Aerotram / Toulouse

22
Dec

2016

3S Urban Gondola Approved in Toulouse: Téléphérique Urbain Sud (“South Urban Cable Car”)

Toulouse is set to become the third French city to build an urban gondola (after Grenoble and Brest) and the first city in the world to implement 3S/TDG technology for pure public transit purposes.

On December 21, local officials voted in favour of the 3km long “South Urban Cable Car” (French: Téléphérique Urbain Sud) and subsequently awarded the €54.6 million (US$57.0 million) project to a POMA-led consortium.

CHU Rangueil station platform.

CHU Rangueil station platform. Image from SMTC-Tisseo.

Toulouse, the fourth largest city in France (city pop: 460,000, metro pop: 1,200,000), is fairly well served by a transit network which consists of two metro lines, 2 suburban rail lines, 2 tram lines, and many bus routes.

With the introduction of the cable car, transport connectivity will be strengthened in the city’s southwestern area — in particular between the major nodal points of Oncople (research centre), Rangueil Hospital (210,000 patient visits/year) and Paul Sabatier University (30,000 students).

Ropeline profile of Toulouse's urban cable car. Image from SMTC Tisséo.

Ropeline profile of Toulouse’s urban cable car. Image from SMTC Tisséo.

Based on existing maps, it appears that the cable car will be integrated into Metro Line B and Bus Line 5. Traveling at an average speed of 5m/s (18km/h), commute times between the two end terminals have been reduced to 10 minutes (from 30 minutes previously).

Thirty five person cabins arriving as frequent as 90 seconds will provide a high level of service to the estimated 7,000 daily riders. This figure would be comparable to many other Cable Propelled Transit (CPT) feeder lines such as those currently operating in Portland, Constantine, and Medellin.

While the first CPT line has just been approved, local officials are thinking ahead and have already included plans for extending the cable car throughout Toulouse’s southern periphery.

Toulouse's urban gondola will be integrated with L5 and Metro Line B. Image from SMTC Tisséo.

Toulouse’s urban gondola will be integrated with L5 and Metro Line B. Image from SMTC Tisséo.

Approved cable car line drawn in dark blue. Future extensions marked by thick blue lines. Image by SMTC Tisséo.

Approved cable car line drawn in dark blue. Future extensions marked by thick blue lines. Image by SMTC Tisséo.

But before that happens, there is still much work ahead for the South Urban Cable Car project. The next steps will involve detailed studies and many rounds of public consultation. If all goes according to plan, Toulouse’s urban gondola will open its doors to passengers in 2020.
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Statistics

Length (km) 3.0
Stations 3
Line Capacity (pphpd) 1500
Ride Time 10 minutes
Frequency (s) 90
Cabins 14

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Aerotram / Toulouse
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10
Apr

2013

Aerotram (Urban Gondola) in Toulouse, France Selects Architects – Expects to be ready by 2016/2017

Rendering of Universite Paul-Sabatier Station. Image from Midi-Pyrenees.

Exciting news for CPT came out of Toulouse, France last week. Wilkinson Eyre — the team who designed the Emirates Air Line in London — has been chosen as the architects for the city’s urban gondola or “Aerotram” project.

It appears that the proposal has been under investigation since 2009, and the existing alignment calls for a 2.6km line which connects three activity centres:

  1. University Paul Sabatier, 29,000 undergrads and metro station;
  2. CHU Rangueil Hospital, university hospital located Pech David hill (130m a.s.l.);
  3. Oncopole, a 220 hectare site home to a new €1 billion cancer research campus.

 

Proposed alignment map. Image from Midi Pyrenees.

Proposed alignment satellite. Image from Tisseo.

Approximately €40-44m has been allocated to the project. The modestly sized system of 1500 pphpd is estimated to transport 6000-7000 daily riders. Point to point transport will only take 10 minutes versus 32 minutes via bus and metro. Other key stats include:

  • Cabin size: 35 persons
  • Technology: 3S/TDG
  • Total cabins: 20 (18 during peak)
  • Cabin frequency: 1min 30 secs (peak); 5-7 min (off-peak)
  • Speed: 15km/h

Undoubtedly, if the available renderings were based off of reality, the station and towers will be of the more aesthetically pleasing variety. While the extent of the customization is uncertain at this time, this issue will be of particular interest as previous highly customized urban CPT systems have been subject to significant scope creep (i.e. think Portland and London). The budget of €40-44m will certainly test the abilities of the project team.

Given the language barriers, exactly why 3S/TDG technology was chosen for a 1500 pphpd capacity system is unclear at this time — a MDG system would be able to perform a similar task at a lower price tag. However, among a range of benefits, a 3S line could offer greater reliability since it can operate under higher wind speeds. My suspicion (and I say this through my own personal experiences) is that tricable systems tend to fare better in terms of optics and public acceptance when it comes to implementing CPT systems in the Western world.

I’m certain there may be other reasons and if any of our readers have more details, we’d love to hear from you. Overall, this is appears to be a groundbreaking project as it may be the first 3S CPT system to be fully integrated into a local transit network.

 

 

 



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Aerotram / Toulouse / Installations
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