Île-de-France tramway Line 2

Île-de-France tramway Line 2 (T2) is part of the modern tram network of the Île-de-France region of France. It connects the commune of Bezons in the north with the Porte de Versailles Métro station in Paris in the south, serving Hauts-de-Seine and its La Défense business district.

Tramway T2
Porte de Versailles, the line's southern terminus in the 15th arrondissement of Paris
Overview
Type	Tram
System	Tramways in Île-de-France
Status	Open
Termini	Porte de Versailles Pont de Bezons
Stations	24
Ridership	Approx. 20 million journeys per year
Operation
Opened	2 July 1997 (1997-07-02): La Défense to Issy–Val de Seine station 21 November 2009: extension from Issy to Paris-Porte de Versailles 19 November 2012: extension from La Défense to Pont de Bezons
Owner	RATP
Operator(s)	RATP
Rolling stock	66 Alstom Citadis
Technical
Line length	17.9 km (11.1 mi)
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8 ^1⁄2 in)
Stations Pont de Bezons Seine Parc Pierre Lagravère La Marine Shops Victor Basch Jacqueline Auriol Charlebourg Les Fauvelles Faubourg de l'Arche La Défense Puteaux Belvédère Suresnes Longchamp Seine Les Coteaux Les Milons Parc de Saint-Cloud Musée de Sèvres Brimborion Meudon-sur-Seine Les Moulineaux Issy-les-Moulineaux Shops Jacques-Henri Lartigue Issy–Val de Seine Seine Henri Farman Suzanne Lenglen Porte d'Issy Porte de Versailles

The line has a length of 17.9 km (11.1 mi) and 24 stations. The initial section between La Défense station and Issy–Val de Seine station, opened in July 1997, uses a former heavy rail line converted into light rail, whereas the further extensions on both ends opened in November 2009 and November 2012 feature segregated on-street running.

Route

Schematic map of Line 2

Communes served

Line 2 serves the communes of Bezons (one stop), Colombes (three stops), La Garenne-Colombes (two stops), Courbevoie (one stop), Puteaux (two stops), Suresnes (two stops), Saint-Cloud (three stops), Sèvres (one stop), Meudon (two stops), Issy-les-Moulineaux (three stops) and Paris (four stops).

Places of interest

The line allows visitors to access the Grande Arche in La Défense, the Parc de Saint-Cloud at the eponym stop, the Manufacture nationale de Sèvres at Musée de Sèvres and Paris expo Porte de Versailles at its southern terminus.

Rolling stock

Line 2 is operated by the Régie autonome des transports parisiens (RATP) under the authority of Île-de-France Mobilités (IDFM). The line's success (115,000 people use it daily) led to its Tramway Français Standard (TFS) rolling stock to be replaced starting in 2002 by Alstom Citadis trams; the TFS rolling stock was transferred to Île-de-France tramway Line 1 to increase its capacity.[1]

As the Citadis trams also rapidly proved insufficient in terms of size, they were doubled in length in 2005 by using a Scharfenberg coupler, raising the capacity of each tram to 440 passengers. Several stops were also therefore doubled in length. With the extension to Porte de Versailles and the line crossing several intersections, the RATP had each tram's front and rear coupler covered, so that in the event of a collision with a pedestrian, the damage sustained by the person would be less severe.

Gallery

• 
  Non-covered coupler (2006)
• 
  Tram arriving at Brimborion station
• 
  Tracks towards La Défense
• 
  Meudon-sur-Seine station
• 
  Line 2 tram at La Défense station

References

1. Ligne 5 du tramway, bientôt sur les rails Archived 19 November 2012 at the Wayback Machine