New tram line to be designed and built in just four years.
SYSTRA has been chosen as the main contractor for the second tram line in Tours, France. The announcement comes nine years after SYSTRA delivered line A.
With the project set for completion at the end of 2025, SYSTRA are faced with a tight timeframe and will first have to carry out the design studies for the line before supervising the works and then the tests and trial runs on the line that will link La Riche to Chambray-lès-Tours along a west-south-east axis – crossing the centre of Tours and serving the entire south-western quarter of the metropolitan area.
The line is intended to help the region become more sustainable and less dependent on car traffic, while still ensuring local people and tourists can access the emblematic locations in Tours, many of which are undergoing redesign alongside the development of the tramway. This included plans for Place Jean-Jaurès and the Boulevard Béranger, where the trains will run alongside the famous flower market.
Line B will also serve major centres in the city such as the Regional University Hospital, the Tours business school, the town hall, and a future eco-district under development. The project also involves reorganising the surrounding bus networks to provide more efficient service.
The Tours tramway network is known for its trains that reflect the waters of the Loire. The trams and platforms share the same aesthetic references, which make this line instantly recognisable. It also employs the most advanced technologies, such as ground-level power supply (APS), which SYSTRA implemented for the first time in Bordeaux.
Sylvie Cassan, director at SYSTRA France, noted the valuable timing of the contract: “In 2021, many tramway design contracts will come to an end. One year after the municipal elections, the local authorities are in a position to translate their promises into action, and tramways, which will take almost a whole term of office to build, are a priority.”
