Marseille Metro will be automated by 2026
Alstom will install equipment for the automated operation on both lines of Marseille Metro. The French technology company will also develop and supply 38 new rubber-tyred metro trains. They will run in semi-automatic mode with drivers until mid-2025 on Line M2 and until 2026 on Line M1. Afterwards, the train traffic in Marseille Metro will become fully automated.
The entire modernisation project of Marseille Metro costs 430 million euros financed by Métropole Aix-Marseille-Provence. For the automation system, Alstom will supply to Marseille its popular Urbalis 400 solution. Alstom will also modernise all the audiovisual passenger information inside the stations. “It is a great honour for us to contribute to modernising the mobility offer of Métropole Aix-Marseille-Provence. Our metro experts are already at work on several of our French sites to get started quickly with developments,” said Jean-Baptiste Eyméoud, Senior Vice-President France at Alstom.
New trains
Alstom will develop the four-car rubber-tyred metro trainsets with inter-car circulation. Each vehicle will be capable to carry up to 500 passengers and will be equipped with the latest technological developments to increase comfort, availability, accessibility and passenger information. The sleekly designed trains will feature large bay windows, a highly efficient air conditioning system and modern passenger information systems, providing a pleasant onboard experience.
The new trains will be entered service in early 2024. Alstom intends to develop them to be environmentally-friendly. The vehicles will consume 25 per cent less energy thanks to the braking energy, LED lighting and other improvements. Moreover, 96 per cent of each train can be recycled. To design the new trainsets, Alstom called on Marseille designers Ora-ïto and Fabien Bourdier.
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