FRANCE: Revenue services started on Montpellier tram Line 5 on December 20.
Route 5 is 14·2 km long and serves 27 stops. Newly built sections cover two branches: 4·5 km of new alignment were built from Saint-Éloi on Route 1 north to Clapiers, and 6·6 km from Gambetta-Saint-Denis on routes 3 and 4 to Grés de Montpellier in the southwest. The remainder is shared with routes 1 and 4.
Line 5 was built at a cost of €440m, and is expected to serve 80 000 passengers a day. Services are initially running at every 12 min, with headways scheduled to decrease to every 10 min from February 2026 and every 7·5 min from September as new rolling stock is delivered.
CAF is supplying 60 seven-section Urbos trams to operator TaM, 22 of which are destined for use on Line 5.
In Montpellier, each tram route adopts its own visual cues and colours. Designed by Barthélémy Toguo, Line 5’s design features plant and animal figures on a white base, symbolising the tramway linking nature and people, as it serves several parks and green spaces, as well as the Zoo de Montpellier.
- Learn more: Read our feature article about the ongoing expansion of French tramways in the April 2025 issue of Railway Gazette International.
