In detail
Ten years after the construction of its first tramway line, the city of Angers is planning on building two new lines: line B and line C.
- Line B, which will be 10 km long, will run between the neighborhoods of Belle-Beille and Montplaisir by passing through the city centre. The line will serve 18 stations, two of which will have connections with line A.
- Line C follows the same route as line B until the station Molière and then the same as line A between the stations of Foch-Maison Bleue and Angers-Roseraie, providing a direct route from the west side of the city to the train station.
- The route of line A through the city center will also be changed in order to serve both the already existing Centre de Congrès station and the new Hôtel de Ville station, which is included in the scope of works of the project.
Within the Colas Group, Colas Projects (project leader) and Colas Centre-Ouest, as part of a consortium with the company Travaux Publics des Pays de Loire (TPPL), were awarded one of the three urban development work packages. These companies will be in charge of carrying out development work along the tracks as well as paving work on the tracks. Colas Rail won two contracts: one for the construction of the railway line and another for signalling work on the entire line.
Railway work
The railway work includes track laying, the construction of the platforms and the extension of the current maintenance and storage facility. Several types of track laying systems will be used to carry out the works.
Green track
Thanks to its green track system, Colas Rail will be in charge of greening the track on the majority of the line, thereby reducing the use of concrete as well as watering requirements. Using dirt instead of concrete will reduce material costs and maintenance costs of the track surface.
Ground-level power supply system
In order to preserve the landscape and the beauty of the Maine riverbanks, Colas Rail will install a ground-level power supply system on a 1.3km section, i.e. 2.6km of track.
Embedded track
In order to accommodate and perform maintenance work on the rolling stock inside of the storage and maintenance facility, our teams will install embedded tracks. Works on the storage and maintenance facility includes the laying of 9 new switches and crossings and the laying of 3 new tracks.
Base plates on the Arts et Métier bridge
The project includes the construction of a bridge across the Maine River, which is where the future lines B and C of the tramway will run. On this bridge, the rails will rest on base plates in order to lower the permanent load and reduce the width of the track’s right-of-way.
Signalling work
Colas Rail will also be in charge of the detailed design of a SIL3 railway signalling system for manoeuvring areas for the future line B and for the diversion of line A as well as:
- Supply and installation of equipment for the 8 manoeuvring areas: track circuits, safety PLCs, remote controls, cabinets, dynamic and static signals, etc.
- Equipment for the dedicated facilities: chassis, wiring to floor equipment
- Management of interfaces with a Building Management System for the supervision of manoeuvring areas from the human-machine interface
- Static and dynamic tests and participation in system performance tests