The Grenoble tramway (french: Tramway de Grenoble) is the

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 ...

system in the city of

Grenoble lat, Gratianopolis , commune status = Prefecture and commune , image = Panorama grenoble.png , image size = , caption = From upper left: Panorama of the city, Grenoble’s cable cars, place Saint- ...

in the

Rhône-Alpes Rhône-Alpes () was an administrative region of France. Since 1 January 2016, it is part of the new region Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. It is located on the eastern border of the country, towards the south. The region was named after the river Rhône ...

region of

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 ...

. In 1987, Grenoble became the second French city to reintroduce trams, the first being the

Nantes tramway The Nantes tramway (french: Tramway de Nantes) is a tramway system operating in the city of Nantes in Pays de la Loire, France. The first tramway in Nantes opened in 1879 and closed in 1958 due to bombing damage during World War II, while the pr ...

. The current network is long, and comprises five lines: lines A, B, C, D and E. Line A was opened in 1987, line B in 1990, line C on 20 May 2006, line D in October 2007 and line E on 28 June 2014. The tramway is operated by the Société d'économie mixte des transports publics de l'agglomération grenobloise (SÉMITAG) on behalf of the Communauté d'agglomération Grenoble Alpes Métropole, the intercommunal structure linking the commune of Grenoble and its suburbs. SÉMITAG operates its services, which includes local bus services as well as the tramway, under the ''Tag'' brand.

History

Trams were first introduced to Grenoble in 1894, and this first generation tram system survived until 1952.

Network

The current network comprises 93 stations, 12 of which are shared by two lines: * Line A has 31 stations. * Line B has 22 stations. * Line C has 19 stations. * Line D has 6 stations. * Line E has 17 stations.

Rolling stock

The Grenoble tramway is served by a total of 103 trams. The older 53 are Alsthom TFS trams, whilst the newer 50, which began entering service with the opening of the B line extension and the C line, are

Alstom Citadis The Alstom Citadis is a family of low-floor trams and light rail vehicles built by Alstom. , over 2,300 Citadis trams have been sold and 1,800 tramways are in revenue service throughout the world, with operations in all six inhabited continen ...

trams.

Alsthom TFS

The Alsthom TFS fleet consists of 53 trams numbered from 2001 to 2053 running on all four lines of the network. They were introduced in successive steps as follows: * Series Grenoble 1 (trams 2001 to 2020) introduced in 1986/1987 * Series Grenoble 2 (trams 2021 to 2035) introduced in 1989/1990 * Series Grenoble 3 (trams 2036 to 2038) introduced in 1992 * Series Grenoble 4 (trams 2039 to 2053) introduced in 1995/1996

Alstom Citadis

The

fleet is composed of 50 trams numbered from 6001 to 6050, and circulates on the A, B and C lines. There are several series: * Grenoble 1 (trams numbers 6001 to 6035) entered service in 2005 * Grenoble 2 (trams 6036 to 6050) entered service 4 May 2009, introducing Citadis trams on Line A * Trams 6018-6020 were used for the inauguration of the C Line, on 20 May 2006. They carried a multicolor floral decoration for a few months, echoing the slogan "A flower for the city" used during the line's construction.

Future extensions

* Line A extended by two stops from its current terminus at Denis Papin,

Échirolles Échirolles (; frp, Ècherôles) is a commune in the Isère department in southeastern France. Part of the Grenoble urban unit (agglomeration),Pont-de-Claix, with completion expected at the end of 2019. Proposals have also been floated since 2001 to extend Line A at the opposite end towards

Sassenage Sassenage (; frp, Sassenâjo) is a commune in the Isère department in southeastern France. It is part of the Grenoble urban unit (agglomeration).

, but no concrete studies have been put in place as of 2017. * Extensions to line D, probably from

Saint-Martin-d'Hères Saint-Martin-d'Hères (; frp, Sant-Martin-d’Èra) is a commune in the Isère department in southeastern France. Part of the Grenoble urban unit (agglomeration),Grand'Place Grand'Place is a shopping center in the city of Grenoble, France. History It was built in 1975, It comprises Grand'Place and the Carrefour Carrefour () is a French multinational retail and wholesaling corporation headquartered in Massy, Fran ...

or/and from the university campus towards

Meylan Meylan (; frp, Mèlan) is a commune in the Isère department in southeastern France. It is part of the Grenoble urban unit (agglomeration). Population Misuse of public money In 2013, the newly reelected Mayor of Meylan Marie-Christine Tard ...

are also planned, but have not been decided. * A preliminary study was made in 2012 to extend line E to Pont-de-Claix. A

tram-train A tram-train is a type of light rail vehicle that meets the standards of a light rail system (usually an urban street running tramway), but which also meets national mainline standards permitting operation alongside mainline trains. This al ...

linking

Moirans Moirans () is a commune in the Isère department in southeastern France. Population See also *Communes of the Isère department The following is a list of the 512 communes in the French department of Isère. The communes cooperate in ...

to the centre of Grenoble as well as one linking

Crolles Crolles () is a commune in the Isère department in southeastern France. It is located in the Isère valley, 20 km northeast of Grenoble, upstream on the river Isère. It has given its name to the Dent de Crolles mountain (2,062 m), which s ...

and Grenoble have been studied, but the former project has been set aside due to current saturation of that train line by longer distance traffic. A link from Grenoble to

Vizille Vizille (; frp, Veselye) is a commune in the Isère department in southeastern France. Population Sights Vizille is the home of the Musée de la Révolution française, a rich depository of archival and rare materials devoted to the French R ...

via Pont-de-Claix,

Jarrie Jarrie () is a commune in the Isère department in southeastern France. It is part of the Grenoble urban unit (agglomeration).Champ-sur-Drac Champ-sur-Drac () is a commune in the Isère department in southeastern France. It is situated at the foot of the Alps, at the confluence of the Romanche and the Drac. Its population was 3,007 in 2017. It is part of the Grenoble urban unit (agg ...

is also under consideration.

Network Map

External links

*
''Railway-Technology.com'' on Grenoble

{{coord missing, France Transport in Grenoble Tram transport in France Railway companies established in 1987