It blows my mind that Marseille—one of the poorest cities in France, to the point where they had to pause their metro extensions and third line plans due to funding issues, though ironically they’re still building dozens of kilometers of modern trams and a huge city-center HSR tunnel and underground station—because, well, France I guess 😅—is still managing to:
* automate its entire system and replace all trains with brand-new driverless ones
* retrofit every station with platform screen doors
* make all stations fully accessible, with multiple elevators, etc.
All for just €580 million (!!), and all between 2023 and 2027.
They also, of course, rolled out contactless open payment a few years ago.
Marseille’s metro is technically very similar to Montreal’s—much more so than Paris’s. In fact, Marseille is the only city in the world using the exact same GoA2 signaling system as Montreal, so we really should be paying attention to what Marseille is doing, as we’ll likely encounter the same challenges if we ever automate our metro.
Also, the STM collaborates very often with the RATP—much more than with, for example, the TTC—but it doesn’t really show, unfortunately…
It blows my mind that Marseille—one of the poorest cities in France, to the point where they had to pause their metro extensions and third line plans due to funding issues, though ironically they’re still building dozens of kilometers of modern trams and a huge city-center HSR tunnel and underground station—because, well, France I guess 😅—is still managing to:
* automate its entire system and replace all trains with brand-new driverless ones
* retrofit every station with platform screen doors
* make all stations fully accessible, with multiple elevators, etc.
All for just €580 million (!!), and all between 2023 and 2027.
They also, of course, rolled out contactless open payment a few years ago.
Marseille’s metro is technically very similar to Montreal’s—much more so than Paris’s. In fact, Marseille is the only city in the world using the exact same GoA2 signaling system as Montreal, so we really should be paying attention to what Marseille is doing, as we’ll likely encounter the same challenges if we ever automate our metro.
Also, the STM collaborates very often with the RATP—much more than with, for example, the TTC—but it doesn’t really show, unfortunately…
https://ampmetropole.fr/grands-projets/le-nouveau-metro-de-marseille/
https://www.stm.info/en/press/press-releases/2022/ratp-group-to-support-stm-in-learning-how-to-go-all-electric
Yes, Marseille and Lyon are top of mind for me. They show that so much is possible.
What frustrates me is that the STM could have 3 Paris Line 14s of its own, and just. . . . doesn't.
Pls write more about Montreal's metro, and what expansions you'd like to see.
I'm sure I will!