Tram of Le Havre

The tram of Le Havre was built when the municipality of the city, the following the example of those of many cities, large or small, sought, at the end of the 19th century, to be equipped with a means of urban transport modern, able to multiply the possibilities of displacement of its inhabitants. The Tram , inaugurated in 1874, initially with horse-drawn traction, then electric, fulfills its functions until the First World War, transporting more than 20 million people in 1913. Competed with by the road modes starting from the Years 1920, quickly considered as another age, it was gradually forsaken and disappeared little from time after the Second world war (in 1951), particularly destructor for the quoted océane. After a favorable deliberation of the community of agglomeration, with the beginning of the year 2007, on the construction of a public grid system in exclusive right of way, the city of the Havre should see a tram again circulating in its streets in 2012.

Beginnings of the tram (1874 - 1894)

The elected officials decide finally

Founded in 1517 by François 1st, the city havraise knew, starting from the Second Empire where one made destroy his walls, an economic and demographic strong growth. Advanced port of Paris, with the mouth of the the Seine, Le Havre, that the Railroad had reached in March 1847, was industrialized as its quays lengthened. The Metallurgy, the naval constructions, the factories of power looms, movements of Horlogerie caused employment and led to a fast increase in the population of an agglomeration more cash: 120000 hearts the shortly after the Franco-German war of 1870-1871.

The havraise municipality thus sought, at the beginning of the Années 1870, to modernize the urban transport which could not face the multiplication of displacements inside the city and with bordering communes in full expansion. In 1872, a Belgian business man , Mr. of Hault, acting in the name of the French Bank and Italian , presented to the municipality a project of horse-drawn trams , called " railroads américains" tending to replace the skeletal services of Bus in place since the Monarchy of July.

It is interesting to note that in 1854, an engineer native of Le Havre had already submitted similar proposals to the local authorities which had rejected them. This time, the municipal officials of the Océane Door did not miss notches it and granted, after approval of the Schedule of conditions, the establishment and the exploitation of the new network to the Belgian interests after the treaty of retrocession of November 3rd 1873.

The first horse-drawn tram

Work of installation was quickly undertaken; February 1st 1874 Its success was immediate, more: 80000 people borrowed it 1st from February 14th.

This dynamism of the urban transport allowed an extension of the new mode of communication, a second route between the town hall and the Square of Holy-Addresses by the Four Ways and the Pin To be roasted was gradually delivered to the cars between on October 1st 1875 and on May 8th 1879. Meanwhile, on February 2nd 1876 before the official unveiling of September 25th.

This material, which preserved during all the duration of existence of the tram a single technical unit on the French wide-area networks, was of simple and robust design, adapted well to the local conditions. Built by the French Company of Material of Railroad , the 40 initial motor coaches were equipped with a Moteur of 25 CV for 24 of them, of two identical engines for the 16 other intended for the line of Holy-Addresses which presented stronger declivities. Le Havre was then the first big city of France to be had a completely electrified network.

The British , impressed, were inspired some to establish the trams of Belfast and of the island of Man, just reward of the things in an area where the English influence out of railway matter had always been very strong on June 17th, of the new lines were regularly opened with the public and connected the various parts of the city at the same time between them, but also with the industrial port areas and, the places of leisure and walk.

Were thus inaugurated the following lines:

of the Station with Sanvic and Bléville by the boulevards of Strasbourg and Maritime, June 20th 1897.
of the Station to the Pier by the place Gambetta, January 5th 1901.
of the place Thiers with the Notre-Dame bridge, March 18th 1901.
of the Holy Gambetta place to the cemetery Marie, March 11th 1902.
of the boulevard of Graville with Sanvic by the street of Montivilliers, March 2nd 1905.
of the street of Paris to the quay of Southampton, July 2nd 1906.
of the Granting of Hève to the Headlights, June 30th 1907, prolonged to Ignouval, on June 4th 1908, line for which it is advisable to add the service road of the Palate of the Regattas and Nice native of Le Havre, ensured starting from July 27th 1912.
of the Roundabout to the Saint-François Church, January 15th 1912.

The apogee of the tram

Dynamism of the C.G.F.T., which transported, in 1913: 21600000 people (that is to say an increase of 132% compared to 1895) in its 102 motor coaches and 43 trailers.

The tram of Montivilliers, in prey with the sharp competition of the C.G.F.T until Graville, was finally repurchased by this one in December 1908. Important engineering changes were necessary, the material of the small company ceased circulating between its terminus of the Pier and the Gare in April 1910, then the metric gauge track was gradually replaced by the way with normal spacing of the trams of Le Havre during the same year 1910, where were delivered 14 new cars built by the Ateliers of the north of France .

The tram of the Sainte-Marie Coast, closed since 1902 following the Bankruptcy of its owner, was given in service in October 1911.

First difficulties with closing (1914 - 1951)

The First World War and its consequences

As in all the other large French cities, the first months of the Great War transfer the disorganization of the service of the trams.

The engagement of Belgian personnel, of wattmen British, then starting from 1916, women for the control of the motor coaches on the lines known as easy made it possible to find an almost normal exploitation, it did nothing but supplement the connection of the factories Schneider completed since 1915, still grew hollow; a Grève of the personnel of the workshops suspended the traffic between on April 21st and on May 23rd 1919. This one endorsed the rises of tariffs operated as of 1920, reduced the daily number of outward journeys and returns on each line, released the essential resources for the revision and the restoration (vestibulage) of rolling stock.

