Bière et Belle à Strasbourg

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Uploaded briefly overnight, Thursday/Friday.

In a pre blogging life and several hundred years ago, fbb used to teach French to 7 to 9 year olds. One of the topics involved learning what made certain cities famous. Apparently Strasbourg is famous for its beer. Indeed a onetime girl friend of fbb's late No 2 son is descended from a brewing dynasty. Her family still lives near Strasboug.

What makes the City historically complex is that it has often been part of Germany in the disputed area of Alsace and Lorraine; far too heavy to cover in a short blog. By comparison, public transport is simple!

Trams finally disappeared from its picturesque street in 1960; only to return in 1994.

Le réseau moderne a été le premier en France à faire rouler des rames à plancher bas intégral. Le matériel est en effet constitué de cinquante-trois rames Eurotram au design futuriste  ...

... auxquelles se sont ajoutées, de 2005 à 2006, quarante-et-une rames Citadis reprenant le design des Eurotram.

The first tram route, with the original and controversial title of Ligne "A" was opened in 1994 uaing the Eurotrams built at ABB York and Derby.

The network has now reached Ligne "F". Five of the six routes meet at a city centre cross-tracks ...

... at Place de l'Homme de Fer with some stopping under a distinctive shelter-thing - or is it an artwork?

Or have the martians landed? Ligne "E" is the exception.

Lignes "A" and "D" plunge into a tunnel just after leaving the city centre cross-tracks ...

... serving an underground station at Gare Centrale ...

... before coming up for air at Rue de Mittelhausbergen, some half a mile further on.

More prosaically, Ligne "C" terminates "en pleine air" outside the station which is, itself, "something else". What, at first, appears to be a very modern building, all glass and bulbousness (click on the picture to enlarge) ...

... is actually a glazed shell erected over the orgiinal building which retains its traditional character (click ditto).

Back to trams.

Future plans include extending trams "E" and "F" to link up with a Tram-Train route out into the country, via the airport and to the communities of Barr and Gresswiller.

This service will absorb and enhance the current SNCF local "proper train"service.

Finally we need to mention Tram Ligne "G" ...

... which is a bus.

Le BHNS de Strasbourg est un réseau de Bus à Haut Niveau de Service urbain mis en place en 2013 en complément du réseau de tramway. Il comporte actuellement une seule ligne, nommée G pour faciliter son intégration dans le réseau de tram sur fer,Cette ligne relie la gare centrale de Strasbourg à l'Espace Européen de l'Entreprise de Schiltigheim,

L'Espace Européen (etc) - a sort of low rise Strasbourg Canary Wharf.

BHNS - "bus at a high level of service"; aka a bus that thinks it is a tram. 

From what fbb can glean on-line, this looks like a normal bus route with tramway style ticketing; perhaps with posher buses than the city normally deploys.

But not that much posher!

But a fantastic and world-class system which has its origins in the craftsmanship of railway workshops in York.

Stunning.

 Next model and full-sized blog : Sunday 12th June