Tram operator in Basel, Switzerland (BVB) extended tram Line 3 to the French border, in the city of Saint-Louis. The line will enter commercial operation in December 2017 and the authorities estimate that using this line will considerably reduce passengers’ personal cars traffic between the two cities.
The cost of this first phase amounted to CHF 35 million (EUR 30.8 million) and assumed an 500 meters extension of the line between Burgfelden Grenze and Burgfelderhof, exactly on the border with France.
The rest of the project involved the full extension by three kilometers to Saint-Louis. Currently, rail track tests are being carried out, as well as the training of the tram drivers, in September. The cost of the second phase, including the construction of a park & ride facility, amounted to CHF 87 million (EUR 76.5 million).
After the official inauguration, trams will run between Burgfelderhof and Saint-Louis every 15 minutes.
Tram Line 3 will become the second cross-border tramway in Basel, after the extension of Line 8 to Germany in December 2014. Tramline 10, operated by Baselland Transport, already crosses France, where it has only one stop before returning to Switzerland.
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