There have been two separate generations of trams in Rouen. The first generation tramway was a tram network built in Rouen, Normandy, northern France, that started service in 1877, and finally closed in 1953. There were no trams at all in Rouen between 1953 and 1994, when the modern Rouen tramway opened.
Horse-drawn carriages and omnibuses had started at the end of the 18th century and progressively improved, but were no longer enough to provide urban services in an age of industrial and demographic growth. Local officials therefore adopted the tramway as a new mode of transport. At first they were horse-drawn, and later steam-powered; the tramway was electrified in 1896.
The network spread quickly through various city-centre districts on the right bank of the Seine, to reach the suburbs of the northern plateau, the hills of Bonsecours in the east, skirting around the textile valley of the River Cailly in the west, crossing the river and serving, in the south, the suburbs and industrial districts of the left bank.
At its largest it covered of route, the longest network in France during the Belle Époque, and contributed to the success of events in the town's history, such as the Colonial Exhibition of 1896 and the Norman Millennium Festival of 1911.
Although the 1920s saw a slight growth in traffic, the network's expansion slowed to a halt. Private motoring had arrived to put an end to its monopoly. The rising power of buses and trolleybuses, the Great Depression in France, and above all the Second World War that ravaged Rouen and Normandy, condemned the tramway to death. The last trams stopped running in 1953, after seventy-six years of service. However, in 1994, a new Rouen tramway came to the Norman capital.
The first tramways
Horse and steam
Rouen was integrated into the French Kingdom after Philip II of France annexed Normandy in 1204, and it continued as one of the largest cities in the kingdom under the Ancien Régime. It prospered during the 19th century, with the traditional trades of textiles and Rouen manufactory (faïence) alongside the newer chemical and papermaking industries. The navigable Seine, emptying at Rouen, had been Parisians' route to the sea ever since the Middle Ages. Napoleon Bonaparte said "" ("Rouen and Le Havre form a single town of which the Seine is the High Street"). Rouen and Orléans were the first large cities to be connected by rail to Paris, on 3 May 1843.. After the Franco-Prussian War of 1870 – 1871, the economy of the First Industrial Revolution under the Second Empire, and the ever-growing population, obliged the Rouen city authorities to rethink the travel facilities both within the city centre and between it and the expanding suburbs.
Urban services — always horse-drawn, either carriages or omnibuses on the most profitable routes — were not enough to satisfy the needs of a town that already numbered, with its suburbs, more than people. From 1873 to 1875 the city fathers commissioned a study into building railways connecting the most populous areas of Rouen. A decree was signed on 5 May 1876, committing to a publicly owned standard gauge () network, and to horse-drawn carriages. Nine lines stretching , or 1,370 chains were decreed:. Details of the lines' alignments.
LineFromToViaLength 1 Pont de PierreNowadays the Pont Pierre-Corneille Maromme (Half-Circle) Le Havre sea wallRoute nationale 14 2 Hôtel de ville Darnétal Place Saint-Hilaire 3 Hôtel de ville Sotteville-lès-Rouen (Quatre-Mares) Pont de PierreSoteville town hall 4 Pont de Pierre Le Petit-Quevilly (Roundabout) Church of Saint-Sever 5 Hôtel de ville Jardin des Plantes Pont de PierreChurch of Saint-Sever 6 Pont de Pierre Gare Rue Verte QuaysRue Jeanne-d’ArcRue Ernest-LeroyThe Rue Jeanne-d’Arc that now leads directly to the station was not extended until the station was rebuilt in 1928. . 7 Pont de Pierre Place Saint-Hilaire Boulevard de NitrièreBoulevard de Martainville 8 Hôtel de Ville Quai du Mont-Riboudet Rue de l’Hôtel-de-VilleNowadays the Rue Jean Lecanuet.Place Cauchoise Boulevard CauchoiseNowadays the Boulevard des Belges. 9 Quai du Mont-Riboudet Gare Rue Verte Boulevard CauchoiseRue de CrosneVieux-MarchéRue RollonRue Jeanne-d’ArcRue Ernest-Leroy
The town was authorised to tender construction and operation to one or more contractors. It quickly chose the only serious candidate, Gustav Palmer Harding, a British citizen. He was the continental representative of Merryweather & Sons, builders of steam tram engines. This decision knitted the close railway links between the city and Great Britain that remained for nearly half a century. Naturally, Mr Harding wanted to promote his company's machines, so he long made his views known to the municipal authorities. Finally convinced, they authorised him to use steam power from Maromme (Line 1), entering service on 29 December 1877. Merryweather & Sons, whose depot was on the Avenue du Mont-Riboudet, provided the tram units. Small and light — — these reversible locomotives had two coupled axles, fully covered by a wooden body. They looked the same as a normal carriage so as not to frighten the horses. These steam carriages had enclosed lower decks; the upper decks were roofed but had open sides.. Detailed description of rolling stock.
The first steam trams of Léon Francq's design soon appeared on the Maromme line and coexisted with the horse-drawn tramways that served the city centre. ("The first tramways in Paris") .
