(France )DOUAI

Douai
Douai, located into a mining region, is developing a magnetic tram-on-tyre network, articulated in 4 lines:
- Line 1 (19,5 km), from Aniche (rue Edmond Laudeau) to Douai (Pont d'Esquerchin);
- Line 2 (5,2 km), from Dechy (Centre Hospitalier) to Douai (place Carnot);
- Line 3 (4,7 km), from Auby (place de la Republique) to Douai (pont d'Esquerchin);
- Line 4 (5,2 km), on the route Douai (La Templerie)-Waziers-Douai (place Carnot).
The system concept is to reduce the increasing of road congestion (private cars desplacements are more than 60%), mostly caused by the delocalization of residential areas in the suburbs, not balanced by a corrisponding pubblic transport offer towards the city center.
The first phase of the tramway (Guesnain Bougival-Douai Citè Technique, 12 km, 21 stops) opened on 8 Febrauary 2010, once obtained all the necessary homologations. It's currently operated manually, waiting for the completion of the magnetic guidance system.
SMTD (official site)

CHRONOLOGY
08-02-2010	Guesnain Bougival-Douai Citè Technique

Country	France
Line	Line A
Inhabitants	City 42.000, District 170.000
Date opening	2010
Future development:	4 lines network
Length (km)	12
Track sections	mostly in reserved lanes
Stops	21, average distance m 400
Platforms	--
Platform doors	--
General characteristics	--
n. of vehicles	12 (18 m: 10; 24 m: 2)
n. of cars per vehicle	18 m: 2; 24 m: 3
Type	rubber tyres mono-directional
Vehicle dimensions (m)	length 18/24, width 2.50
Vehicle capacity (pax)	18 m: 120; 24 m: 180
Frequency	10'/
Current/Voltage	GPL engines+batteries
Type of guide/gauge	magnetic markers every 4-5 m along the track
Speed Km/h	Comm. 24, Max 80
Accel./Decel. (m/sec2)	1.3/
System capacity	900 pphpd
Ridership	18.000 pax/day
Total cost	11.5 M Euro/km
Staff	--
System builder	APTS
Model	Phileas
NOTE	low floor cars long term option for hydrogen feeded engines