We head into France as we continue to take a look at trams from around the world. This time the location is Strasbourg.
Although the first tramways opened in Strasbourg in 1878, as with much of France the original generation tramway closed in the 1960s but that was not the end of the story as in 1994 the new Strasbourg tramway opened with further lines following in 2000, 2007 and 2010. The initial fleet on the tramway was formed of 26 Eurotrams which were initially to be constructed as a joint venture between Socimi and ABB but in the end ABB went alone after Socimi went bankrupt. We are used to trams for the UK being built abroad but the Eurotrams were the opposite as they were built for France in the UK at ABB’s Derby works.
In this photo we see 1033 in service on 29th April 2014.
Photograph by Peter Watts
These trams are still running front line services in Strasbourg, with no trams so far withdrawn. They are planned to be used for some years yet. The only line they do not run on is the extension (open in 2017) to line D which passes over the border into Germany at Kehl, as these trams are not fitted with the required equipment to meet German regulations (the other Alstom trams in the fleet authorised in Germany are marked with two red stripes below the windscreens).
The ABB trams were invaluable two years ago when work on the tunnel section (which passes below Strasbourg’s main railway station) went a little wrong and the track to tunnel height was reduced sufficiently for the Alstom Citidis trams to be too high for regular service, whereas the ABB trams are slightly lower. The problem took several months to resolve, but by moving the ABB trams to these routes, little service disruption was caused (luckily this was before line D was extended to Germany!).
Strasbourg is planning some more extensions to their network, which ties into to the bus system very well. Most bus services terminate outside the central zone at transfer points to the tram network, the trams doing the work of bringing people to the city centre.
The early ones were built in York. I went to the factory to watch part of the building process.