FRANCE: Toulouse transport operator Tisséo has begun work on the city’s third metro line with a construction of a 30 m deep evacuation shaft in the Sept-Deniers district.
Previously referred as Aerospace Express and now designated as Line C, the automated line from Colomiers railway station in the west of the city to Labège on the southeast will be 27 km long with 21 stations, serving the Blagnac district near the airport, the Airbus facilities and Toulouse-Matabiau station. There will be interchanges with lines A and B at five stations. Ridership is expected to be 200 000 passengers a day.
No less than 22 km and 17 stations will be underground, with 5 km and four stations elevated. Five tunnel boring machines will excavate the section from Colomiers to Montaudran Piste des Géants.
Valued at €589m, the largest construction contract that has been awarded so far covers tunnel and ancillary works on the 8·4 km section from Airbus St-Martin to Raynal and completion of six stations between Jean Maga and Toulouse Lautrec. This was won by a consortium of Eiffage GC (lead contractor), NGE GC, Eiffage Fondations and NGE Fondations.
The Montaudran Piste des Géants – Labège elevated section will be built by a consortium of Bouygues TPRF (lead contractor), Baudin Châteauneuf, Bouygues TP and Solétanche Bachy FP at a cost of €132m.
The Daturas depot near Sept Deniers station and the connecting tunnel will be built by Solétanche Bachy France (lead contractor), Bouygues TPRF and Buesa SAS for €11m.
Alstom is to supply Urbalis 400 CBTC, a Hesop reversible substation and Appitrack modular trackform.
All civil works are to be completed by 2027, while the installation of equipment and start of revenue services are planned for 2028.
Line B and tram connections
The total project cost of Line C is put at €3·4bn, but this includes a two-station extension of Line B from Ramonville to Institut National Polytechnique de Toulouse, and a new stop at Jean Maga on tram routes T1 and T2, which will provide interchange with Line C. In future, T2 is to be rebranded as Airport Express and will only run between Jean Maga and the airport.
Financing is coming from Tisséo, the national government, the département of Haute-Garonne, the Occitanie région and the EU.
Train mock-up unveiled
On January 26 Tisséo unveiled a mock-up of the Line C trainsets to be supplied by Alstom; the full-size model will be on display at Capitole in the city centre until February 9. The 27 two-car Metropolis trainsets will be 36 m long and 2 700 mm wide, with three 1·5 m wide doors per car side. The air-conditioned trains will be fitted with LED lighting that adjusts to travel conditions, reinforced air filtration and antibacterial coatings on the handrails.
A two-car trainset will have capacity for 286 passengers or 5 000 people per hour per direction. If ridership grows, the trains have provision for lengthening to three cars increasing capacity to 386 passengers.
The trains have been designed in partnership sensorial design specialist RCP, and will have a blue and red livery, reflecting the colour of the city arms.
Production of the first trains is planned to start in 2024, and all are expected to enter service with the opening of the line in 2028.
