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Electric Trams return to Paris

21st December 2006

A new €310 million tram system has been launched on the streets of Paris as part of the city's redevelopment of its transport system.

The T3 service is the first tram to travel through the city in almost 70 years, and runs through the central districts every four minutes, travelling via the Left Bank inner ring-road known as the Boulevard des Maréchaux.

Accommodating the new system has led city officials to spend a further €4 million on inner-city projects that will be on display on the tram's new route. New plant-life, artwork and cycle lanes will be visible from T3 as it moves through the city.

"[The T3 is] a wonderful glimpse of a future, cleaner Paris, a great new urban adventure," said Bertrand Delanoe, the mayor of Paris.

The project will be followed with further developments and extensions over the coming years. The T3 connects the Porte d'Ivry metro station with the Boulevard Victor RER station and will link up with the Porte de Charenton and Porte de la Chapelle in future. A potential T8 line is also under discussion.

Over 120,000 passengers are expected to use the line during its opening weekend.

"It's a tramway that looks nothing like those Parisians have seen before, because the T3 is innovative on every front: it's modern, accessible, fast, comfortable, light and spacious," said Serge Méry, vice president of the Ille-de-France regional council.

© Adfero Ltd

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