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France’s Lyon eyes €160M tram investment
Published: Wed, 2015-02-25 10:58The municipal authorities of Lyon are aiming to extend the city’s T1 tram line by some 6.7 km and fit it with 13 new stations. The French city has launched a public consultation on the project.
Should the investment be officially launched by the municipal authorities, under the plan, it is to be completed by 2019. The project, estimated to be worth some €160 million, would extend the line from the Debourg metro station to the medical care area in the city’s eastern part which hosts three hospitals and one medical institute. With the planned project, the city aims to reduce the travel time between the two neighbourhoods to about 21 minutes, and enable transport services to some 24,600 passengers per day by 2020, according to the information obtained by local daily 20 Minutes.
The proposed route, dubbed Mermoz, would make the tram line pass through the neighbourhood of Grange-Blanche.
“The Mermoz option has emerged as the preferable alternative in spite of its elevated cost. It is the only route which enables optimal links with the three lines, the T2, T4 and the metro,” said Syndicat mixte des Transports pourle Rhône et l'Agglomération Lyonnaise (SYTRAL), the municipality’s public transportation authority.
The city’s inhabitants are scheduled to submit their opinions on the planned tram project until March 24, 2015, following which the municipal authorities are likely to decide on the implementation of the €160 million investment. In addition to the T1 project, the municipal authorities are also planning to expand the T5 tram line, and upgrade the T4 line.
Headquartered in Lyon, SYTRAL says it provides public transportation services to some 1.7 inhabitants of the region in 290 communes. The authority's tram fleet consists of 90 units.
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