Transportation
As a part of the Urban Community of Lille Métropole, Villeneuve-d'Ascq is connected to Lille city centre by a VAL, a type of fully automatic (driverless) light rubber-tired metro. The VAL metro line runs through Villeneuve-d'Ascq from Quatre-Cantons and Cité Scientifique stations and drives up to Lille historical city centre and railways stations in about ten minutes.
In fact, while the acronym VAL now officially stands for Véhicule Automatique Léger (automatic light vehicle), it was originally for Villeneuve-d'Ascq à Lille (meaning Villeneuve-d'Ascq to Lille), the route of the first line to be projected, and inaugurated on 25 April 1983. The Villeneuve d'Ascq metro station is under the Place Salvador Allende (Salvadore Allende Square) and a shopping centre which includes Auchan as one of its main tenants.
Villeneuve-d'Ascq is also served by the train station Gare d'Ascq, which offers connections to Lille, Orchies and Tournai and Liège in Belgium.
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