Hi,
a few month back, I spent a weekend in Mulhouse/Alsace. Purpose of the trip was to take a look at the refurbished an extended railway museum "Cité du train". The last time that I went there, was years ago. Added bonus: In the mean time, Mulhouse got a tram network.
Equipped with a 3-day pass (costs 8), I dropped my bags in the hotel and hopped on the next tram to check out the network
Tram
The network has 3 lines and the rolling stock consists of yellow Citadis-trams manufactured by Alstom. Recently, a tram-train line was added to the network.
A train of line 2 at the terminal stop "Coteaux"
Wherever possible the rails are embedded in grass. Colored arcs are used as artistic elements at several stations. For instance at "Daguere"
or "Porte Jeune"
Tram meets tram-train:
At Station "Musée l'Auto" the curly roofs, give it a nice touch
Linie 2 train preparing for the return jouney at terminal stop "Nouveau Bassin"
This area is nice place for a stroll along the water
Artwork included
Other stops are less remarkable like "Republique"
There were two "green segments" that I particularly liked
Line 2: "Nordfeld" to "Nouveau Bassin"
Linie 1 "Musée de l'Auto" to "Doller"
Yellow trams, green tracks and sunshine: C'est magnifique.
Heavy rail int the front an the tram way back on the bridge
A train of SNCF Frêt on the tracks next to the tram line
At stop "Dageurre" a bridge to a supermarket parking lot allowed a nice bird view on the tram
Yellow on the outside, the cars are mostly yellow on the inside too
Huge windows allow a view over the drivers shoulder
Lines 1, 3 and the tram-train have their terminal stop at the railway station ("Gare Centrale"). There are two tacks in front of the station. The tracks on the left are used by the tram-train and line 3, the tracks on the right are reserved for line 1.
A tram after leaving the stop "Sous Préfecture" is entering the loop leading to the stop at the station
View on the loop from the station. In the foreground a war memorial, the afore mentioned stop "Sous Préfecture" on the right in the back.
View over the memorial to the station
Tram-Train
The tram-train (indicated at linie TT on the system map) connects Thann the central station. Between Lutterbach and the central station it uses the tracks of the tram through downtown. In contrast to the yellow tram, the TT is wearing the TER-Alsace-Livree.
Currently, the TTs final stop is Thann. The paint to the cars shows the future endpoint in Kruth.
Interior view of the TT
The trams are 100% low floor, in the TT you have to climb a few stairs the each end.
TT system map in the car
The segment between the central station and Lutterbach is served by line 3 and the TT. A TT approaching Lutterbach, the tail track no the left, it used by the tram for shunting purposes
Trains a single tracking between "Du Rhein" and Lutterbach abd may pass each other at the stops.
Cité du train
Some impressions from the railway museum "Cité du train". It was great a few years back, but the recent extension made the trip even more worthwhile. A (German and English speaking) audio-guide was included in the admission. So whenever my (school) French failed me, I had a backup
.
I felt pretty small, next to this steam engine monster
Bygone era to the Paris Metro with a rustic charme: The Spraque cars
A bit of a contrast to the luxury Pullman cars
A bit odd (or not): A tank car for wine
The different types of paintwork used by the SNCF (Corail Intercités, TER Alsace, Corail Téoz, TER)
Next to the railway museum is the electricity museum run by EDF. If you are in the area, its worth a visit. Same holds for the "Schlumpf colledtion" at the auto museum
Train
Some heavy rail impression around "Gare Centrale". A TER200 Strasbourg <-> Bâle (Basel)
I like the TGV with the white-grey paint job.
"kissing" trains
Having reached its final stop, the train heads for the storage yard
Trivia
At the end, some not train related stuff. Mulhouse may not be the most beautiful town in the Alsace, but it has some nice corners. Like the canal next to the station
or the zoo with the iris and rhododendrons in full bloom:
That's it for today. I hope you like this little report. Looking foward to your feedback
Charly
P.S.: As I am german, I hope my English was not that bad.
a few month back, I spent a weekend in Mulhouse/Alsace. Purpose of the trip was to take a look at the refurbished an extended railway museum "Cité du train". The last time that I went there, was years ago. Added bonus: In the mean time, Mulhouse got a tram network.
