Trams In Montpellier

The Montpellier tramway (french: Tramway de Montpellier) is a four-line tramway system in the city of Montpellier in Occitanie, France. The tramway is owned by the Montpellier Méditerranée Métropole, and is operated by the Transports de l'agglomération de Montpellier (TAM) authority.

Following the closure of the original tramway in 1949, the network was planned and commissioned starting in the 1990s. The first line opened in July 2000, followed by the second in December 2006. Lines 3 and 4 simultaneously began operations in April 2012, along with an extension of line 1 and a diversion of line 2. The western section of Line 4 opened in July 2016, thus completing the loop it makes around the city. In total, the four lines constitute of track.

The development of the network continues, with extensions of Line 1 to the Montpellier Sud de France TGV station, Line 3 to Montpellier–Méditerranée Airport and the Mediterranean seashore, and finally the construction of a fifth tram line linking the northwest of the metropolis to its southwest all being under study.

History

Starting on July 18, 1880 until 1883, the ''Compagnie Générale des Omnibus de Marseille'' established horse-drawn tram lines to serve the city of Montpellier. At that time, the city had about 55,000 inhabitants. With 39 horses and 20 carriages, a network of six lines served the medieval centre of Écusson and its surroundings, as well as Castelnau-le-Lez. Depending on the route, they ran every 30 minutes or every hour. This local transport network was eventually abandoned because of poor maintenance of the tracks and poor care of the horses.

Later, an electric tram network was created. The first meter-gauge tram lines went into operation in November 1897, and more followed in early 1898. They opened up the area of ​​Montpellier and again the neighboring municipality of Castelnau-le-Lez with frequencies of every 7.5 to 15 minutes. The Place de la Comédie was the main junction of five tram lines. Other transfer points were the Gare Saint Roch train station and the square in front of the Saint-Denis church. The net length was 12 kilometers. Due to emerging competition from the automobile and in particular because of the creation of a bus network, the Montpellier tramway was shut down on January 31, 1949.

After expressing its interest in the experimental ARAMIS project (which later contributed to the development of the Meteor and VAL transportation projects) during the 1980s, the administration of mayor Georges Frêche proposed the re-creation of a network of three tram lines in the district of Montpellier. The debates then focused on the choice of rolling stock and the route of the first line. One of the main members of the right-wing opposition to the municipal council of Montpellier, Bruno Barthez, militated in favor of a tram on tires, following the example of the guided bus project of Caen

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