At First, It Seems Simple
The latest arrival for the greater Paris tram network is T10 which starts at La Croix de Berny in the town of Antony to the south (ish!) of Paris City.
Le carrefour de la Croix de Berny (above map, bottom left), à Antony et officiellement appelé Place du Général-de-Gaulle, est situé à l’intersection de la route construite en 1549, reliant Paris à Orléans, passant par Antony, N20 (actuallement D920), et de la route royale, tracée au xviiie siècle1, qui mène de Versailles à Choisy-le-Roi et dont l’A86 a repris le tracé.
For those whose school day French studies have sunk into the impenetrable coal measures of the human brain “Le carrefour” is a cross roads. Whether Berny’s “croix” (cross) was a real monument or just a synonym for crossroads is not clear. But essentially todays N20 (a k a D920) crosses the A86.
The railway station is on RER Line B and the tram stop is just across the road.
Just to the west of the “carrefour” is the station itself which used to be a sweet village stop.
It was from here, way back in 2015, that fbb changed from train to “Tvm” posh bus, which wasn’t very.
He took a long and tedious bus ride trough multiple industrial areas including the huge Rungis fruit and veg markets. The buses were quite smart …
… and now, eight years later, they are even smarter.
And they say so!
But we rush ahead too quickly.
It Is A Bit More Complicated
Here is the “simple” crossroads today …
… with a posh commemorative fountain almost lost in the clutter of the junction.
La fontaine s’inscrit dans le style du Parc de Sceaux tout proche. Elle évoque la mythologie gréco-romaine. Les statues représentent: Neptune, dieu des mers, avec un poisson à ses pieds; Jupiter, la main tendue pour envoyer la foudre; Apollon, dieu des arts, avec sa lyre et sa conque. La colonne centrale est entourée de nymphes. Une vasque de 7 tonnes les surplombe avec au-dessus des chérubins.
C’est une fontaine (en circuit fermé) du XXIème siècle pilotée par un système informatique offrant 4 figures de jets différentes qui se succèdent au fil des heures. La hauteur des jets qui peut atteindre 4 mètres est réglée en fonction du vent pour éviter de mouiller la chaussée.
It is quite new and echoes the opulence of the nearby Parc de Sceaux.
The A86 is down below in a tunnel (picture below looking west towards the station) …
… which emerges after the mayhem of the junction and, until recently, after the mayhem of the tram construction.
So the tram stop is across the road from the more recent exit/entrance at the station. Of course, the station has been rebuilt to meet up with the tram …
… no expense spared.
There were no escalators when fbb visited!
Unfortunately, Streetview is not overly interested in trams and certainly wouldn’t be whizzing along the T10 route to be up to date.
So we can see work on the terminus in progress …
… and we can look back towards the station as the tracks swing away from the A86 and along its predecessor, now the D586,
The A86 is about to appear out of its tunnel behind the trees to the right.
Here we see the view from a departing T10 as it glides away from the terminus …
… and arrives at the first stop en route, La Vallee.
At the next stop, stylish as you would expect …
… we can spot the real time information – easy to see …
… standard poster displays and tickets being purchased from a machine by …
… a stylish young “fillette” – avec biate de paille.
And fbb thinks it might be real grass …
.. not plastic as he opined in an earlier blog.
Well, it did look very green on the promotional pictures!
Perhaps they painted it green as was done for Princess Margaret when she visited the Bruxelles Atomium in 1958!
We will complete the “tour” in tomorrow’s blog and try to place the T10 in the concept of Parisian transport strategy.
Not Quite What Was Promised!
Excited passengers who set out to enjoy the stylish buses on the Stagecoach Peak Sightseer based on Chatsworth House were in for a bit of a disappointment.
There weren’t any!
The two buses on the first couple of says’ service were boring Stagecoach standard livery …
… in two unexciting versions.
A contact reported that there were 30 passengers on the first outrun from Chesterfield, but most pictures show a lot of empty seats.
Early days?
Next T10 Tram blog : Wednesday 6th July
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