Christian Estrosi could not have been happier this late afternoon: a second step of his emblematic project, tramway lines 2 and 3, has been completed.
Starting this morning, the service will be operational and passengers will be able to travel from Magnan to the airport and vice versa. After the Magnan-Cadam route, it is another advancement for urban mobility, which this time will also impact the tourism sector, for which it will be a considerable asset.
Imagine a traveler who, upon arrival or departure, can use the tramway for the cost of one and a half euros or even one euro with a multi-ride ticket, instead of 6 euros for the express bus or over 30 euros charged by taxis?
We won’t quite talk about purchasing power as claimed by the Mayor of Nice, but instead, a nice ticket to visit Nice.
We just need to reach the next steps for which the schedule is confirmed: arrival at Jean Médecin and intersection with line 1 (this will be the strategic leap) in June; reaching the port in the fall and Saint Isidore (including Allianz Riviera) by the end of 2019;
Then, heading towards Cagnes-sur-Mer to include the coastal populations of the metropolis in this mobility strategy.
Between the present and future, one can understand the generalized satisfaction of the authorities present.
Dominique Thillaud, Chairman of the Aéroports de la Côte d’Azur, spoke of the “tram as a flow generator,” and Renaud Muselier, President of the Region, showered his friend-ally with praise for this achievement: “My dear Christian, you are a great Mayor of Nice! Thanks to your vision and good management, Nice now has a 2nd tram line and the most modern multimodal exchange hub in #Europe.
I am very happy to have invested 40 million euros in this project.”
Even Prefect Georges-François Leclerc broke from his usual reserve to express his satisfaction.
But the happiest of all was obviously him, Christian Estrosi. It must be said that this inauguration is also a good political move for him. Undoubtedly, he will know how to exploit it as he should.
Moreover, the surprising (?) absence from the inauguration of Charles-Ange Ginesy and Eric Ciotti – although, represented – makes it clear that a flop in this project would have been a dangerous slip for him.
The inauguration of this section was slightly disrupted by the attempt of about thirty Yellow Vests – the self-proclaimed “voice of the people” – to invade the tramway tracks and reach the airport to protest.
Law enforcement neutralized them without encountering resistance. The ceremony could proceed without issues, just with a slight delay.