Difficulties of the inter-war period and the introduction of the first buses and trolley buses

In spite of the deficit that did not manage to reabsorb successive tariff increases, a last project of extension of the network in direction of the district of the Pond to the Clerk, located at the north of the Sainte-Marie cemetery, was proposed with the local authorities in 1928. This proposal did not have a continuation, time was not any more with the tram; moreover this same year, the municipality decided to introduce the first Autobus.

The Second world war and closing

The Guerre of 1939-1945, which was going so hard to strike the Norman port, brought, as of the mobilization, of serious disturbances in the service of the trams. At the time of the German invasion next spring, the already reduced service roads were completely stopped on June 9th by the evacuation of the civil population of the city.

The network was gradually reopened at the request of the authorities of Occupation, the exploitation became again even normal as from December 1940, the cars transporting daily: 40000voyageurs and destroyed the near total of the installations of the CGFT. ; more than one ten agents had perished during the bombardments, all the infrastructure was to be rebuilt in center town, the deposits (the central deposit street Jules Lecesne, those of Graville and the Eure) all had been seriously damaged: Saint-Roch Ignouval, Town hall - Graville, Station - Graville, Town hall - Bridge III (old terminus, places Admiral-Billhook), Town hall - Bridge V, Gare - Sanvic - Bléville, Gare - Town hall - Hallates. But the trams proved of a too expensive maintenance; one however gave in circulation, in 1947, 37 modernized motor coaches, nothing did not make there. By endorsement with the convention of 1921, the municipality decided, on July 13rd 1948, the progressive abolition of the motor coaches and their inescapable replacement by drunk and Trolleybus not tributaries of such a heavy infrastructure.

On Monday, June 4 1951, the last tram returned to the deposit after an ultimate race, putting an end to seventy-seven years good and faithful services. As much as the competition of the road modes of transport, the war had led to the removal of the tram.

Other infrastructures

The tram of Montivilliers

The railway service road of the industrial small town of Montivilliers, located in the valley of the Crack, for a long time had mobilized the energy of many Native of Le Havre and had caused discussions and projects. As of 1868, a connection by road transportable steam-engines had been founded without much success. The Compagnie of the West took over by inaugurating in October 1878 a line between the Norman port and Montivilliers, starts of a coastal axis connecting Le Havre and Dieppe by Fécamp.

Among the many proposals which were submitted to the local authorities, it was that of the French Compagnie of the Economic Railways which held the attention. This company envisaged the construction of an electric tram line with single track and metric spacing on the basis of the Pier in Le Havre to lead place Assiquet (place of the Combatants 1914-1918) to Montivilliers and serving the Station, Graville and Harfleur, ensured the service road of the line with departures every 10 minutes. More than one hour was necessary for them to traverse the whole of the way. This low mean velocity was explained by the limitation to 20 km/h of the cars; however races " effrénées" opposed the material of Montivilliers to that of the CGFT in the crossing of Graville where the two networks were in competition.

The funicular tram of the Sainte-Marie Coast

The connections between the low city and the Coast were definitely a real success; the Railroad of the Coast was not built yet that emerged, in 1887, of new projects aiming at serving the Sainte-Marie cemetery and the district of the Acacias, this time more at the east. One of them emanated from Mr. Lévêque (concessionary of the Funiculaire of the Coast), who, after a first failure, returned to the load and tore off once again the decision. The exploitation was entrusted to a tram Funiculaire functioning by " cable to and from and traction by automotrices". The two machines which were to ensure the service road of it had a curious driving device. They were driven by a Chaudière Serpollet placed on the platform before vehicle and connected to a Wiedknecht mechanism to 2 Cylindre S laid out with the center of the car. Brought into service at All Saints' day 1895. This one was hardest besides of Europe for material of normal way to simple adherence.

Even if the frequentation of the route increased (: 375000 travellers in 1898). The exploitation continued nevertheless until August 31st 1902, but it was not retained for financial considerations. A few years later, in 1886, Mr. Lévêque, a Parisian engineer, presented a more serious argumentation for the realization of a Funiculaire between the Thiers place and the street of the Coast (Felix Faure). The supposed solidity and the profitability of the project led the municipality to grant the concession of this line to the Railroad of the Coast, whose principal shareholder was not other than Mr. Lévêque.

Declared public utility on April 23rd 1889. In 1911, vis-a-vis popular success (: 600000 people borrowed it each year) and financier of the company which decided its modernization at the end of the Années 1960. After long work undertaken between 1968 and 1972, a modern funicular was placed at the disposal of the Native of Le Havre. New cars assembled on two pneumatic Essieu X with wheels on S travelling in sections out of U made the choice of the tram for its future public transport in exclusive right of way (TCSP) which should enter in service in 2012. The initial network, connecting the downtown area to various districts of the high city, will comprise a line in form of Y of 12,7 kilometers. The latter will leave the beach, will cross the downtown area and will go up on the high city by new a Tunnel reserved (of approximately 600 meters) before separating in two branches (Mount-Strapping man on the one hand, Caucriauville on the other hand). In July 2007, the Community of Agglomeration decides mode of rolling stock on rails.

Appendices

Bibliography and sources

Departmental records of Seine-Maritime.
municipal Files of Le Havre. high-Norman
Herve Bertin, Small Trains and Trams , Cénomane/Life of the Rail, Mans, 1994.
Jean Chapuis, “trams of Le Havre”, in regional and urban Railroads , 105.
“the urban transport of the agglomeration havraise”, in Life of the Rail , 1311.
Jean-Claude Marquis, illustrated Little story of transport into Seine-Lower than the , CRDP, Rouen, 1983.
Rene Running, the Time of the trams , ED. from the CABRI, Chin, 1982.

Related bonds

Le Havre
Tram
List of the trams of France
Escalator of Le Havre
Line of South-west

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