FRANCE: The government announced on December 18 that it would be providing €450m to fund 99 urban transport projects with an estimated total cost of €5∙2bn. Including 15 light rail schemes totalling 81 km as well four metro lines with a combined length of 27 km, the projects are expected to create 50 000 jobs ‘very quickly’, according to Ségolène Royal, Minister for Ecology, Sustainable Development & Energy.
Local authorities were invited to submit projects that would encourage modal shift from the private car, foster sustainable development and improve connectivity. With the cost of individual projects ranging from €110 000 to €420m, the government will on average be providing 16% of total scheme cost, on the condition that work starts before December 31 2017.
To help complete funding packages, state-owned investment bank Caisse des Dépôts is making €5bn of ‘green growth’ loan funding available at a preferential interest rate of 1∙75%.
| City | Project | Total cost €m | Government contribution €m |
| Angers | Light rail Line B | 245 | 25∙1 |
| Aubagne | Val'Tram light rail | 90∙6 | 18∙3 |
| Bordeaux | New ticketing system | 15∙1 | 1∙0 |
| Caen | Conversion of Line 1 to light rail, Line 2 | 229∙8 | 23∙3 |
| Grenoble | Extension of light rail Line A to Pont-de-Chaiz | 30 | 3∙0 |
| Guadeloupe | Excellence light rail project | 219∙6 | 28∙2 |
| Lyon | Metro Line B capacity enhancement | 93∙3 | 12∙0 |
| Lyon | Light rail Line T4 capacity enhancement | 51∙5 | 1∙3 |
| Lyon | Light rail Line T5 extension to René Cassin | 27∙2 | 1∙8 |
| Lyon | Metro Line D capacity enhancement | 46∙7 | 3∙5 |
| Lyon | Metro Line B extension to Hôpitaux Sud | 420 | 6∙6 |
| Lyon | Light rail Line T1 extension to Hôpitaux Est | 179∙2 | 19∙0 |
| Marseille | Light rail extensions to Capitaine Gèze and La Gaye | 270∙7 | 29∙9 |
| Montpellier | Light rail Line 1 extension to Sud de France station | 40 | 3∙9 |
| Nantes | Capacity enhancement at Commerce light rail stop | 8∙5 | 0∙4 |
| Nice | Light rail Line T3 extension to Saint-Isidore | 65∙0 | 3∙5 |
| Strasbourg | Light rail extension to Koenigshoffen | 106∙4 | 8∙4 |
| Strasbourg | Light rail extension to Schiltigheim | 81∙7 | 6∙0 |
| Toulouse | Light rail Line T1 extension to exhibition grounds | 23∙8 | 1∙4 |
| Toulouse | Metro Line B extension to Labège | 373∙9 | 20∙5 |
