FRANCE: Revenue services have started on Brest’s 5·1 km tram Line B between Gare Gambetta and Hôpital Cavale in the northwest of the city.
The tram crosses four bridges designed by Systra. The Francis-le-Blé and Touillic-ar-Ran structures have been newly built for trams, pedestrians and bicycles only, while the Clemenceau and Villeneuve bridges were widened to carry light rail vehicles. Trams cross the Villeneuve bridge on a single track, which can be shared with emergency vehicles serving a nearby hospital. A bespoke set of traffic signals has been installed by Saferail (now part of Colas Rail) to manage the flow of road and rail vehicles across the bridge.
There is an overnight stabling point for two trams at the Hôpital Cavale terminus. This stop is equipped with an inclined lift built by Poma, which connects the tram stop directly to the hospital entrance.
Line B serves 11 stops including Liberté where interchange is provided to Line A. Almost 25 000 passengers/day are expected to use Line B, with an end-to-end journey of 17 min.
Line B was developed as part of the €225m Mon Réseau Grandit (‘my network is growing’) project by the consortium of Systra (leader), SCE, Labat, Super 8 and Ferocigal. Funding was provided jointly by Brest local council (€183·4m), the French government (€20·7m), the Bretagne région (€17m), the European Union (€2·6m) and the Agence de l’Eau Loire Océan (€1·8m).
Alstom has supplied eight Citadis TBB trams under a joint framework order placed in 2023 by the transport authorities of Toulouse, Brest and Besançon.
- Learn more: read our feature article about the ongoing expansion of French tramways in the April 2025 issue of Railway Gazette International.
