Nice tramway

The Nice tramway (French: Tramway de Nice) is a 27.5-kilometre (17.1 mi), triple-line tramway in the city of Nice in Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, France. It is operated by the Société nouvelle des transports de l'agglomération niçoise division of Transdev[1] under the name Lignes d'azur.

This article is about the modern tram network that has operated in Nice since 2007. For Nice's first-generation tram system that operated from 1879–1953, see Trams in Nice.
Nice tramway
Tramway de Nice
Nice tramway logo
Tram crossing Place Garibaldi, where it lowers its pantograph and is powered by batteries
Operation
LocaleNice, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, France
Lines3 (+1 under construction)
Operator(s)Transdev
Infrastructure
Track gauge1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Electrification750 V DC Overhead line
Statistics
Stops46
2016100,000
Overview
La Trinité –
Anatole France
 1 
 L’Ariane Nord
 Place des Sitelles
 Parc de l’Ariane
 Chênes Blancs
 Ponts Jumeaux
 Hôpital Sainte Marie
 Raybaud
 Hôpital Pasteur  1 
 Pont Michel Parking
 1  Henri Sappia
Saint-Charles
Conte de Falicon
Virgile Barel
Le Ray
Saint-Roch
Gorbella
Saint-Jean d'Angely
Université
 Vauban Parking
Valrose Université
Palais des Exposition
Borriglione
Acropolis
Libération
Port Lympia  T2 
Parking Gare Thiers
Garibaldi
Durandy
Cathédrale Vieille Ville
Jean Médecin
Opéra Vieille Ville
Alsace Lorraine
Masséna
 Grosso
 T3 
Lingostière
Centre Commercial
Magnan
 Lenval
Pôle multimodal
de Lingostière
Fabron
Saint Isidore
Sainte-Hélène
Grand Stade
Vallon Barla
Les Baraques
Ferber
Les Arboras
Cassin / Kirchner
Pontremoli
Cassin / Saint-Augustin
Nice Méridia
Pôle multimodal
de Saint-Augustin
 T4 
Paul Montel
Aéroport Terminal 1 Nice Côte d'Azur Airport
 T3  Digue des Français
Aéroport Terminal 2 Nice Côte d'Azur Airport  T2 
 T2  CADAM
Gare de Saint-
Laurent du Var
TER
 Cyrnos
 Vauban
 Vespins
 Gare du Cros TER
 Cyrille Besset
 La Pinède
 Hippodrome
 Gare de Cagnes-sur-Mer TER
 11 novembre
 Fernand Sastre  T4 
Key:
unelectrified section

Opened on 24 November 2007, it replaced bus lines 1, 2, 5 and 18. From the start, the system had 20 Alstom Citadis trams in service, providing a tram every seven minutes. Since its inception, the number of passengers has increased from 70,000 per day in 2008 to 90,000 per day in 2011. The frequency has gradually increased to a tram every four minutes in 2011.

Given the success of the T1 Line, Mayor Christian Estrosi decided to create additional lines. The West-East T2 Line serves the Nice Côte d'Azur Airport to the west through the construction of a multimodal centre and the Port of Nice to the east. This line runs through a tunnel in the centre of Nice. A future extension of the west–east line, north along the Var valley, is proposed. Another extension, running further west from the airport, across Var, is also proposed.[2] In addition, the Nice Côte d'Azur urban region decided to extend Line 1 to the Pasteur neighbourhood.

History

1900–1953
Main article: Trams in Nice

The first tramway in Nice opened in 1879, was electrified in 1900, and was followed by a departmental network in 1906. The entire network was electrified in 1910. In the 1920s, the network had 11 lines, some of which were partially used for goods transport. However, the tram was criticised and was replaced by buses on some lines beginning in 1927. The last tramway in Nice ceased service on 10 January 1953.

