The Tram Train Excellency of Paris

Paris is set to open a HUGE expansion of the metro in the next couple of years, but its many new tram projects have gone severely underappreciated. In this video we talk about the Paris T12 and why it's so special.

Map Data © OpenStreetMap contributors

[ZontarDow]

The fact the expansion cost less per mile then the Montreal BRT line is infuriating.

[Hiro_Trevelyan]

As a French person, it's funny to see someone praise our infrastructure. Everyone's complaining because the T12 has major issues at launch and the low frequency has taken a toll on its popularity. 15 minutes is absolutely not enough right now, RER trains run much more frequently than this and move more people, so currently the T12 is a bottleneck for many people who were used to having the RER C line. I think the T12 is a good idea overall, but the frequency is bad. If I'm not wrong, they have issues recruiting tram drivers.

[transitspace]

Paris and France in general, are really masters at making both good public transit and urbanism, it’s usually pretty rare to be that good at both at the same time. And everything is so cleverly designed, Tram-trains in France usually have to go through a scissor crossing to change the side they run on (left on national rail, right on street alignment), but on T12, they make use of the single track section built because of the lack of space to change side.
Having to deal with constrained spaces makes European planners really good, here in North America, most of the time there is some sort laziness, because we just build in the middle of stroads with lots of space, there’s no challenge and we get the bare minimum, which most of the time looks terrible

[pinksdmr]

Hello from Epinay-sur-Orge ! Glad you’re talking of our new tram, I’ve seen the line being built since the beginning of its construction, seing it finally running is so great
While it has known some difficulties in the first months after the inauguration due to a shortage of drivers, it seems to run better now, though the people who live on the ex-RER C part of the line are understandably upset to have lost their direct connection to Paris since they have to get off the tram at Epinay to continue to Paris now
The other half of the line (Epinay to Evry) is most commonly appreciated, since it constitutes a brand new rail alternative to the car in the neighbourhoods it runs through
Thanks again !

[MrsBifflechips]

I *looove* grassy tracks. They look so cheerful and comfy. I wish they were more prevalent here in Canada.

[TheReactorLore]

The Eglinton Crosstown LRT and Metrolinx should really look at Paris's Tram Trains for inspiration, especially since it utterly fails at being a subway, an LRT, and a tram train.

[MaxS-hnwe]

Can you please do a video explaining why rail/light rail construction costs vary by city/country? What are the variables that make Paris lower than others for example? I’d imagine wages, union rules, resource availability and land acquisition costs would all contribute.

[pacificelectric]

Something you might not have noticed is that in France, trams run on the right track and trains on the left. The section between Evry and Epinay sur Orge is considered as "tram" but in Epinay sur Orge the tram line merges with the southern Grande Ceinture line (orbital freight line) and that's where trams run on the left! Actually the right/left change occurs over the single-track section just before the tram enters a tight curve and passes under the Paris-Orleans train line.
The same change occurs on tram line T13 between Saint-Germain en Laye and Saint-Cyr. If you take the tram in Saint-Germain en Laye the right/left track change takes place just as the tram enters the part of the line that recycles the long disused west Grande Ceinture line, namely just before the tram hits the Lisière Pereire station and you can see the weird arrangement of switches making that possible.

[zacharyabelson]

This feels a lot like the blue line in the twin cities. Downtown it's like a streetcar with dedicated lanes but as it gets further out it uses old freight rail lines with gates and such next to the street. It also has short tunneled and elevated sections that feel more rapid transit.

[florianfasquelle]

Fantastic vidéo, difficult beginning for this line but it gets better and it was really a necessary link between massy and Evry

[NickBurman]

AFAIK Massy to Epinay still sees the occasional freight train, being a part of the "Grande Ceinture", the Paris outer belt line. Naturally with RER C and now T12 these mostly run at night, but it means that the light rail vehicles have to be compatible with the rail infra.

[andymcdandycdn]

Love the shots of the tram running along the nice green grass. It breaks up the constant gray colour.

[equilat]

Low frequency is partly explained by a lack of drivers which SNCF subsidiary TransKeo tries to overcome. However it is taking more time than expected to resolve since most candidates failed during the training process 😂 And obviously forming drivers takes time but when you don’t anticipate things, this is what you get.
This created quite a lot of backlash in the media since the opening…

[soulofamerica]

When they hire more drivers, T-12 should reach 6-minute Peak frequency and 12-minute Off-peak

[peterhoz]

2:48 😂 The rhino sign! Melbourne uses these too 😂

[shazrahman]

Public transport (transit) campaigner from the UK. Love the video. Does anyone know why Paris is able to build public transport (transit) projects cheaper than the UK, the US and Canada?

[gordonohallmhurain]

Reminding Canadians every week that we could have it better but simply choose not to 😥

[BLACKSTA]

As far as combination of Tram, Metro, Regional Trains and Suburban Trains there are not many Cities that can keep up with Paris

Impressive Network

[ZeBoy]

I love that they nicked the “Beware the Rhino” wrap from Yarra Trams!

[barryrobbins]

3:53 how are the costs kept down?

Edit: This would be a great standalone video for transit systems in general.