- Line B, which will be 10 km long, will run between Belle-Beille and Montplaisir, passing through the city centre. The line will serve 18 stations, two of which will have connections with line A.
- Line C will follow the same route as line B until Place Molière and then the same as line A between Molière and Foch-Maison Bleue stations, providing a direct route from the west side of the city to the train station.
- In addition, the route of line A through the city centre will be changed in order to serve the Centre de Congrès and the new Hôtel de Ville station, which is included in the scope of works of the overall project.
The Colas Group, in a consortium with Travaux Publics des Pays de Loire (TPPL), were awarded one of the three urban line development lots. These companies will be in charge of carrying out development work along the tracks and surfacing work on the tracks. Colas Rail was awarded two contracts: one for the construction of the railway line and another for signal works on the entire line.
Track works
The track works include track laying, platform earthworks and the extension of the maintenance and storage facility. Several types of track laying systems will be used to carry out the works.
Green track laying in troughs
Using its green track system, Colas Rail will be in charge of greening the track on most of the line, thereby reducing the use of concrete as well as irrigation requirements. Using soil instead of concrete will reduce the cost of materials and track surface maintenance costs.
Laying tracks with a subsurface power supply system
In order to conserve the landscape and the beauty of the Maine river banks, Colas Rail will install an subsurface power supply system on a 1.3 km section, i.e. on 2.6 km of track.
Embedded track laying
In order to accommodate and carry out rolling stock maintenance works inside the storage and maintenance facility, our teams will install embedded tracks. Work on the storage and maintenance facility involves laying 9 new switches and crossings and 3 new tracks.
Base plates on the Arts et Métiers bridge
The project includes the construction of a bridge across the Maine River, where the future B and C tramlines will run. On this bridge, the rails will rest on base plates in order to reduce the permanent load and the vertical extent of the track.
Signal works
Colas Rail will also be in charge of the implementation studies for a SIL3 railway safety signal system for the future line B manoeuvring areas and for the diversion of line A, as well as the following:
- Supply and installation of equipment for the 8 manoeuvring areas: track circuits, safety automation, remote controls, electrical cabinets and dynamic and static signals.
- Equipment for the dedicated facilities: underframe, ground equipment wiring
- Management of interfaces with a centralised technical management system for supervising the manoeuvring areas from the human-machine interface
- Static and dynamic tests and participation in system performance tests
