Say Bonjour to More Trams, Paris

One of the largest Metro Systems is going bigger, but that isn't the news that came out today from Paris. The Régie Autonome des Transports Parisiens, or the local transit authority in Paris announced that along with extending several of the Paris Metro and RER lines in and around the city, they are extending the T3 Tramway approximately 10 miles to meet the demands of the public.

Currently, the T3 is the busiest Tramway in the city with average daily ridership of 100,000. The T3 drives along a separate right of way along the southern portion of the city and connects passengers with their choice of five metro lines. The T3 Tramway was opened in December of 2006 and ridership is already double of the capacity of the bus line that it replaced.

The RATP has stated that they have two goals in mind when they extend their Tram lines throughout the city. The first is improving overall mobility throughout the city by connecting neighborhoods that previously weren't connected. The second goal is to redefine the quality of life for residents in the city.



The T3 currently travels along the Boulevards des Marechaux Sud in Southern Paris. The plan is to extend the T3 to the East and North 14.2 Kilometers. The planned extension will nearly double the length of the T3 and increase ridership to 255,000 per day. The proposed cost of the extension is €650 million ($1.02 billion US) with construction starting in 2009. The T3 extension is expected to start operations in 2012.