The Lille Metro (french: Métro de Lille) is a driverless
light metro
A medium-capacity system (MCS), also known as light rapid transit or light metro, is a rail transport system with a capacity greater than light rail, but less than typical heavy-rail rapid transit. MCS’s trains are usually 1-4 cars, or 1 lig ...
system located in
Lille
Lille ( , ; nl, Rijsel ; pcd, Lile; vls, Rysel) is a city in the northern part of France, in French Flanders. On the river Deûle, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France Regions of France, region, the Pref ...
,
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
. It was opened on 25 April 1983 and was the first to use the
VAL (french: véhicule automatique léger, en, light automated vehicle) system. While often referred to as the first fully automated driverless metro of any kind in the world, the
Port Liner
The , commonly known as is an urban automated guideway transit (AGT) system in Kobe, Japan, operated by Kobe New Transit. Opened in 1981, the Port Liner was the world's first driverless urban transit system, a few years ahead of the VAL syst ...
in
Kobe
Kobe ( , ; officially , ) is the capital city of Hyōgo Prefecture Japan. With a population around 1.5 million, Kobe is Japan's seventh-largest city and the third-largest port city after Tokyo and Yokohama. It is located in Kansai region, whic ...
,
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
predates it by two years. The light metro system is made up of two lines that serve 60 stations, and runs over of route.
The system forms part of a multi-modal public transport system covering the Lille metropolitan area, along with
bus
A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a road vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van. It is most commonly used in public transport, but is also in use for cha ...
es and
tram
A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport are ...
s, operated under the ''
Ilevia'' brand.
History
In the 1960s the decentralisation of the city of Lille was considered; some towns of the Lille region were isolated and were poorly served by existing public transport, while the centre of Lille was congested with traffic and buses. The decentralisation resulted in the creation of the Public Establishment of Lille East development (EPALE) in 1968. In the 1970s, a plan for a proposed four line light metro system was developed, favouring the VAL system over conventional rail systems.
Construction of Line 1
Construction started in 1978, and the first section was opened on 25 April 1983 between ''Quatre Cantons'' ("Four Townships") and ''République''. On 2 May 1984 line 1 was completed, with a length of ( underground), linking ''CHR B Calmette'' (''centre hospitalier régional'': "regional hospital centre") to ''Quatre Cantons'' via ''
Gare de Lille Flandres
Lille-Flandres station (French: ''Gare de Lille-Flandres'', Dutch: ''Rijsel Vlaanderen'') is the main railway station of Lille, capital of French Flanders. It is a terminus for SNCF Intercity and regional trains. It opened in 1842 as the ''Gare de ...
''. All 18 stations have
platform screen doors.
Line 2 opened on 3 April 1989 and it connects Lille with its two large suburban towns,
Roubaix
Roubaix ( or ; nl, Robaais; vls, Roboais) is a city in northern France, located in the Lille metropolitan area on the Belgian border. It is a historically mono-industrial commune in the Nord department, which grew rapidly in the 19th century ...
and
Tourcoing
Tourcoing (; nl, Toerkonje ; vls, Terkoeje; pcd, Tourco) is a city in northern France on the Belgian border. It is designated municipally as a commune within the department of Nord. Located to the north-northeast of Lille, adjacent to Roubai ...
, reaching ''CH Dron'' (''centre hospitalier'': "hospital centre") near the
Belgian
Belgian may refer to:
* Something of, or related to, Belgium
* Belgians, people from Belgium or of Belgian descent
* Languages of Belgium, languages spoken in Belgium, such as Dutch, French, and German
*Ancient Belgian language, an extinct languag ...
border on 27 October 2000. It is long with 43 stations.
Line 1 extension and the creation of a second line
While line one opened in April 1983 between 4 Cantons and République; it was extended, with the extension from République and C.H.R. B Calmette opening on 2 May 1984. The cost of opening the first line in both its phases cost about 2 billion Francs.
Construction of line two began in April 1985. A depot was opened on the second line at Villeneuve d'Ascq, after the terminus of the line Saint Philibert in Lomme. Line one became operational in late 1988 with testing being carried out for four months. In 1989, COMELI which runs the metro merged with COTRALI, which runs the bus and tram networks into a unified public transport body.
