France

Operating or Under Construction

Angers
Aubagne
Bale (Basil Switzerland)
Bordeaux
Bourg-St. Maurice-Les Arc
Caen
Clermont-Ferrand
Dijon
Grenoble
Laon
Le Havre
Le Mans
Leyman
Lille
Lyon
Marseille 
Medoc
Mont Blanc
Montpellier
Mulhouse
Nancy
Nantes
Nice
Orleans
Paris
Reims
Rennes
Rouen
Saint-Etienne (Rhone-Alpes)
Sarreguerinnes (Sarbrook Germany)
Strassbourg
Tignes
Toulon
Tours
Toulouse
Val d'Isere
Ville Valenciennes
Villefranche-La Tour de Carol
Vallee de la Deule (HT)

Planned

Ajaccio
Annecy
Annesmasse
Aubagne
Besançon
Bethune
Brest
Bruay-la-Buissière
Chambery Aix-les-Bains
Douai
Dunkerque
Fort-de-France (Martinique)
Grand Avignon
Liévin
Nimes
Thionville
Toulon
Tours

Honorable Mention
La Rochelle
Loire Region
Marne

Caen
Light Rail  or Trambus

Caen is a town of 250,000 in Normandy. It's 34 station, two line  tramway opened in 2002, mostly on a reserved street running right of way.

Some purists do not consider the Caen lines a true tramway because it runs on rubber tires and gets ts power from a rail in the ground. The vehicles are also steered via this single rail, and are powered by Alstom traction motors. However, the vehicles can and do run "off route" using built in 200 kw diesel engines which power the traction motors. Due to French traffic laws, the articulated vehicles are considered motor vehicles and therefore canont run as multiple units.  Ironically, the TVRs (Transport sur Voie Réservée) run slower when on their monorail track due to problems with derailments, making pure bus mode faster.

These TVRs are the first to see revenue service.

In 2009, a tram derailed, apparently not the first, and the system was cut down to part time service. The future of the TVRs were in doubt. Proponents continue to tell themselves, I think I Caen! I think I Caen!

In 2011, Caen authorities decided to replace the ever malfunctioning trambus with steel rails. Revenue service is expected to begin in 2018.


Ralway Technology page
Excellent photos from Railfan Europe
Youtube cab ride
Syndicat Mixte des Transports en Commun de l'Agglomération Caennaise
Twisto
Tramways of France Caen Page
NYC Subway page on Caen