Marseilles Tramways

[rogerfarnworth]

The Tramways of Marseilles – The Modern Tramway, Vol. 13, No. 150, June 1950

The June 1950 issue of The Modern Tramway carried a report by A. A. Jackson on the tramways in the French port of Marseilles.

Marseilles sits in a natural basin facing West into the Mediterranean and surrounded by hills on three sides. Jackson’s article was based on personal observations in 1945 and later information provided by D. L. Sawyer and N.N. Forbes. He writes:

The suburbs extend to the lower slopes of these surrounding hills and they are connected to the centre of the city by a tramway system that is now the largest in France. The original operator was the Compagnie Genérale Française des Tramways (Réseaux de Marseille) but the tramways have been under sequester since 1946. The route mileage at the present time is kilometres and the gauge is standard (i.e. 1.44 metres).

The Tramways of Marseilles – The Modern Tramway, Vol. 13, No. 150, June 1950

The June 1950 issue of The Modern Tramway carried a report by A. A. Jackson on the tramways in the French port of Marseilles. Marseilles sits in a natural basin facing West into the Mediterranean a…

rogerfarnworth.com

It is worth noting Wikipedia's comment that, "Unlike most other French cities, trams continued to operate in Marseilles, even as through the 1950s and beyond trams disappeared from most cities around the world. The original tram system continued to operate until 2004, when the last line, Line 68, was closed. Trams remained out of operation for three years between 2004 and 2007, in advance of the effort to renovate the tram network to modern standards.

 

[daodao]

Clearly a very extensive historic network.

The smaller modern Marseilles tram network is due to be extended, in 2 directions, in December 2025. Nearby, Aubagne also has a modern tram line, which is also due to be extended in December 2025 via an old railway line as a tram-train service.

France is still developing and extending its modern tramways from a minimal number 40+ years ago, when only 4 first generation routes had survived; 28 towns/cities now have trams. In 1980, in addition to route 68 in Marseilles, the only other lines were in St Etienne (1 line) and Lille (2 reserved track interurban routes to Roubaix and Tourcoing). This is in contrast to the UK, where few extensions seem to be planned in the modest number of networks (6) added to the surviving Blackpool line, and no further new networks are in the pipeline.