Create Streets and the Campaign for Better Transport are working together on a new mission ‘Tram Network’, which will support more cities to create tram lines and work with government and industry to reduce their cost.
In this blog, Tram Network member Michael Ballinger tells us about the successes and lessons learned from Dijon, one of the many French towns that has reintroduced trams over the last 40 years.
What can the UK learn from Dijon’s Tram Network?
Dijon is a city with a population of nearly 160,000 and a population density 3,900 people per Km2. It is of a similar size to York, Preston, and Exeter. The key difference is that since 2012 Dijon has a 12 mile network of tram lines running through its streets along two routes.
The network was built in two years, after two years of planning. It cost just £38m per mile while the UK can often spend over £100m per mile. The annual ridership in Dijon is 24 million passengers per year. According to The Times, private car usage in Dijon has fallen to 53% of its 2016 level and is expected to drop further to 38% by 2030
The results are mustard. But what approach did Dijon take to the delivery of the network that we could take in the U.K.?
- Lesson one – They didn’t reinvent the wheel (or track). In the U.K. each city often uses a different type of tram. This doesn’t need to be the case. Dijon bought 33 standard trams from Alstom. These trams are double fronted, double sided and have low floors for level access.
- Lesson two – Dijon reduced costs though a shared order. Dijon reduced the cost of the tram carriages by 25% by placing a shared order with Brest. This is common practice on the continent and cities in Germany and Austria have done similar deals with Stadler to reduce the up-front cost of tram trains.
- Lesson three – Trams and buses have created an integrated transport system. Trams in Dijon run on the existing street network. They operate on the busiest routes, serving key destinations such as railway stations, hospitals and universities. Buses then extend this network into surrounding residential areas and less heavily trafficked routes.
If you’d like to get involved in the Tram Network and help us get 15 new tram lines under construction in the next five years, drop us a line at contact@createstreets.com.
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dijon_tramway#/media/File:DijonCarte-01.jpg