The section between Lille and neighbouring towns of
Roubaix
Roubaix ( or ; nl, Robaais; vls, Roboais) is a city in northern France, located in the Lille metropolitan area on the Belgian border. It is a historically mono-industrial commune in the Nord department, which grew rapidly in the 19th century ...
and
Tourcoing
Tourcoing (; nl, Toerkonje ; vls, Terkoeje; pcd, Tourco) is a city in northern France on the Belgian border. It is designated municipally as a commune within the department of Nord. Located to the north-northeast of Lille, adjacent to Roubai ...
was built and opened in four stages. The first extension was inaugurated on 5 May 1994; the underground section has a length of 500 metres and connects the Euralille business area to the rest of Lille.
The third part is the longest to be opened, making about 13 km. It became operational in March 1999 and commissioned on 18 August that year. This section goes through the towns of
Villeneuve d'Ascq
Villeneuve-d'Ascq (; pcd, Neuvile-Ask) is a commune in the Nord department in northern France. With more than 60,000 inhabitants and 50,000 students, it is one of the main cities of the Métropole Européenne de Lille and the largest in area ( ...
,
Wasquehal
Wasquehal (traditional pronunciation ; currently common pronunciation ) is a commune in the Nord department in northern France.
The town originally had a Flemish name; it was written as ''Waskenhal'' in the 11th century.
Geography
Wasquehal ha ...
, Croix, Roubaix and stops in downtown Tourcoing. Though the route is mainly underground, the metro runs on a 1.3 km viaduct between the stations of
Fort Mons and
Jean-Jaures. The final section was inaugurated on 27 October 2000 by Prime Minister
Lionel Jospin
Lionel Robert Jospin (; born 12 July 1937) is a French politician who served as Prime Minister of France from 1997 to 2002.
Jospin was First Secretary of the Socialist Party from 1995 to 1997 and the party's candidate for President of France in ...
.
Plans for third and fourth lines
While a system of four lines was initially planned in the 1970s only two lines have been built. Lille Métropole Urban Community (now called CUDL) indicates in its urban transport plan (PDU) adopted in June 2000 that 'the subway construction cost does not allow new achievements'. In 2003 a third line was estimated to cost €810 million; a cost considered prohibitive so the city explored surface networks instead; making investments in its bus and tram systems. In 2010, the vice president of urban transport, Eric Quiquet confirms this decision by stating that the LMCU 'plans no more new metro lines' and that 'the priority is the development of the network of buses, urban tramway, the tram-train'.
Map
Operations
Line 1 is long ( of which is underground) and serves 18 stations.
Trains are wide and long (composed of permanently coupled two-car sets), and are
rubber-tyred. Platforms are in length (though only half of the platform length is currently open to the public), long enough for two units. Each unit can carry 156 passengers.
The metro operates from 5:00 a.m. until midnight, with trains every 1½ to 4 minutes (every 66 seconds during
rush hour), and every 6 to 8 minutes early mornings and evenings.
On Sundays there is a train every 2 to 6 minutes.
A one-way ticket costs €1.80.
Planned capacity expansion
Since January 2013, work to double the capacity of Line 1 has been ongoing. The platforms are being lengthened to be used with new long trains built by
Alstom. This expansion should be complete in autumn 2017. The former
VAL 208 of the first line will then be transferred to Line 2 to increase its passenger capacity as well.
Gallery
File:Metro port de Lille.jpg, Port de Lille station.
File:Lille VAL 208.jpg, One of the 60 Siemens
Siemens AG ( ) is a German multinational conglomerate corporation and the largest industrial manufacturing company in Europe headquartered in Munich with branch offices abroad.
The principal divisions of the corporation are ''Industry'', '' ...
VAL 208 trains.
See also
*
Lille tramway
*
List of metro systems
References
External links
Interactive Lille Metro MapIlevia
Lille VAL Automated Urban Metro
{{France Metro Tramway
Transport in Lille
Buildings and structures in Lille
Rapid transit in France
VAL people movers
Urban people mover systems
People mover systems in France
Railway companies established in 1978
Underground rapid transit in France
Railway lines opened in 1983