects.
Covering a total of 25km, the Bordeaux tram network, inaugurated in December 2003, includes 11km of sections equipped with ground-level power supply systems developed by Innorail™, a subsidiary of ALSTOM Transport and the patent holder.
To enhance this system's reliability as the three lines went into service, ALSTOM Transport and its business partners committed to a dynamic action plan whose effects have been manifested over the entire network since the final quarter of 2005. Between June and December, the service disruption level was reduced by a factor of four.
By the end of December 2005, the availability level for each line was:
- 98.88% for line A (0.92% of disruption due to the ground-level power supply system)
- 98.35% for line B (0.97% of disruption due to the ground-level power supply system)
- 98.69% for line C (no disruption caused by the ground-level power supply system)
The line A extension towards the Pellegrin hospital complex, equipped with a 1km long ground-level power supply system, was inaugurated in September 2005, with availability close to 100%. This is the first sector to have directly benefited from the technical modifications generated by feedback on the Bordeaux network.
To achieve these results, ALSTOM Transport and their partners mobilised major financial, technical and human resources. The total amount invested in R&D and in operational facilities, in the field as well as on ALSTOM Transport sites, exceeds €10 million. From a technical viewpoint, two major decisions are notable:
- The complete replacement of the main cable of the ground-level power supply
- All ground-level power supply batteries by new batteries on the 44 train sets in service
Two major causes of service disruption have thus been eliminated. Thanks to the mobilisation of all concerned, almost the entire programme has been achieved. Only a few additional tasks have been programmed for 2006. All the work has been carried out in a spirit of cooperation by teams from the Mission Tramway (CUB), Connex Bordeaux, AMEC Spie Rail, ALSTOM Transport and Innorail. For example, the CUB and Connex have agreed to close down evening tramway services on several occasions so that major nighttime work could be completed.
As in the case of any innovation of this significance, the ground-level power supply system produced limitations that could not have been forecast by tests undertaken prior to the network inauguration. These problems concerned :
- Adapting the system to the extremely demanding conditions of commercial operation
- Interaction between the ground-level power supply system, onboard or laid in the ground and standard tramway functions with its external environment (civil engineering, power, signalling, supervision).
It has taken 24 months from the inauguration of the first line for this system, a complete departure from the conventional overhead line system in service for over a century, to achieve its operating level. The problems encountered have never brought the system's safety or design into question.
These difficulties caused a serious drop in the quality of the tramway service. However, they did not prevent an increasing number of passengers from using the service. To meet increasing demand, the CUB is now considering the purchase of additional rolling stock to increase the capacity on line C (Quinconces - Gare Saint-Jean) by extending trams from 33m to 44m.
Determined to meet the technological challenge posed by the deployment of ground-level power supply systems as quickly as possible, whilst maintaining service, ALSTOM Transport and its business partners are looking into a long-term commitment with the CUB, Connex and tramway users. In this spirit, local partnerships have been signed between Innorail and the Université de Bordeaux to work on a new generation of equipment for the ground-level power supply system. All parties concerned will be involved in this task over the coming years.
The CUB has made the ambitious choice of taking on an innovative system involving an investment cost that is three times higher than that of the overhead line system. The aim is now to gradually reduce the operating and maintenance costs, costs that remained high throughout 2005. In the future, ALSTOM Transport will endeavour to reduce costs to a level similar to purchase cost.
Furthermore, the CUB now has a tramway that has allowed it to modernise its public transport. The phase two extension, increasing the length of the network to 43.5km, will mark a new and important phase in the development of public transport in Bordeaux.
Given the availability levels achieved, the high passenger rate and the pioneering image of the Bordeaux region, ALSTOM Transport and the CUB have just signed a memorandum of understanding establishing the principles of a partnership to promote ground-level power supply systems. According to the terms and conditions of this memorandum, currently being finalised, the CUB and its showcase system would be financially involved in the commercial promotion of the ground-level power supply system to a number of French and international regions, who seek to provide an efficient transport system whilst maintaining their historical heritage.
For more information on this company:
ALSTOM - Very High Speed, Intercity and Surburban Trains
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