Meyzieu Tram Train Mystery (1)

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STOP PRESS

uploaded at 1330 today

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Where's Meyzieu?

It was once a small agricultural village to the east of Lyon. On this (inadequate) map it is the third place in from the left.  The red line is a plan of most of the network of the Chemin de Fer de L'Est de Lyon, now closed.

The service was hardly frequent ...

... and trains were not particularly busy!

But the lucky residents also had the privilege of a tram service, route 16 ...

... continuing off the map (right) to Meyzieu.

At Décines, tram and rail crossed.

Passenger trains on the railway declined from 1947 and a limited freight service hung on on parts of the network until the late 90s. fbb thinks (?) the trams ceased in the 1950s. Spookily a number 16 bus still gets as far as Décines but not via the tram route.

But in 2006, Meyzieu got itself a new tram in the form of Lyon T3. This runs every 7/8 minutes at Monday to Friday peak and every 15 minutes at most other times.

This must imply that Meyzieu has grown a bit since its rural days.

And it has!

Note, for future reference, the vertical lines on the right of the map extract. These are power lines, supported by the finest collection of pylons imaginable. Watch out for this display as the blogs continue. Note also the vast area of black rectangles that form the huge Z I (Zone Industriel) to the east of the centre of the town.

There are three tram stops at Meyzieu, 

 Meyzieu Gare  complete with the original (but unoccupied) railway building!

 Meyzieu Z I  a station lost in the maze of Industrial units.

 Meyzieu Les Panettes  (Pylon Alert!!) of which more later.

Tramway 3's route is shared as far as Meyzieu Z I by the "rhône express" tram from Lyon to Gare Saint Exupéry (TGV) and the Airport. Again, more of this in due course.

The maroon airport line curves south after saying bye bye to T3 and waving a fond cheerio to the former Lyon Est railway line. Bits of the old trackbed still exist, even with rails in place, as here at Route de Jonage in Pusignan looking west towards Meyzieu ...

... and east towards Crémieu.

But in the Z I at Mayzieu is the depot for T3 ...

... and it was driving along Avenue Lionel Terray past the depot ...

... that Sheffield and lorry driving chum David spotted the mystery vehicle.

All will be revealed tomorrow.

 Next véhicule mystérieux blog : Tuesday 28th March