The Lille tramway (french: Tramway de Lille) is a public transit system in the city of

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 region, the prefecture of the N ...

in Hauts-de-France,

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

. 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 are ...

way is often called the Mongy, after Alfred Mongy, the engineer who created the interurban lines that make up the current system. The system consists of two interurban lines, connecting central Lille to the nearby communities 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 ...

, and has 36 stations. The lines were built at the same time as the

boulevard A boulevard is a type of broad avenue planted with rows of trees, or in parts of North America, any urban highway. Boulevards were originally circumferential roads following the line of former city walls. In American usage, boulevards may ...

s linking Lille to its two neighbours, and the lines run on

reserved track Reserved track, in tram transport terminology, is track on ground exclusively for trams (in the US, typically called a "private right-of-way"). Description Unlike street running track embedded in streets and roads, reserved track does not need t ...

within the boulevards for most of their length.Based on a translation of the article '' Transpole'' from the French Wikipedia. Retrieved on 2008-02-19. The first tram line in Lille was built 1874, and the electrification of the town system started in 1894. The current interurban lines were built in 1909. While most urban lines in Lille were abandoned after 1950, the Mongy remained in service as the backbone of the public transport network of the TCC, the predecessor of Transpole. Whilst the expansion of the Metro initially threatened the trams, they were kept in service.Based on a translation of the article '' Transpole'' from the German Wikipedia. Retrieved on 2008-02-19. The lines originally terminated in the street outside the

Opéra de Lille The Opéra de Lille is a neo-classical opera house, built from 1907 to 1913 and officially inaugurated in 1923. Closed for renovation in 1998 it reopened in 2003 for Lille 2004. The Opéra de Lille is a member of the European Network for Opera, M ...

, but was diverted into a tunnel and underground terminus at the

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 ...

, offering interchange with both lines of the Metro. The system was renovated between 1991 and 1994, and new low-floor trams were provided. The system is metre gauge electrified at 750

volt The volt (symbol: V) is the unit of electric potential, electric potential difference (voltage), and electromotive force in the International System of Units (SI). It is named after the Italian physicist Alessandro Volta (1745–1827). Defin ...

s DC. The system is operated by

Ilévia Ilévia is the public transport operator for the Lille Métropole, the metropolitan area surrounding the city of Lille in northern France. It operates a mixed system, comprising buses, trams and a driverless light metro system. The company is a s ...

, the

public transport Public transport (also known as public transportation, public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) is a system of transport for passengers by group travel systems available for use by the general public unlike private transport, typi ...

operator for the

Lille Métropole 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 ...

. Ilévia also operates the

Lille Metro The Lille Metro (french: Métro de Lille) is a driverless light metro system located in Lille, France. It was opened on 25 April 1983 and was the first to use the VAL (french: véhicule automatique léger, en, light automated vehicle) syst ...

, a two-line underground and elevated VAL system, and 68 urban

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 ...

routes, all of which share a common ticketing system.

Network Map

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lille Tramway Transport in Lille Tram transport in France Metre gauge railways in France 750 V DC railway electrification

Network Map

See also

References

External links