Equipped with a 3-day pass (costs 8), I dropped my bags in the hotel and hopped on the next tram to check out the network
Tram
The network has 3 lines and the rolling stock consists of yellow Citadis-trams manufactured by Alstom. Recently, a tram-train line was added to the network.
A train of line 2 at the terminal stop "Coteaux"
Wherever possible the rails are embedded in grass. Colored arcs are used as artistic elements at several stations. For instance at "Daguere"
or "Porte Jeune"
Tram meets tram-train:
At Station "Musée l'Auto" the curly roofs, give it a nice touch
Linie 2 train preparing for the return jouney at terminal stop "Nouveau Bassin"
This area is nice place for a stroll along the water
Artwork included
Other stops are less remarkable like "Republique"
There were two "green segments" that I particularly liked
Line 2: "Nordfeld" to "Nouveau Bassin"
Linie 1 "Musée de l'Auto" to "Doller"
Yellow trams, green tracks and sunshine: C'est magnifique.
Heavy rail int the front an the tram way back on the bridge
A train of SNCF Frêt on the tracks next to the tram line
At stop "Dageurre" a bridge to a supermarket parking lot allowed a nice bird view on the tram
Yellow on the outside, the cars are mostly yellow on the inside too
Huge windows allow a view over the drivers shoulder
Lines 1, 3 and the tram-train have their terminal stop at the railway station ("Gare Centrale"). There are two tacks in front of the station. The tracks on the left are used by the tram-train and line 3, the tracks on the right are reserved for line 1.
A tram after leaving the stop "Sous Préfecture" is entering the loop leading to the stop at the station
View on the loop from the station. In the foreground a war memorial, the afore mentioned stop "Sous Préfecture" on the right in the back.
View over the memorial to the station
Tram-Train
The tram-train (indicated at linie TT on the system map) connects Thann the central station. Between Lutterbach and the central station it uses the tracks of the tram through downtown. In contrast to the yellow tram, the TT is wearing the TER-Alsace-Livree.
Currently, the TTs final stop is Thann. The paint to the cars shows the future endpoint in Kruth.
Interior view of the TT
The trams are 100% low floor, in the TT you have to climb a few stairs the each end.
TT system map in the car
The segment between the central station and Lutterbach is served by line 3 and the TT. A TT approaching Lutterbach, the tail track no the left, it used by the tram for shunting purposes
Trains a single tracking between "Du Rhein" and Lutterbach abd may pass each other at the stops.
Cité du train
Some impressions from the railway museum "Cité du train". It was great a few years back, but the recent extension made the trip even more worthwhile. A (German and English speaking) audio-guide was included in the admission. So whenever my (school) French failed me, I had a backup
.I felt pretty small, next to this steam engine monster
Bygone era to the Paris Metro with a rustic charme: The Spraque cars
A bit of a contrast to the luxury Pullman cars
A bit odd (or not): A tank car for wine
The different types of paintwork used by the SNCF (Corail Intercités, TER Alsace, Corail Téoz, TER)
Next to the railway museum is the electricity museum run by EDF. If you are in the area, its worth a visit. Same holds for the "Schlumpf colledtion" at the auto museum
Train
Some heavy rail impression around "Gare Centrale". A TER200 Strasbourg <-> Bâle (Basel)
I like the TGV with the white-grey paint job.
"kissing" trains
Having reached its final stop, the train heads for the storage yard
Trivia
At the end, some not train related stuff. Mulhouse may not be the most beautiful town in the Alsace, but it has some nice corners. Like the canal next to the station
or the zoo with the iris and rhododendrons in full bloom:
That's it for today. I hope you like this little report. Looking foward to your feedback
Charly
P.S.: As I am german, I hope my English was not that bad.