Something's Definitely Happening
If we look north of Pratteln on Google Earth we see a major area of development between the M3 motorway and the road that runs along the banks of the Rhine. Scrolling westwards, we would see patches of open country with some areas of industrial activity before we get to the small community of Augst.
Look now at Google Maps view of the same area ...
... and a significant chunk of warehousing has replaced the scotched earth block on the first map. At least part of this is labelled Coop Productionstandort (Production site). A new road is taking shape running from the existing main road (number 3) ...
... which will clearly take traffic into more areas of development. An old bridge across the motorway ...
... now leads nowhere!
It is into this development area that the extension to Basel tram line 14 will run.
The new road, seen under construction in the aerial photo above is shown in full in orange and the tram is in dotted red.
So lets now look at the route on the ground. The new route starts off from the existing terminus and turns immediately north to travel under the SBB railway via a widened tunnel in the same location that we saw in yesterday's posting.
A Pratteln Station tram stop is planned here with improved access up to platform level; replacing or augmenting the existing steps.
The track will cross the existing roundabout ...
... to push through an area of low grade industrial clutter (which will be cleared) to reach a stop at Grussen ...
... here. Then there is a motorway AND the new road in the way,
After a turning circle, the line will rise up on a 2.2km flyover, curving round to join a new spine road. This is a massively rebuilt Netzibodenstrasse which was heretofore nothing more than a track.
Two stops are planned on this section, called Zurlinden and Steinholzi but there is nothing to show for them at the moment.
Trams will turn sharp left once the indrustriality restarts ...
... and somewhere along there will be another stop, named Langipark. The extended 14 then joins the "old" main road ...
... passing existing and new housing ...
... to reach its new terminus built on a second-hand car "lot".
Just round the corner we find bus stops with electronic information (of course) ...
... departure lists in the frame, a local map ...
... and a cluster of footpath routes hither and thither. Oddly in some ways, the beating heart of Augst is well beyond the proposed tram terminus; with limited retail opportunitites before ...
... and after the SBB railway bridge.
An independently created track map of Basel trams ...
... has included a diagram of the new line ...
... which is meant to be faint (or is that "feint"?). Also on the map is the timescale for building.
5 years before the work starts and four years to build it seems a long time.
An independently created track map of Basel trams ...
fbb is reminded of the way in which London Transport extended its Underground services into open country as below at Cockfosters (Piccadilly Line).
Even more significant was the brand "Metroland" whereby the Metropolitan Railway developed housing estates and sold properties themselves.
How long did all this take?
Next Paris blog : Wednesday 30th March
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