Trams in France

[3] It brought the tram track down to road level, avoiding accidents with pedestrians and other vehicles caused by the standard protruding rail used until then.

Inspired by John Stephenson of New York City, it was in Paris that Loubat built the first line of this type, for horse trams, which was inaugurated on 21 November 1853 in connection with the 1855 World Fair.

[5] In Marseille, horse trams operated by Compagnie Générale Française de Tramways entered service in 1876 on a number of routes including the Canebière.

While electricity offered considerable benefits including ease of operation, many municipalities were reluctant to bring overhead cabling into their city centres.

Over the past 35 years, a rapidly growing number of France's cities have developed modern tramways or light rail networks.

Plans of converting the Nancy Guided Light Transit into a proper tramway, as in Caen, were abandoned in 2021 following a change in the municipal council.

Two incompatible systems exist: In both cases the weight of the vehicle is borne by rubber tyres on bogies to which the guide wheels are attached.

Alstrom developed the system primarily to avoid intrusive power supply cables in the sensitive area of the old city of Bordeaux.

[24] In addition to recent developments in France's urban areas, the Deûle Valley tram museum line operates near Lille.