We can’t wait to finally ride one of these trains that have caused so much buzz! Between controversies about costs and overruns, press conferences, and inaugurations (multiple and partial), the intangibility of the project has largely overshadowed the actual construction work, and communication has, indeed, overshadowed civil engineering!
Anyway, yesterday, the construction of the tramway line 3 began: a 7 km route between Terminal 2 of the Airport and the heart of the Saint-Isidore district, with a total of 11 stations, including 5 stations shared with the West-East line.
The trains will travel at an average speed of 22 km/h, and the expected daily ridership is 12,000 passengers by 2020.
The route will run along Avenue Simone Veil and will boost the Eco-Vallée project, whose estimates predict that by 2026, 11,400 inhabitants will be served, with 5,400 new housing units and 25,000 to 30,000 jobs.
This T3 line will also help reduce the use of cars and contribute to limiting pollution.
Airport service will significantly enhance the mobility of travelers who would prefer to pay 1.50 euros rather than fall victim to the predatory local taxi prices.
Regarding costs, always a sensitive topic, the project management reports a savings of 20 million euros by starting the work as a continuation of the line 2 project, which will be operational (with a partial route from Cadam to Magnan) on June 30th.
The total cost of the operation will amount to 56.82 million euros excluding taxes. The project is subsidized up to 30.5 million euros, of which 15 million euros come from the City of Nice.
The expected commissioning: end of 2019.
In short, the project is unanimously supported, and there are no downsides.
That’s why we can’t wait to hop on board. As for the multiple and partial inaugurations, they will soon be forgotten.
