Grenoble Light Rail System, France

Grenoble in the Isère département on the western edge of the French Alps had a tram service until 1952. Like many French systems, it went out of existence due to the high cost for required renewals compared to bus replacements and being perceived as an outmoded form of transport. When asked in 1983 whether they would like a modern tramway, the vote was only narrowly in its favour.

Four years after the vote, the city opened its first tramway for 35 years with an 8.8km (5.5 mile) line. With the opening of Line D in October 2007, the system had grown to four lines with a combined length of 34.2km (21.4 miles).

It has become widely seen as an excellent example of marrying modern technology with sympathetic urban renewal. It also won praise for providing far greater access and independent travel for those with impaired mobility through the pioneering use of level access to low floor vehicles.

THE PROJECT

Along with Nantes, Grenoble was in the first wave of modern French tramways. The network was intended to play an integral part in redevelopment of the whole city, which also included ridding large parts of the central area of most road vehicles, creating pedestrian-only zones, buildings renovation and landscaping. From opposition in some quarters charging that banning the private car would damage retail business, shops and leisure facilities in the central area experienced resurgence.

Since its re-introduction in France in 1987, light rail transport has witnessed a revolution with a proliferation of new openings and with more planned.

The branding for public transport in the metropolitan area is TAG (from Transports de l'Agglomération Grenobloise). Like several French tramways, the Grenoble system is operated by Transdev, Europe's fourth largest public transport enterprise. Despite being situated in a famously mountainous area, Grenoble itself is relatively flat. A regional centre for Rhône-Alpes and with a large student population, the city attracts many visitors.

INFRASTRUCTURE

Track gauge is 1,435mm and the overhead power supply is rated at 750V DC. Completion of the initial section of Route A was followed by Line B on which work began in October 1990.

Sharing the first section of the network between the main SNCF railway station and city centre with Route A, it then branches off east and runs 5.8km (3.5 miles) to serve a major hospital complex and the university campus, which has engendered the name 'le tramway des etudiants' (the students' tramway).

Lines linking such types of civic institution have become a characteristic of modern French systems, with these major population concentrations generating sufficient traffic to fill the trams to capacity at peak periods.

Further extensions have been added to Line A – a total of 3.8km – taking the route to Echirolles and Denis Papin between 1996 and 1998.

The contract was let in early 2001 for a 13.5km (8.4-mile) Line C linking Seyssins, Seysinnet, St Martin d'Hères and the SNCF's station at Gieres, the site of a planned stop on the future Lyon-Turin high-speed rail line. The line was due to open in September 2005, but it was completed in March 2006, with 26 stations serving 60,000 residents and 30,000 jobs.

In addition, a short extension of Line B opened in March 2006. With a short section shared with Line C, Line D linking Les Taillées Universités to Saint-Martin-d'Hères opened in October 2007. The network is characterised by a high level of park and ride places dispersed around the network to encourage tram use around the central area.

ROLLING STOCK

Grenoble had at the outset the only entirely low-floor fleet in use in France, all Tramway Français Standard (TFS) built by GEC Alsthom.

There were 39 TFS vehicles with a 186 passenger capacity in the original batch and a further 14 were introduced between 1995 and 1997. These feature a revised interior design and are powered by GEC-Alsthom's latest Onix traction package which is more compact and designed with the aim of reducing maintenance and power consumption.

In spite of the implication in its full name, the TFS design proved to be short-lived and additions to the fleet have been from the highly successful Alstom Citadis modular range. Like the TFS which remains the numerically dominant type in Grenoble, the Citadis variant is bi-directional.

Almost 15m longer than the TFS, the 100% low-floor Citadis has a capacity for 274 passengers and the vehicles were delivered in 2005/06.

SIGNALLING AND COMMUNICATIONS

Grenoble's latest order is for video surveillance to increase safety and security for both passengers and operational staff. New York-based Verint Systems was chosen to supply the Networked Video solution, which assists organisations in preventing security issues and allows improvements to be made to response times when necessary.On-board and tram stop information systems are fitted.

As with other tramway systems in France, the trams in Grenoble receive priority at road junctions to assist in maintaining timetables.

THE FUTURE

The growth of the Grenoble tramway and the resurgence of the city as a destination are indicative of the system's success. There are firm plans for a new Line E to further reduce reliance on buses by 2009. Other projections include more extensions for Lines A and B.

Outline studies have been made about tram-train operations combining abandoned and lightly used SNCF tracks with new lines to link the city centre with outlying communities, although these appear to have been dormant for some time.