Renaissance
A Nice tramway car at Place Massena
Part of the Nice tramway track is lined by grass.
Tram stop Cathédrale-Vieille Ville in the centre of Nice

Like many other French cities, Nice has major traffic problems, including the fact that most economic activities are concentrated in the centre. To overcome these problems, studies on the implementation of transit in dedicated lanes were conducted in 1987. The city of Nice began to implement dedicated bus lanes in 1997, and launched a study on the implementation of a tram line in 1998.

Trams were chosen because they appeared to be more reliable than buses, since they are not subject to the vagaries of traffic, but they are less expensive than a subway line. The tram was declared a public utility in 2003 and work began the same year; the line was placed in service on 24 November 2007 after several weeks of technical trials, even though construction was not fully completed.

In the months following the launch of the tram, there were between 65,000 and 70,000 passengers daily;[3] the number rose to 90,000 by January 2011.[4]

Network

The Nice tramway was designed to serve most of the population of Nice. As the city is situated on hilly ground by the sea, the first tram line was drawn as a U shape, passing through the city centre.

Line Opening[5] Length Stations
T1 2008 09.15 km (5.69 mi)[6] 22
T2 2018(+2019) 11.3 km (7.0 mi)[7] 20
T3 2019 07.0 km (4.3 mi)[8] 11
TOTAL: 27.5 km (17.1 mi) 53

Henri Sappia terminus
A Nice tramway car pulling into the depot.

Formerly called "Las Planas",[9] the north-western terminus of the tramway was renamed "Henri Sappia" in July, 2013. The Henri Sappia depot is situated at the northwestern terminus of the line in the neighbourhood of Le Rouret, where the Count of Falicon and the Marquis of Rouret once owned large villas and many farms dotted the land.

Above the tram terminus sport and cultural centres have been built. The plaza in front of the station has been raised and planted, with a fountain of water jets installed.

Fontaine du Temple

The Fontaine du Temple neighbourhood where the Comte de Falicon tram stop is built has been remodelled for the arrival of the tramway. The plaza has been repaved and will host an outdoor market.

Latest expansions

Line 2 Ouest-Est (T2)
Citadis 405 at the Airport

Line 2 runs for 11.3 km (7.0 mi) of which 3.2 km (2.0 mi) near the centre is underground. Starting at Port Lympia in the east and ending at Nice Côte d'Azur Airport and Nikaïa in the west, serving 20 stations in total. Ridership expectations are 140,000 passengers per day. Work began in the second half of 2014. A €270m contract for building the underground section was awarded in December 2013.[10] Service from CADAM to Magnan opened on June 30, 2018, service to the airport and Jean Médecin station opened as scheduled on 28 June 2019, and service on the complete line was opened in December 2019, the journey is about 26 minutes from Nice Airport to Port Lympia.[11] The total cost of the line is projected to be €770m of which the central government is contributing €52.8m.

Line 3 (T3)

Line 3 branches off Line 2 at the Interchange located at Gare de Nice-Saint-Augustin which adds an additional 6 stations onto the network with its terminus being located at Saint-Isidore. Line 3 also serves the Allianz Riviera with journey times from the Stadium to the Port projected at being 36 Minutes [12]

Proposed expansions

Line 4 (T4)

An extension from the current Line 2 (T2) to Saint Laurent du Var and Cagnes-Sur-Mer has been proposed.

Line 1 (T1) from Hôpital Pasteur to L'Ariane

In addition, an extension of the original Line 1 (T1) from its current terminus at Hôpital Pasteur to the northern neighbourhood of L'Ariane is being considered.[13]

Tram and art

Art works are used throughout the line, including sculptures of figures by Jaume Plensa, on the top of pylons on the Place Massena. Michel Redolfi designed the sound system. Artists Benjamin Vautier, known as "Ben" (who designed the station name signs), the Mado la Niçoise, Michael Lonsdale and others make voice announcements inside the tram. Sounds and voices are different depending on the hours, seasons, etc. The thirteen artists selected to decorate the tramway are:[14]

Rolling stock

Line 1 (T1)

The cars of the Nice tramway are unique and have been designed to blend in with the Niçois architecture. They are based on the Alstom Citadis family of tramcars and were built near La Rochelle, Poitou-Charentes. A standard 5-car tram measures 35 m (114 ft 10 in) but two extra carriages were added, bringing the length to 45 m (147 ft 7+5⁄8 in). The tram is 2.65 m (8 ft 8+3⁄8 in) wide and can carry 200 passengers at an average speed of 18 km/h (11 mph) compared to an average speed of 11 km/h (6.8 mph) for the bus. It uses the 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge.

