Strasbourg tramway
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This article may be expanded with text translated from the corresponding article in the German Wikipedia. (February 2009) Click [show] on the right for instructions.
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| Tramway de Strasbourg | |||
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| Background | |||
| Locale | Strasbourg, Alsace | ||
| Transit type | Tram | ||
| Number of lines | 6 | ||
| Number of stations | 67[1] [2] | ||
| Daily ridership | 300,000[3] (2010) | ||
| Operation | |||
| Began operation | 1994 | ||
| Operator(s) | CTS | ||
| Technical | |||
| Track gauge | 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) | ||
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The Strasbourg tram system, run by the CTS, consists of six lines, A, B, C, D, E and F. Lines A and D were opened in 1994, lines B and C were opened in 2000, line E was opened in 2007 and line F was opened in 2010.
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[edit] History
The first tram line in Strasbourg, which was originally horse-drawn, opened in 1878. After 1894, when an electric powered tram system was introduced, a widespread network of tramways was built in the largest city of Alsace, including also several longer distance lines on both sides of the Rhine. The decline of the tramways system began in the 1930s, and ended with the retirement of the service in 1960. After a long drawn out communal political decision process, the tram was reintroduced in 1994. As part of the redevelopment of the city, a track of a total 33 km distance was built, on which 5 tram line services have been developed.
[edit] Horse-drawn and electric, 1878 - 1960
On the 5th April 1877 the Strasbourg Horse Railway Company ("Straßburger Pferde-Eisenbahngesellschaft") was founded, and the name changed on 25 April 1888 to the Strasbourg Tramway Company ("Straßburger Straßenbahngesellschaft"). [4] Since May 1897, the AEG electrical manufacturing company was the main shareholder. In 1912 the company was transferred to the possession of the city of Strasbourg. When Alsace became part of France in November 1918, the name of the company was translated into French, "Compagnie des tramways strasbourgeois“ (CTS). In this form it still exists today.
Public transport in Strasbourg had begun in 1848 with horse-drawn omnibuses and carriages. The first standard gauge tracks of the Horse/Railway Company were opened on 20 July 1878. These passed through the areas of "Hönheim" and "zur Kehler Brücke". In the inner city, horses were used. In the suburbs, small steam locomotives drew the carriages. By 1885 further lines to the suburbs of Königshofen, Robertsau, Neuhof and Wolfisheim were opened, and in 1886 the meter gauge was first used in extending the track to Grafenstaden.
The electric company of AEG was engaged to install electric traction of that line in December 1894. Though the contract between town and company had included the maintaining of standard gauge, since 1897, the standard gauge tracks were converted to one-meter gauge. New lines were built and run to Kronenburg, Lingolsheim and Breuschwickersheim. In addition to the network in town, an overland network was built, mainly worked with steam traction, extending from Strasbourg to the Vosges Mountains, Colmar and across the Rhine into Baden.
After in 1918 Strasbourg had become French, the 1920 all lines east of the Rhine (almost 50% of the overland network or 35 % of the total network) were taken over at first by the shortly founded general German railway company of Deutsche Reichseisenbahnen, than in 1922 by the reginal Mittelbadische Eisenbahnen (Central Baden Railways).
In 1930, the network comprised 234 km of track, about 100 km in town and 130 km overland lines, all in France. There were 55 million passengers in 1930 and 71.5 million passengers in 1943. In the 1950s, the tram, already weakened by World War II, faced competition from other modes of transport such as the bus, the bicycle and the private automobile. The tram system was abandoned in 1960 and replaced by buses; the last tram ran on May 1, 1960. Much of the traffic was absorbed by the private automobile.
Due to increasing traffic and pollution, the City of Strasbourg decided in the 1990s to build a new, modern tram system. Its goal was to pedestrianize and revitalize the city centre. Major roads were closed to automobile traffic, and parking in the downtown was removed and replaced by park-and-ride lots in the suburbs. The first line, line A, opened in 1994. In 2006 new trams were introduced, first on lines A and D and later on the rest of the network.
[edit] Current network
As of November 28, 2010, the current network has 6 lines and a total length of 55.8 km.
