This weekend, it is the turn of Val-de-Marne to inaugurate the T9, between Porte-de-Choisy and Orly-Ville.
More than 80,000 daily travelers are expected on this line, which changes the daily life of the inhabitants of Val-de-Marne.
And the tram route does not stop there in Ile-de-France.
Line extension projects are numerous, while construction sites for the T10, T12 and T13 are continuing.
Frédérique Prédali, researcher at the Paris Region Institute, deciphers the reasons for the development of the tramway.
Why is the tram so popular with the public?
FRÉDÉRIQUE PREDALI.
In Ile-de-France, travel needs are very high.
And for the public, the tram is somewhat the ideal mode of urban transport.
It is accessible to everyone: there are as many mothers with strollers and children as young adults.
This is less true in the metro.
It is relatively fast compared to the bus, it is reliable, regular, it is safe and it is not very noisy because it is electric.
Finally, it is a window on the city.
The problem that arises now is the capacity of the network, because some trams are victims of their success.
The T9 is the eleventh tram line developed in Ile-de-France since 1992. How to explain such a dynamic?
In the Paris region, the beginnings were difficult, because the tram had to be inserted into the very dense urban fabric of the inner suburbs.
The first studies concluded that it was not obvious.
But it must be seen that compared to the metro, the surface tram is much cheaper to build.
The challenge was to offer a more modern tram with more capacity than the bus.
In 1994, new vehicles appeared in Strasbourg, with a modern design and grassed roads.
The tram then becomes a symbol of sustainable mobility.
After very successful examples of integration and urban redevelopment, this has whetted the appetites of many mayors in Ile-de-France.
Because even if the construction period is delicate, the results are convincing.
Is the tram more than just a mode of travel?
Yes, because it is an engine of urban renewal.
In the 1990s, architects began to work from facade to facade, what was called "the French tram", where the entire width of the road is taken over.
We widened the sidewalks, proposed cycle paths, added street furniture and embellished the facades.
After the work, the commercial fabric changed.
New, more modern signs have arrived, thanks to the “showcase” effect of the tram.