Avignon tram

Avignon tram
Tram car on Avenue Saint-Ruf
Basic information
Country	France
city	Avignon
opening	19th October 2019
Infrastructure
Route length	5.3 km
Gauge	1435 mm ( standard gauge )
Power system	750 V DC overhead line
Stops	10
business
Lines	1
Clock in the peak hours	Every 5–6 minutes
vehicles	14 Alstom Citadis Compact
statistics
Residents in the catchment area	0.092 thousand
Planned lines

The Avignon tram ( French Tramway d'Avignon ) is the tram system of the French city of Avignon and the surrounding area . With the rollout of railcar 101, operations began on October 19, 2019.

A meter-gauge tram operated in the city from 1901 to 1932 ; it replaced the horse-drawn buses introduced in 1889 .

Horse bus and meter-gauge tram until 1932

Construction of the network began in 1898, and the six lines went into operation in 1901. In 1905 the Compagnie des tramways électriques d'Avignon was reduced to five lines. 18 railcars were available for operation. All lines together had a length of 21.8 km, which ran on 17 km of route kilometers. Up to 2 million passengers were carried every year. From 1918 traffic decreased by 25%. As a result, operations had to be stopped on May 31, 1932.

Railcar on Place Carnot
Depot around 1905

Standard gauge tram from 2019

Tram 107 near the Saint-Roch - Université des Métiers stop

Front view of the car 102

The new network was originally supposed to consist of the two lines A and B, which intersect at the train station in the center of the city. In January 2015, however, it was decided to implement line B only. On March 9, 2018, it was decided again to build the second line, between Île Piot and Porte Saint-Lazare. Its opening is planned for September 2023.

All stations have a platform length of 30 meters - with the exception of the station at the train station, which is to have 80-meter-long platforms, as both lines meet there. 24 Alstom Citadis Compact trains with a length of 26 meters each are to be procured.

The original plan

Line A

Line A should have a length of about 9.3 km and run from east to west. It should have 16 stations:

Ile Piot, Porte de l'Oulle, St Roch, Gare centrale, Les Sources, Thiers, St Lazare, St Veran, Roitelets le Pigonnier, La Halle, Zola, Le Lac Le Pontet, Joffre, Le Pontet Gare, Fargues, Real Panier .

Line B

Line B should have a length of about 5.3 km and run from the south to the center of Avignon. You should get 10 stations:

Horloge, Gare centrale, Les Roses, Place St Ruf, Marius Jouveau, Stade, Librairie, Aquilon, Barbers, St Chamand.

The decision from January 2015

The new city council elected in spring 2014 was against the continuation of the company New Tram Avignon. A study was commissioned to examine two scenarios: limiting the tram project to one line or completely phasing out and setting up Metrobus routes. However, 30 million euros have already been spent on planning and initial construction work on the tram, and important contracts with construction companies and purchase agreements for the railways have been concluded. According to the studies, if the project had been withdrawn, the city would have incurred additional costs of 40 to 50 million euros. The vote went in favor of a single line 6 km in length. This would only cost around 135 million euros, while the overall project was estimated at 265 million euros. The opening should take place at the end of 2018.

A total exit with the establishment of the bus routes would have been only marginally cheaper (118 million euros) - including the costs for the exit.

vehicles

Interior of a railcar

14 Citadis X05 Compact trams have been ordered from Alstom . These are 26 m long and 2.4 m wide. The population could vote on the design of the vehicles, four variants were available. In the end, a design with “Gothic arches” on the doors was decided. The vehicles were to run in four colors: fuchsia, anise, orange and blue.

A 1: 1 model has been exhibited on the station forecourt since the end of December 2013. End of July 2019 there were seven motor coaches in the depot arrived Saint Chamand. The desired “Gothic arches” were not realized.

literature

Bernhard Kußmagk: Sur le pont ... In: Tram magazine . No. 1, 2020.

Web links

Commons : Avignon Tram - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Official website of the project (French)

Individual evidence

↑ Tram magazine 12/2019, p. 14.
^ René Courant: Le temps des tramways . Éditions du Cabri, Menton 1982, ISBN 2-903310-22-X , p. 12 .
↑ Avignon contruira bien une ligne de tramway In: Mobilicités. January 12, 2015, accessed January 16, 2015 (French).
^ Alstom remporte le marché du tramway d'Avignon. on mobilicites.com, accessed November 24, 2013.
↑ France3: Provence-Alpes Le Grand Avignon aura son tramway: découvrez son tracé. , accessed March 28, 2015.
↑ Ph.-E. Attal: Les quatres couleurs du tram d'Avignon . In: Rail Passion . No. 194 , 2013, p. 12 .
↑ Blickpunkt Tram 5/2019, p. 133.

[1] Tram magazine 12/2019, p. 14.

[Courant-Rene-12-2] René Courant: Le temps des tramways . Éditions du Cabri, Menton 1982, ISBN 2-903310-22-X , p. 12 .

[3] Avignon contruira bien une ligne de tramway In: Mobilicités. January 12, 2015, accessed January 16, 2015 (French).

[4] Alstom remporte le marché du tramway d'Avignon. on mobilicites.com, accessed November 24, 2013.

[5] France3: Provence-Alpes Le Grand Avignon aura son tramway: découvrez son tracé. , accessed March 28, 2015.

[6] Ph.-E. Attal: Les quatres couleurs du tram d'Avignon . In: Rail Passion . No. 194 , 2013, p. 12 .

[7] Blickpunkt Tram 5/2019, p. 133.