Marseille Metro
The Métro Marseille is the subway of the southern French city of Marseille , the second largest city after Paris with approx. 800,000 inhabitants and also the largest port city in France . The agglomeration comprises between 1.0 and 1.4 million people, depending on the political or geographical demarcation, making it the third largest metropolitan area in the country after the greater Lyon area.
The Métro comprises two lines with a total length of 22 kilometers and 29 stations. The first of the two lines was opened in 1977, the second line was added in 1984. Since then, the route has been extended several times. After the Paris Métro and only about half a year before the Métro Lyon , it was the second metro in France. A special feature of the Marseilles Métro is that it is operated entirely by trains with gas-filled rubber tires - a system that was developed at the Paris Métro.
With around 80 million travelers in 2013, the Métro represents the backbone of public transport in the greater Marseille area. The Métro thus accounts for around 49 percent of the journeys of public transport in the region. It has been operated by the Régie des transports de Marseille (RTM) since 1986 .
history
A first project for a subway from 1922 was not approved. Further plans from 1937 and 1948 were also not implemented. In the years 1941 to 1943, plans were made to run the tram completely underground in the city center . By 1960, however, all tram lines were shut down. The exception was line 68, which ran in a 600-meter-long tunnel opened in 1893, which was not suitable for use by buses .
In the 1960s, the idea of a metro took shape again, especially as Lyon began with such plans. In 1964 the city administration passed a resolution to this effect, and the project was approved on June 30, 1969. In 1973 the state promised its financial participation and construction began that same year.
The technology of the network was based on that of the RATP routes operated with rubber-tired trains . As test vehicles two served railcars of the series MP 73 (M 3599 and M 3600), which for the line 6 of the Paris Métro had arisen and were returned there again.
In 1977 the 6.3 kilometer long section of line 1 between La Rose - Technopôle de Château-Gombert and Saint-Charles was completed and put into operation on November 22 of that year. The line was extended on March 11, 1978 by the 3-kilometer section between Saint-Charles and Castellane . Line 2 was opened on March 3, 1984. It initially ran over a length of 3.3 kilometers between Castellane and Joliette . At both ends, this line was extended to include the lines between Castellane and Sainte-Marguerite Dromel (opening February 1, 1986) and Joliette and Bougainville (February 14, 1987). These extensions measure a total of 5.6 kilometers. In 2019 the extension Bougainville - Gèze was put into operation (approx. 900 m). On March 5, 1992, the section between Castellane and La Timone was added to line 1 south, which was extended to La Fourragère in 2010 .
technology
Similar to several lines of the Paris Métro, both lines are operated with rubber-tyred vehicles. Their higher rolling friction leads to improved acceleration and braking behavior. This means that the train spacing can be reduced and the number of trains increased without compromising safety. There is also a lower level of noise and increased driving comfort.
The regular-gauge tracks, the rails of which are used to guide the train in switch areas, form a redundant system and keep those, e.g. B. after a tire burst, in the track. On both sides of the track there are steel chassis beams on which the trains roll. Lateral guardrails are used to guide the trains on the route and at the same time to supply power with 750 V DC by means of sliding contacts .
The metro is largely automated, but the trains are still manned by drivers. The optional manual control is only used outside of rush hour.
Line network
Marseille has two metro lines:
- Line 1: La Rose - Technopôle de Château-Gombert ↔ La Fourragère
- Line 2: Sainte-Marguerite Dromel ↔ Gèze
The routes are operated on a single line, i.e. H. each line runs on its own route. The two lines at the Saint-Charles underground station are linked by switches. Because of the very turbulent relief, a large part of the routes was built using the New Austrian Tunneling Method , while the shield driving method was used for other sections . This made it possible to lay the lines away from the streets below the buildings.
Line 1 runs in the form of a C from the hinterland down to the center and from there back inland. The northern end point La Rose is a covered high station with side platforms , the following viaduct leads into a short tunnel along an arterial road . From the Frais Vallon station, the tracks are open at ground level in the median of this street. To the southwest of the Malpassé station, the tracks disappear underground and from there no longer come to the surface; the Saint-Just station, which was initially still open, was subsequently built over. The section between the Saint-Charles transfer stations (at the Saint-Charles long-distance train station ) and Castellane crosses under the old town and, with Vieux Port, has a station directly at the old port . La Blancarde metro station is another connection point with the railroad ; four stations also offer transfer options to the tram . Almost all stations have side platforms, only between Cinq Avenues and Estrangin are central platforms. While the trains at the La Fourragère terminus make a blunt turn at the platforms, at the La Rose terminus the tracks continue towards the depot .
Line 2 was laid in a north-south direction, the route of which largely runs in the tunnel. Only at the two ends of the line does it come to the surface and run on viaducts that include the Gèze, Bougainville and Sainte-Marguerite elevated stations. With the exception of the three stations Jules Guesge, Noailles and Notre Dame du Mont with central platforms, all the other stations received side platforms. There is a turning and parking facility behind both terminal stations.
