Strasbourg extends Tramway lines

Six kilometres of new track, upon which work started four
years ago, entered into service on Saturday, in the presence of
the Secretary of State for Transport, Dominique Bussereau.
They make it possible to connect the existing five
lines, which until now only crossed in the city centre.

The extension concerns two lines (C and D) which will
link the working class districts of Neudorf and Neufhof,
located to the south of the city, to the centre. In the first
half of 2008, it will be the turn of the residential communes
of Ostwald and Lingolsheim to finally be connected up to the
network.

After the entry into service of these latest
extensions, the network will expand to almost 54 kilometres by
mid-2008. This will make the capital of Frances Alsace
region the leading French city in terms of tramways,
and also the only fully linked-up network in the country to
have five lines.



The extension of the lines will be accompanied by a significant
increase in the number of available seats, with the purchase of
41 additional Citadis trams from Alstom Transport by the
Compagnie des Transports Strasbourgeois (CTS), which previously
operated 53 trainsets.


An average of 280,000 trips are expected to be taken daily on
the network, against a current figure of 220,000, equivalent to
200 trips per year and per inhabitant in the Strasbourg
metropolitan area, which is home to 450,000 people.
Thats the highest figure in France for cities
that dont have a metro, stresses
Jean-François Soulet, its chief executive officer.