The rapid transit system in Paris just keeps getting better.
In addition to extending several Métro lines and improving service, Paris is investing heavily in new tram lines with great success. Thetram T3, which travels along the boulevards des maréchaux sud at the southern periphery of Paris, is carrying 100,000 passengers a day - twice what the bus line it replaced could carry.
Now officials want to extend the T3 line 14.2 kilometers (about 9 miles) to the east and north.
The €650 million ($1.02 billion US) project will include new 25 stations from Porte d'Ivry to Porte de la Chapelle, of which 13 will have transfers with a Metro or RER lines. The line will require 22 new train cars costing €67 million ($105 million US). The city will invest €137 million ($214 million US) in urban landscaping along the tram's corridor.
Paris has two goals in mind as it builds it extends its tram system - improving overall mobility and redefining the quality of life of residents living nearby the tram. The average speed of the tram will be 19 to 20 km/h (roughly 12 mph), about 4 km/h faster than the current bus line.
Some 155,000 daily passengers are expected to use the extension alone, which means some 255,000 passengers will use the T3 line each day.
Construction will start in 2009. If all goes as planned, service will start in 2012.
Photo by Flickr user *** Fanch The System !!! ***