The Marseille network has a length of 22.3 kilometers and 29 stations. The average distance between stops is relatively large at 800 meters, the minimum curve radius is 150 meters. With its top speed of 80 km / h, the metro system is very fast; However, due to this and the small size of the network, the area coverage is insufficient; buses and trams are needed for fine-tuning.
The trains run from 5:00 a.m. to 0:30 a.m., from 5:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. they are in operation every 3 to 5 minutes (every 10 minutes on Sundays) - except on Sundays. A trip on line 1 takes around 19 minutes and on line 2 around 16 minutes.
The main workshop for both lines and the depot of line 1 are behind their La Rose terminus, the depot of line 2 is south of the Gèze terminus.
Stations
There are 29 stations, the platforms of which are usually 70 meters long. The Saint-Charles and Castellane underground stations act as transfer stations. While both lines in the form of an L cross at right angles on different levels in the Castellane station, Saint-Charles was laid out as a four-track station - but without directional platforms.
line 1
La Rose - Frais Vallon - Malpassé - Saint-Just - Chartreux - Cinq Avenues - Réformés - Saint-Charles - Colbert - Vieux Port - Estrangin - Castellane - Baille - La Timone - La Blancarde - Louis Armand - Saint-Barnabé - La Fourragère
Line 2
Gèze - Bougainville - National - Désirée Clary - Joliette - Jules Guesge - Saint-Charles - Noailles - Notre Dame du Mont / Cours Julien - Castellane - Périer - Rond-Point du Prado - Sainte-Marguerite Dromel
New route projects
- Line 2 was extended in 2013–2019 beyond the end point of Bougainville by approx. 900 m to the north as far as the vicinity of the Boulevard Capitaine Gèze. A local transport hub was created there with the new Gèze terminus. This is served by a Metrobus line, two intercity lines and six city bus lines. A P + R multi-storey car park with 627 spaces and a secured bike station with 70 spaces were also built. The commissioning took place on December 16, 2019. Later the tram line T3 will also approach this junction.
- An extension of line 2 beyond the previous southern terminus of Sainte-Marguerite to Saint-Loup Pagnol is also planned, but not yet decided.
vehicles
Initially, two railcars and a non-motorized sidecar running in the middle were made up of three-car trains. In 1985 these were supplemented by a further multiple unit without a driver's cab , which lengthened the trains to almost 65 meters.
In 2005, the vehicle fleet comprised a total of 144 cars with 21 trains for line 1 and 15 trains for line 2. 42 railcars (MA 01 – MA 42) for line 1 were built in 1976 and 1977, 30 railcars (MB 01 – MB 30) for line 2 were built in 1983 and 1984. The 36 railcars without driver's cabs (NB 01 – NB 36, built in 1985) run on both lines. There are also 21 sidecars (RA, 1976/77) for line 1 and 15 sidecars (RB, 1983/84) for line 2.
The wagons of the trains designated as MPM 76 are permanently coupled in everyday operation, they have four axles and are 2.60 m wide. The external appearance of the white painted vehicles is uniform, the interiors are kept in bright yellow and orange tones.
Remarks
- ↑ In the early Parisian systems, these treads were made from the wood of the tropical deciduous tree Lophira alata (Azobé).
- ↑ The additions A and B after the car numbers do not refer to the lines, but to the vehicle generation.
- ↑ M stands for Métro, P for Pneumatiques (pneumatic tires), the second M for Marseille and the number for the year of first delivery - the corresponding trains for Lyon are designated MPL 75.
literature
- Jacques Laupiès: Marseille et son Métro . Editions Paul Tacussel, Marseille 1993, ISBN 2-903963-66-5 .
Web links
- Network map at Urbanrail.net
- Detailed track plan at carto.metro.free.fr
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k Christoph Groneck: Metros in France . 1st edition. Robert Schwandl, Berlin 2006, ISBN 3-936573-13-1 , p. 82 ff .
- ^ Brian Hardy: Paris Metro Handbook . 3. Edition. Capital Transport Publishing, Harrow Weald 1999, ISBN 1-85414-212-7 , pp. 79 .
Trams:
Angers |
Aubagne |
Avignon |
Besançon |
Bordeaux |
Brest |
Caen |
Dijon |
Grenoble |
Le Havre |
Le Mans |
Lille |
Lyon |
Marseille |
Montpellier |
Mulhouse |
Nantes |
Nice |
Orléans |
Paris (Île-de-France) |
Reims |
Rouen |
Saint-Etienne |
Saint-Louis (Haut-Rhin) (Basel) |
Strasbourg |
Toulouse |
Tours |
Valenciennes