In this post, I’m going to focus on the expansion of light rail in Paris. Over the past year alone, the city’s light rail network has practically doubled its capacity; going from just four lines (Lines 1 and 2, the initial Line 3, and Line 4), 41.5 km of track, and 70 stations to six lines (including the Line 3 extension, and new Lines 5 and 7) 82.3 km of track, and 145 stations! And guess what? That’s only a sign of things still to come! Two more LRT lines are under construction (Lines 6 and 8) and several others are being planned.
Today, I’ll be focusing on the the newest addition to Paris’ LRT system, which is Line 7, or T7. T7 opened to passengers on November 16, 2013 and provides for 11.2 km of track, connecting the municipalities of Villejuif (via the Villejuif – Louis Aragon bus and subway station) and Athis-Mons via the Orly Airport. I will be publishing subsequent posts regarding the rest of the Paris LRT network later this month.
Line Map
Click here for the official line map from the RATP (PDF, in French). In the near future, I will have my own map posted here via Google Maps.
Connecting Services/Routes
Service to Orly Airport
The T7 provides another level of public transport to Orly Airport. The other modes of public transport being the Orlyval (which is an automated people mover), and the OrlyBus service. Connections to the RER (Commuter Rail) Line B is provided via the Orlyval.
Span of Operating Service
T7 operates seven days a week from 6:00am until 12:30am. Frequency varies depending on the time of day, week, and year. Click here to view a departure frequency table from the RATP (PDF, in French).
Rolling Stock
T7 utilizes 19 Alstom Citadis 302 series LRVs. The Alstom Citadis LRVs are widely used across many light rail networks. In fact, the 1,500th Citadis LRV was delivered to the Paris T7! That’s definitely a LOT of LRVs!
The Ghost Trains (test runs)
Like many new transit links, the T7 underwent a period of test runs to make sure that revenue service runs efficiently. In fact, an entire month was dedicated to making sure each train ran as smoothly as possible! During this time, train ran the full length of the LRT line without carrying passengers.
The Grand Opening
The grand opening celebrations were filled with lots of fun activities, including music, arts and crafts for the kids, and refreshments. The mayor of Villejuif, Claudine Cordillot, made a speech to the public just before the T7 officially opened for revenue service.
Future Extension
A planned second phase will bring the line to the municipality of Juvisy by 2018/2019, which is home to a major commuter rail station.
Credits
All content showcased in this post are courtesy of the Soundlandscapes Blog! I thank them so much for allowing me to use their content in my post!
The Global Transit Guidebook 