Delivery of the 130th tram train of the Bordeaux Métropole network. - Mickaël Bosredon / 20 Minutes

  • With 130 trains, the Bordeaux Métropole network now has the largest tram fleet in France, excluding Ile-de-France.
  • The network also has 77 km of lines.
  • The very first trains put into service in 2003, come at a turning point, since they will have to be renovated to be able to last until 2043.

It is numbered 1856 and will be put into service during the month of April. The 130th train of the Bordeaux Métropole tram network was delivered on Tuesday by Alstom. She arrived from the Aytré site, near La Rochelle, at the Keolis Bordeaux maintenance center, located in La Bastide, at the end of the morning.

This is the last train of an order that had been launched in 2011. This fleet should be sufficient to meet the constraints of the current network, and the few line extensions planned for the next few years. “But something tells me that one day or another it will be necessary to relaunch another market; I am sure that elected officials will not fail to have the idea of ​​other tram lines ”launched the vice-president of Bordeaux Métropole in charge of transport, Christophe Duprat.

Here are five figures to remember on the Bordeaux network.

77 km

The Bordeaux Métropole tram network now has 130 trains, and 77 km of lines since the (partial) entry into service of Line D last December. Keolis Bordeaux is thus the manager of the largest tram fleet in the city, outside Ile-de-France. "A fleet that has increased by 30% over the past eighteen months" remarks Eric Moinier managing director of Keolis Bordeaux.

Delivery of the 130th tram line of the Bordeaux Métropole network - Mickaël Bosredon / 20 Minutes

20,000

This is the number of daily travelers registered on the new D line since December. "And yet it only stops at the Bouscat town hall for the moment," points out Christophe Duprat, vice-president of Bordeaux Métropole in charge of transport. The first real assessment will therefore come when this line goes to its Eysines-Cantinolle terminus, from February 29. And when we have our two relay parks at the racecourse and Cantinolle, we will catch up with a lot of customers. In all, the city's tram network, which now has four lines, carries more than 300,000 passengers a day.

107

This is the number of trains that must be taken out every morning to operate the Bordeaux network. "Last year we needed less than 100, but with line D this number increases", analyzes Eric Moinier. It will continue to climb with the entry into service of the extension of line A to the Mérignac airport planned for early 2022. At the same time, with the aging of the fleet, more and more trains need to be immobilized sometimes for a few days to carry out maintenance operations.

80

The peculiarity of the Bordeaux tram network is that it was the first in the world to be equipped with APS, Food by the ground, in the historic center of Bordeaux. A technology which has the advantage of not polluting the postcard decor of the Unesco classified sector. But in the more remote districts and cities of the metropolis, the tram works with overhead contact lines (LAC). "Each train changes mode - from APS to overhead contact line - 80 times a day" underlines Eric Moinier, who plays on the wear and tear of the equipment.

The APS is a source of pride for Alstom, the only manufacturer to offer this technology. "It is a system that has made a lot of children in twenty years, since it has since been sold to Angers, Tours, Reims, and last November in Sydney, and also in Dubai and Rio" indicates François Papin, director of the Alstom site in La Rochelle. He underlines that Bordeaux is now the showcase of this technology, "which we do not hesitate to show to our future customers. "

20 years

This is the period at the end of which a tram line must be renovated. In Bordeaux, the deadline is approaching, since the first trains were put into service in 2003. "Investments are going to be necessary, confirms Christophe Duprat, but we are anticipating this financial wall, and we are already looking with Alstom how to make the best possible renovation, the aim being to keep these trains in service for forty years. "

The 130th tram of the @BxMetro tram network entered the @KeolisBxMetro maintenance workshop at the Bastide maintenance workshop #Bordeaux pic.twitter.com/UD0s3eWuTF

- mibosredon (@mibosredon) February 11, 2020

In France, the industrialist Alstom has manufactured some 1,000 trams over the past fifteen years, for all of the cities that have equipped themselves with this mode of transport. The same problem will arise for them. "We are starting to look at how we are going to support our customers to offer them renovations," explains François Papin.

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  • Alstom
  • Keolis
  • Tram
  • Aquitaine
  • Public transport
  • Bordeaux