Mulhouse

The Thur Valley is one of the key axes of Southern Alsace, populated with numerous and disperse villages and towns. Heavily congested, particularly with commuters entering or returning from Mulhouse, 80% of road traffic is local.

Authorities set out ambitions to deploy an efficient and effective transportation solution to link andr ejuvenate the communities, businesses and services along the valley while considerably reducing congestion and emissions.

• Deliver an integrated and rapid new transportation corridor with optimized intermodal connections linking residential, commercial and areas of natural beauty.
• Optimize use of pre-existing rail networks to reduce costs and introduce new synergies in pricing, operation and energy.
• Reduce congestion and improve environmental performance.

A range of stakeholders contributed to the success of the project's numerous technical and contractual innovations. In addition to the vision and support of regional and city authorities, Veolia Transdev teams worked closely with partners such as the state rail operator and infrastructure companies, SNCF and RFF, energy company EDF and the technical experts of our upstream consulting and engineering firm, Transamo.

• Already responsible for the technical development and operational success of the urban light rail system, Transamo worked to define the design, operational procedures and integration of urban and national rail infrastructure.
• Soléa training and driving staff collaborated with SNCF counterparts to ensure drivers became expert in both heavy and urban rail procedures and shared operational supervision for the service from two control centers.
• Partnership with EDF in the "Equilibre" energy program across the entire tram and tram-train network to provide energy produced from entirely renewable sources.

The tram-train efficiently uses only four additional kilometers of track, yet manages to connect to a range of communities, including 6,500 secondary school pupils at one end in Thann, 6,000 university students and nearly 700 shops at the other in downtown. Connections include:

• 600 new parking spaces and secured facilities for 250 bicycles,
• 11 of the 18 stops connect directly to the light rail network,
• launch of a third tram line and reorganization of three bus lines to strengthen transfers to the urban network,
• connections to regional, national and highspeed rail network.

A unique system has been devised to allow all tram-train passengers to complete their journey on the urban network with the same ticket. Available from automatic vending machines, Soléa agencies and across a sales network, users can choose from a single one-way ticket to a monthly pass.