NANCY INNOVATES! GLT TO ROLL IN FRENCH CITY NEXT YEAR

The city of Nancy, France, will become the world's first urban community to put a guided light transit (GLT) system into revenue service. One mile of what is known locally as the "tram on tires" costs $22 million, as opposed to $27 million for a conventional light rail line and $110 million for a metro. The vehicles will gradually replace Nancy's 18-year-old trolleybus fleet that is costly to maintain. The hybrid trams will continue to use the catenaries of the trolleybus system, thus lowering infrastructure costs. Line 1, scheduled to go into service by the end of 2000, will be just 6.8 mi (11 km) long, with the guided section initially only half as long. Line 2 will follow in 2001, and the network will be gradually extended for completion in 2006. The GLT train set looks similar to an articulated light rail vehicle, but it runs on rubber tires and can be guided by a single grooved rail. The low-floor, guided vehicle operates on electric power from an overhead catenary and goes offline to become a hybrid diesel/electric bus.

• Record URL:
  http://www.mtap.org/publications/quarterly.nsf/ByCategoryPublic?OpenForm
• Supplemental Notes:
  • This publication appears as a special insert in the Spring 1999 issue of "AASHTO Quarterly."
• Corporate Authors:

  American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO)

  444 North Capitol Street, NW
  Washington, DC  United States  20001
• Publication Date: 1999

Language

• English

Media Info

• Features: Photos;
• Pagination: p. 8
• Serial:
  • AASHTO International Transportation Observer
  • Publisher: American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO)

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Catenaries (Railroads); Costs; Diesel buses; Electric buses; Electric vehicles; Hybrid vehicles; Public transit; Technological innovations; Trolley cars; Trolleybuses; Urban transit
• Uncontrolled Terms: Guided light transit
• Geographic Terms: Nancy (France)
• Subject Areas: Energy; Finance; Public Transportation; Vehicles and Equipment;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00788840
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Mar 5 2000 12:00AM