The six lines are:
- Line A: Hautepierre Maillon in the northeast to Illkirch Lixenbuhl in the south (12.5 km).
- Line B: Hoenheim Gare in the north to Lingolsheim in the southwest (14.7 km).
- Line C: Gare centrale to Neuhof in the south-east
- Line D: Rotonde in the northwest to Aristide Briand in the east.
- Line E Robertsau Boecklin in the north and Baggersee in the south.
- Line F Elsau in the south to Place d'Islande in the East.
| A | Hautepierre-Maillon - Dante - Hôpital de Hautepierre - Ducs d'Alsace - Saint-Florent - Rotonde - Gare Centrale (souterrain) - Ancienne Synagogue Les Halles - Homme de Fer - Langstross Grand Rue - Porte de l'Hôpital - Etoile Bourse - Etoile Polygone - Schluthfeld - Krimmeri Stade de la Meinau - Émile Mathis - Hohwart - Baggersee - Colonne - Leclerc - Campus d'Illkirch - Illkirch Lixenbuhl |
| B | Lingolsheim Tiergaertel - Alouettes - Borie - Ostwald Hôtel de Ville - Wihrel - Elmerforst - Martin Schongauer - Elsau - Montagne Verte - Laiterie - Musée d'Art Moderne - Faubourg National - Alt Winmärik (Vieux Marché aux Vins) - Homme de Fer - Place Broglie - République - Parc du Contade - Lycée Kléber - Wacken - Rives de l'Aar - Futura Glacière - Le Marais - Pont Phario - Lycée Marc Bloch - Le Ried - Général de Gaulle - Hoenheim Gare |
| C | Gare Centrale - Faubourg de Saverne - Homme de Fer - Place Broglie - République - Gallia - Universités - Observatoire - Esplanade - Winston Churchill - Landsberg - Jean Jaurès - Lycée Jean Monnet - Gravière - Kibitzenau - Saint Christophe - Rodolphe Reuss |
| D | Rotonde - Gare Centrale (souterrain) - Ancienne Synagogue Les Halles - Homme de Fer - Langstross Grand Rue - Porte de l'Hôpital - Etoile Bourse - Etoile Polygone - Landsberg - Jean Jaurès - Aristide Briand |
| E | Baggersee - Hohwart - Lycée Couffignal - Krimmeri Meinau - Schluthfeld - Etoile Polygone - Landsberg - Windston Churchill - Esplanade - Observatoire - Université - Gallia - République - Parc du Contades - Lycée Kléber - Wacken - Parlement Européen - Droits de L'Homme - Robertsau Boecklin |
| F | Elsau - Montagne Verte - Laiterie - Musée d'Art Moderne - Faubourg National - Alt Winmärik (Vieux Marché aux Vins) - Homme de Fer - Place Broglie - République - Gallia - Universités - Observatoire - Place d'Islande |
Some stations connect to the bus network, run by the CTS.
[edit] Rolling stock
The network has 41 Alstom Citadis 403 trams and 53 Eurotram trams (17 of 44 meters and 36 of 33 meters)
[edit] Future extensions
- Lines A-D : To Koenigshoffen and Oberhausbergen (northwest), planned for 2014.
- Line D : To Kehl in Germany (east), planned for 2015.
- Line A : Into Illkirch-Graffenstaden (south), planned for 2015.
- Line E : 1 kilometer into Robertsau, planned for 2015.
- Line C : It will be extended to Gresswiller and Barr on train tracks. Not date, beyond 2018.
[edit] References
- ^ Un nouveau tronçon depuis la place de la Gare de Strasbourg , L'Alsace, 28 November 2010 (French)
- ^ Line map (PDF)
- ^ (French) Official website of Strasbourg city
- ^ Zur Geschichte der Straßenbahn: Groneck, Straßenbahnen, S. 66 und Eckehard Frenz: Das Stadtbahn-Projekt von Strasbourg. In: Der Stadtverkehr 4/1980, S. 155-158.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Strasbourg tramway |
- (French) CTS official website
- (English) Pictures and informations on Strasbourg's tramway
- (English) The art programme for the Strasbourg tramway
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Coordinates: 48°35′39″N 7°44′09″E / 48.59417°N 7.73583°E
