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System
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The first 10 km section of Line A opened on 26 June 1993, and is a fully automated VAL-system (following the Lille model). It runs mostly underground except for a short stretch at its southern end near Basso Cambo and between Bagatelle and Mirail-Université where it crosses the ring motorway on a viaduct. The initial northern terminus at Jolimont is partly on the surface. 10 years later, the original line was extended further northeast with three new stations. Basso Cambo and Jolimont are multimodal hubs with buses stopping just outside the stations and car parks available for park&ride. Also Arènes and Esquirol offer easy transfer to buses. All stations have a similar design dominated by white tiles in combination with a different colour in each station. Capitole and Esquirol, both in the old city centre, are larger than the rest with long escalators leading to a central hall from where access is provided to platforms (similar to eastern European metros). Line A uses 26 m long 2-car trains; by 2013 all stations should be retrofitted to accommodate 52 m long trains. Construction work for Line B (15 km), running north-south (all underground) from Borderouge to Ramonville, began in 2002. The entire line from Borderouge to Ramonville opened on 30 June 2007. It intersects with Line A at Jean Jaurès. Stations on Line B feature the same tiling as used on Line A, but are more spacious, allowing daylight into the station where possible. In all stations works of arts are exhibited or are a part of the overall station design. Line B uses 26 m long 2-car trains, although all stations can easily be upgraded in the future for 52 m trains if necessary. Line C is a standard SNCF suburban rail service, which is integrated into the urban tariff area between Gare St-Cyprien (Arènes) and Colomiers. |
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History
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26
June 1993:Line
A
Basso Cambo - Jolimont (10 km) 30 June 2007: Line B Borderouge - Ramonville (15 km)
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Projects |
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A southern extension of Line B from Ramonville to Labège railway station, with three intermediate stations is planned. For 2009, a light rail line (Line E), will be built from metro station Arènes and heading northwest, past Zénith (concert arena), CHR Purpan (hospital), in Blagnac, Aéroconstellation (A380 Airbus Industries-EADS plant), and to Beauzelle in the north. The 11.2 km line will eventually be extended southeast to Saint-Orens. Like Line C, a new suburban line (Line D) will use SNCF tracks and link Matabiau-SNCF (the city's central station of SNCF near Marengo-SNCF metro station) to Muret, 20 km to the southwest of Toulouse. |
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Practical
Info
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- OPERATION Trains on Métro Line A operate from 5:15 until 0:30, every 80 seconds during peak hours and every 6 minutes off-peak. A trip from Basso Combo to Balma Gramont takes 22 minutes, and from Borderouge to Ramonville 27 minutes. Trains are rubber-tyred and platforms are equipped with platform screen doors. - FARES (2008, in Euro) All tickets (from July 2007 also contactless smartcard 'Pastel') are valid on buses, métro and SNCF-Line C: Single
Ticket - EUR 1.40 Day
Pass - EUR 4.20 |
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Links
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Tisséo (Official Site) FTPU (France Passion Transport Urbain) Métro de Toulouse at Wikipedia.fr Metro & Tram in Toulouse by Christoph Groneck |
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Photos
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BASSO CAMBO
MIRAIL - UNIVERSITÉ
ESQUIROL
CAPITOLE
JOLIMONT
Photos 2000 © R. Schwandl |
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Books
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NEW: Christoph Groneck: METROS IN FRANKREICH / METROS IN FRANCE. Paris, Lyon, Marseille, Lille, Toulouse, Rennes, Rouen & Laon. - Aug. 2006, Robert Schwandl Verlag, ISBN 3 936573 13 1 (More info)
Hugues Beilin: Un Métro pour le Grand Toulouse. - ISBN 2708990713
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Toulouse
is the centre of a metropolitan area with about 750,000 inhabitants
in southern France. In 1985 it decided to build a two line light rail
VAL system. In 2007, the total length of the network has reached 27.5
km, with 38 stations.
