PARIS’ light rail line T13 entered service on July 6, connecting Saint-Cyr with Saint-Germain-en-Laye in the western suburbs and serving 12 stations, seven of which are new.

The new route runs for 18.8km from Saint-Cyr, also served by RER Line C and French National Railways (SNCF) commuter services, to Saint-Germain-en-Laye where interchange is provided with RER Line A by means of a new 190m passageway equipped with travelators.

The project has involved the construction of a new station at Saint-Cyr and a new alignment electrified at 750V dc between Lisière Pereire and Saint-Germain-en-Laye with two new stations.

The remaining 15.5km is a section of the Grande Ceinture, the outer belt line around Paris, which has been upgraded by SNCF Réseau for tram-train operations including electrification at 25kV ac.

Five existing stations on the railway have been refurbished, with platform lengths reduced to 42m to match the tram-train vehicles and the height reduced by 320mm to provide level boarding. Accessibility has been improved by replacing footbridges with pedestrian level crossings.

The end-to-end journey time on T13 is 30 min, with services operating seven days a week from 06.00 to 00.00. The peak frequency is every 10 minutes, with a service every 20 minutes at other times.

The new route is expected to carry 21,000 passengers a day, providing an environmentally-friendly and accessible alternative to the private car.

T13 is operated with a fleet of 11 Alstom Dualis LRVs, ordered by regional transport authority Ile-de-France Mobility at a cost of €68.8m. Each LRV can accommodate 250 passengers, with seats for 90, and is equipped with 10 screens displaying real-time passenger information and 36 USB ports.

The fleet is maintained at a new depot covering 6500m2 at Versailles-Matelots, built by SNCF Voyageurs, equipped with a 120m workshop building that houses a wheel lathe. The T13 control centre is also located here.

The new route is operated by Transkeo T13, a joint venture between Keolis (51%) and SNCF (49%). There are 45 drivers trained to operate on the French national rail network.

Infrastructure works for T13 have cost a total of €306.7m, provided by the French government (17%), the Ile-de-France region (53%) and the department of Yvelines which the new route serves.

For detailed data on French projects, subscribe to IRJ Pro.