THE TRAMWAY BETWEEN SAINT-DENIS AND BOBIGNY

After the cities of Nantes and Grenoble, Paris adopted the tramway to promote the development of general transport in the suburbs. The justification for such a scheme is based on the growing need to travel from suburb to suburb, the reduction of full trainloads along these routes and on the gradual saturation of the secondary lines. The tramway project between Saint-Denis and Bobigny provides the opportunity to rethink about the urbanisation of the sector served and is also a dynamic urban and economic factor. Based on the secondary railways network, i.e. underground and commuter lines, the tramway will be the link in the collective transport network thus opening out new possibilities of travel coupled with guaranteed frequency, regularity and speed which will attract new passengers or even offer an alternative to the private car. Running entirely on roads, the costs of the tramway will be four times less than an underground train. Its ease of access, comfort, quiet running and pollution-free design also lend it all the plus- points for integration with the town. This system of transport will entail wide-spread and permanent agreement as well as compulsory purchase orders which could hold back any decision-making. The major development project of the department will be in the Ile-de-France region, where the first tramway line will link the historic centre of Saint-Denis with the new administrative centre at Bobigny. It will run for 9.2 km and have 21 stations and is expected to be commissioned early in 1993. (A) For the covering abstract of the seminar see IRRD 859670.