Trams - now a key feature of many French towns

The latest towns to celebrate new tramway lines include Le Havre where the first trams arrived last autumn and Montpellier which inaugurated two new lines in April.

The latest towns to celebrate new tramway lines include Le Havre where the first trams arrived last autumn and Montpellier which inaugurated two new lines in April.

A feature of France’s public transport system is that tram lines are much more common than in countries of a similar size and urban structure like Britain. France has 22 tram networks comprising a total of 41 lines.

In the past twelve months new lines have been opened in Dijon, Le Havre and Montpellier. Britain has just five, including  the only long standing traditional network in Blackpool. French trams can be found operating in what would be regarded in Britain as quite small...