Lines 2 and 3 (T2, T3)

For T2 and T3 lines new Citadis 405 were built. They consist of seven cars and are equipped with a Ground-level power supply and batteries.

Power supply
Nice tramway power charging location (metal strip) at station
Nice tram battery power charging equipment on station platforms

Nice tramway was originally to use the ground-level power supply third rail system as used by Bordeaux tramway. However, this plan was modified in favor of a hybrid system where the tram is able to operate on both conventional overhead power supply 750 VDC catenary wires using a pantograph (in much of the underground and central city areas of Nice) as well as using on-board nickel metal hydride batteries without pantograph (for most distances of the outer suburbs, and for example where the tram crosses the Place Masséna and Place Garibaldi).[15]. Tram stations are equipped with power charging contact strips located beneath the tram stopping position (see photo), with accompanying battery/supercapacitor banks seen on the station platform (built/supplied by Alstom). [16]

Network Map

See also

References
  1. "Qui sommes-nous? : La gestion des transports La société S.T.2.N. filiale de Veolia Transdev" (in French). Lines d'azur. Archived from the original on 2013-05-15. Retrieved 2013-03-10.
  2. "Le tracé de la ligne Ouest-Est" (in French). Tramway de la Métropole Nice Côte d’Azur. Retrieved 2016-09-21.
  3. Beal, Sylvie (30 May 2008). "Nice - La ligne 2 du tram : tout de suite, plus tard, jamais ?". Nice-Matin (in French). Nice: Nice Matin Group. Retrieved 2011-07-14.
  4. Casals, Sophie (20 January 2011). "Bus: ça roule, mais..." Nice-Matin (in French). Nice: Nice Matin Group. Archived from the original on 23 January 2011. Retrieved 2011-07-14.
  5. "RATP's tram network in Île-de-France". RATP. Archived from the original on 2014-10-26. Retrieved 2014-12-16.
  6. "D'Hier à aujourd'hui".
  7. "Le projet de la ligne Ouest-Est - Tramway de la Métropole de Nice". tramway.nice.fr. Archived from the original on 2014-10-03.
  8. "Une ligne aux multiples avantages ! - Tramway de la Métropole Nice Côte d'Azur". tramway.nice.fr. Archived from the original on 2017-04-20.
  9. "Le terminus "Las Planas" change de nom et devient "Henri Sappia"" (in French). Tramway de la Métropole Nice Côte d’Azur. Archived from the original on 2013-10-06. Retrieved 2013-09-17.
  10. "Contract awarded for Nice tram Line 2". Railway Gazette International. 18 November 2013. Retrieved 2014-07-21.
  11. "Tout sur le projet" (in French). Tramway de la Métropole Nice Côte d’Azur. Retrieved 2016-09-21.
  12. "Une ligne aux multiples avantages ! - Tramway de la Métropole Nice Côte d'Azur". tramway.nice.fr. Archived from the original on 2017-04-20.
  13. http://tramway.nice.fr/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Le-schema-des-transports-horizon-2030.jpg
  14. "L'art dans la ville, avec le tramway Nice Côte d'Azur" (PDF). agglo-nice.fr (in French). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-03-27. Retrieved 2011-07-11.
  15. "Nice Tramway, France". Railway Technology. Retrieved 2014-05-30.
  16. "Alstom: Nouvelle technologie de recharge par le sol - Tramway de Nice" (video). youtube.com (in French).
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