This page was translated by SYSTRAN      (comments, feedback ...)

In addition to prolongation of tram Nantes, which evolves/moves much more quickly than that of Grenoble... here the project of La Ciotat which appears very clever, while being very simple. It was enough to think of it. Which small city does not have an old particular junction except service serving of the district strongly not inhabited or tourist? There is not badly in France. I think for example of Morlaix (Finistère) which could be offered tourist and utility tram to less expenses, the way was still places from there a few years ago, it leaves the station and goes down to the marina. Between Sète and Balaruc then Mèze (Hérault), well on, and then between Hyères (Var) and Salins to serve the suburbs and the ranges. A double armed super track is not necessary everywhere. It is enough to create crossings adequate at good the places. The overhead line is still obligatory, but more for a long time; for the allergic one to the string,other solutions arrive of which the engine with inertia or new batteries with strong capacity. Circulate tram it is not a questionit is not a question to make all the 3 mn as in Grenoble from 7 to 19 hours. The trams of small cities would not have the same capacities that in large the city, it is obvious. And the fact of recovering old (the Seventies I suppose) and robust German trams is completely economic. As an example, the network of 5 km plus the travelling hardware will cost the same price as motorized X 72500.... Does it make reflect, no?

Once more, I hope that it is not an electoral empty promise.....

A bottom of bag which opens on the sea... thus presents Ciotat whose tourist attraction causes congestions at once that the sun comes to cherish the gantries of the old shipyards and the boats which somnolent under the lapping. Dice 1995, mayor (PC) Rosy Sanna and his town council stick to find solutions there through the plan of urban displacements (PDU).
Very quickly the idea of a tram like an obviousness is essential A little.
Indeed, from the port SNCF railway station (located at 5 km in the North-East of the downtown area) one sees curving of the rails to which each one was accustomed so much that they were almost forgotten. However, they form part of the history of this balneal city which was a long time, in parallel, an industrial town living of its shipbuilding yards which alone employed 6 000 people until 1988, date of their closing.
Brought into service dice the 1888 tram circulated until in 1955, date on which, it yielded the way to the goods trains serving the shipyards. With their closing, stops the train and the memory of tram. On the other hand, with the passing of years circulation became increasingly problematic, of the fact in particular of principal axes which are transverse. What forced to set up a better irrigation of flows by perpendicular ways. Strong urbanization
city making impossible the construction of new roads, the municipality had the idea to recover this old 5 km length railway, the more so as a cabinet of experts made a study revealing the excellent health of this way on 90 % of his course.
For its restarting, work of infrastructures would be limited to the reconfiguration of a bridge, the setting in security of some crossroads and ballast rests it on certain portions.
What to realize savings on tram. To go even front in this direction, the elected officials ciotadins had the idea to repurchase two motor coaches and four cars in ex-RDA or this type of hardware profited from a maintenance which in backed up the performances, certainly modest.
A relookage of the body and seats, a revision of the mechanical elements. and the old Berliner local trains could take again service.
In consideration of which small tram of Ciotat which should circulate at the end of 2001 will not cost more than 25 million francs, that is to say a third of the total invoice for a conventional system.
A dozen «halts »will mark out this single track of which the restarting will supplement the lines of current urban transport. It will allow a better service road of the new districts strong density like the Maurelle, Bee and Matagots by supporting the service road of several cities, two colleges, a college and the hospital. Its startup should allow fidéliser 10 % of new users in addition to the 680 000 who each year borrow public transport whose management is delegated to Ciotabus, a private company. In same time, most of the users arriving by SNCF railway station could be channeled and to allow the unchoking of the downtown area.
The municipality awaits much of this transfer of circulation to make fall the automobile flood which plank currently 60 000 vehicles per day. A loop line will be reserved for the heavy lorries and to dissuade the become inveterate motorists, it is right now envisaged to reduce the speed to 30 km/h by a whole series of dissuasive installations.
The hypercentre offers 2 500 places (with less than 2 francs of the hour) divided into 5 carparks. «It is much more than one does not need, »explains of it a person in charge of the technical services of the town hall for which «the municipality gave itself all the means to have a coherent and effective PDU. We await motorists that they become true actors about it. Ciotat wants to breathe, to return the streets to the pedestrians and to the bicycles. »Even if the municipality wishes that the old shipyards find activities as regards maintenance and repair of pleasure boats.
To reconcile, like yesterday, the Naval one and tourism. It is possible. Ciotat proposes the response to this equation by the PDU and a tram which, could, the come night, to yield the way to some trains (much rarer) of provisioning of the new building sites.
José LENZINI LVDR of 10-04-00

The network of the 2 km longer Nantes tram.
To redraw a line of tram is not current. The mixed investment company of public transport of the Nantes agglomeration however has just done it on a section of 2 kilometers, April 17 for better of serving the Bellevue pole. Five new stations, Croix-Bonneau, Jean-Moulin, Lauriers, Romain-Rolland et Mendès-France-Bellevue make it possible to 20 000 additional inhabitants to profit from this means of transport. Two thousand people work on the district which counts also four school establishments. The opening of this new section of line 1 modifies the layout it it line of bus N°11 which will borrow the Romanet boulevard. This line will be gradually equipped with bus with natural gas. This prolongation precedes the opening on August 28 of a 3,5 kilometers longer section until Saint-Herblain. The same day will be brought into service the first five kilometers of the line 3 which will connect the course of the Cours des Cinquante Otages to Orvault.

A. L R. LVDR of 10-04-00