FRANCE: Bands, parades and street entertainment celebrated the opening of Grenoble’s fifth tram line on June 28, with an ‘e-selfies’ photo competition where passengers could post pictures of themselves on Line E to the project’s website for the chance to win a year of free travel.
Construction of the north–south Line E began in September 2011, with a budget of €300m. The 4·8 km first phase runs north from Louise-Michel to St-Martin-le-Vinoux Hôtel-de-Ville with eight stops. The second phase to open in early 2015 will extend the north line to Palluel, taking it to 11·5 km with 18 stops, including four park and ride sites.
Alstom provided electric equipment for the line. The service is operated using Alsthom TFS trams which have been modernised to increase their capacity from 313 to 323 passengers and fitted with LED lighting and real-time travel information.
Trams run every 6 to 8 min. Ridership is predicted to reach 45 000 passengers/day once the line is completed.
