The city of Marseille will get a new metro system

Fully automatic, the new Marseille metro will be inaugurated at the end of 2024.

The Aix-Marseille-Provence Metropolis has launched a comprehensive public transportation development plan. With a budget of one billion euros, it will be able to proceed with several projects simultaneously. The new metro alone will require 580 million euros.

Provided by Alstom, the future Marseille metro will consist of 38 trainsets, totaling 152 cars. Each train will be 65 meters long, composed of 4 cars, and able to carry up to 500 passengers. The design was entrusted to local artist Ora-ïto, who worked on both the exterior appearance and the interior layout.

Less energy-consuming than its predecessor, this new metro will be driverless and automatic. The train cars will also be air-conditioned and accessible to people with reduced mobility. The automatic control system, already tested in other cities, will allow up to 60 metro trains per hour to run on the same line.

On August 1st, Alstom announced that its Valenciennes facility had assembled the first two cars of the new metro. Starting in late August, they will undergo a series of static trials lasting about 5 months. Afterwards, dynamic tests will be conducted at the Alstom site.

Not yet time to retire the current metro

The arrival of this new metro is accompanied by upgrades to infrastructure (installation of communication and control cabinets, track wiring, etc.). In parallel, the Metropolis will also carry out work in several stations to improve accessibility for people with reduced mobility. There are still many steps to complete before commissioning. Project leaders estimate that the deployment of the new trainsets will begin at the end of 2024, nine years after the project started. The last trains of the previous generation will be phased out of the network in 2026.

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