Paris Tramway Line 3

Paris Tramway Line 3

Tramway line T3 is the first modern tramway in Paris proper, since the 1937 closure of the previous comparable system. It is operated by the Parisian Transport Authority (RATP: Régie autonome des transports parisiens), and is divided into two sections called T3a and T3b. The line is also known as the tramway des Maréchaux because it follows the boulevards des maréchaux, a series of boulevards that encircle Paris along the route of the former Thiers Wall (built 1841–44). The boulevards are, with three exceptions, named for Napoleon's First Empire marshals (maréchaux), and were transformed by redevelopment works carried out during the two and a half year construction of the line, which opened on 16th December 2006 under the designation T3.

The line runs in its own section of the roadway of these boulevards between the 15th and 13th arrondissements of Paris, allowing it to connect Pont de Garigliano and Porte d'Ivry in an average of 26 minutes. It carried 25 million passengers in its first year of operation, averaging 100 000 every weekday, and 70 000 at the weekends; numbers have steadily increased ever since.

In 2009, further work began to extend the line to the east and north, with the extension fully opening on 15th December 2012. Two separate lines were constructed to ensure the service's reliability: the existing line was extended to Porte de Vincennes and renamed T3a; a second line (T3b) connects Porte de Vincennes to Porte de la Chapelle. Currently, a possible extension of this new line to Porte d'Asnières by 2017 is under consideration.