Success and doubts
The successful first line was soon extended to the Place Saint-Hilaire, opening on 1 June 1878. Harding then founded the ("Rouen Tramways Company") (CTR). This became part of the Bolloré group. and started building new sections from the Town Hall to Mont-Riboudet (Line 8; opened 3 September 1878). He also started steam traction from Darnétal (Line 2; started 23 June 1879). On the other hand, the lines that went through narrow local streets remained horse-drawn when first opened: Line 4 (opened 3 October 1878), Line 5, (opening 12 December 1878), Line 6 (opened 6 February 1879), and Line 3 (opened 27 September 1879). Line 9 was not constructed because of technical difficulties.. Opening dates.
For more than six years, twenty-three locomotives coexisted with horse-drawn trams on the Rouen network. The speed and regularity of steam trams pleased passengers (the speed limit was between Mont-Riboudet and Maromme), but they were also expensive. The frequent stops let the boilers cool down, so coal consumption was high. Moreover, steam power angered both residents — who accused them of being dirty and rough-riding — and coachmen — whose animals were scared by the driver's horn and the "infernal" noise of the trains. Operation thus was totally horse-drawn from 1884. The CTR thus found itself in charge of a "cavalry" of around 350 horses, stabled at Trianon and Maromme, the depot at Mont-Riboudet having been disposed of.
Electrification
In 1895 the mediocrity of horse-drawn service and the prospect of the great Colonial Exposition (due to open in Rouen on 1 April 1896) made the town officials think of extension and electrification of the network. Councillors were sent on study trips both in France and abroad. One councillor even spent a year in the United States.. At last, after much debate, the town accepted the CTR's proposals. Electrification was contracted to the company of Thomson Houston, who built the "first network", ten lines of standard gauge, either over new or re-laid tracks:. Map of the network.
LineFromTo 1 Pont Corneille Maromme 2 Avenue du Mont-Riboudet Darnétal 3 Hôtel de ville Sotteville railway station 4 Place Beauvoisine Jardin des Plantes 5 Place Beauvoisine Place des Chartreux 6 Hôtel de ville Petit-Quevilly roundabout 7 Pont Corneille Gare Rue Verte 8 Hôtel de ville Rue de Lyons 9 Circular via the boulevards and quays of the right bank of the Seine 10 Sotteville railway station Quatre-Mares
Longest electric tramway in France
Second network
Infrastructure works and construction of the power station on the Rue Lemire were swiftly completed. The first electric locomotive entered service on 2 January 1896, the electrified network going live fifteen days ahead of schedule; the last horse-drawn tram saw service on 19 July on the Sotteville line. After teething troubles, the new mode of transport had considerable success: in 1896 it transported over fifteen million passengers. The tram sheds, holding 50 vehicles, were expanded to accommodate 25 more during the first year of service. These were classic tramcars with two axles, powered by two motors (one on each axle), and had room for 40 passengers. Description of rolling stock. With its popular success, the network could be completed: the Line 10 extension to Saint-Étienne-du-Rouvray was opened on 16 April 1899, an 11th line was constructed from Maromme to Notre-Dame-de-Bondeville (opened 17 December 1899), and a 12th from the Church of Saint-Sever to the Saint-Maur sea wall (6 February 1908). The Rouen tramways had of lines, the largest electric network in France. Trams were up to three cars long and ran at at 20-minute intervals.
The dynamism of public transport in Rouen was an inspiration to Baron Empain who, through the intermediary of his colleague Cauderay, proposed the creation of a second complementary network. He met numerous difficulties to which the CTR was no stranger, but on 17 July 1899, a new company to be called (a sister company of the better-known — CGT —) was granted the concession over five routes:. Lines' description.
LineFromToVia 1 Gare d’Orléans Amfreville-la-Mi-Voie 2 Quai de la Bourse Bapeaume 3 Quai de Paris Petit-Quevilly church Pont Boieldieu 4 Quai de la Bourse Bihorel 5 Place du Boulingrin Northern cemetery Monumental
The first services started on Line 1 on 18 January 1900, the other services starting on 10 May that year, but, facing competition from the CTR, the tramway from Petit-Quevilly was curtailed, its terminus becoming Rue Léon-Malétra.
Towards monopoly
The second network was far less efficient than the first; In 1901 the trams transported only 1.46 million passengers over of route, being per route kilometre ( per route mile). (In 1908, over 20 million people used public transport in Rouen, 19 million with the CTR, 1.6 million with the CGT.) In 1908 the CGT disposed of the second network to the because of administrative problems, a serious accident at Monumental on 6 November 1908A runaway tram derailed at the foot of a steep slope, at the bottom of the avenue leading to Rouen's main cemetery. One person was killed and three injured. See and a considerable deficit. This became an opportunity for the rival CRT, who in 1910 took over the CGT's running rights and so were finally rid of competition.
The CTR was now master of all of the public transport in Rouen and its suburbs (having also absorbed the tramway and funicular railway of Bonsecours on 25 September 1909). It reorganised its service to be more integrated. It also expanded the service with later-running trams, and extended Line 12 first to Champ de Courses (opened 1 January 1910) then to Bois-Guillaume (opened 4 June 1911) and Mont-Saint-Aignan (opened 15 March 1913). This last section, running over the local authority's rails, connected Grand-Quevilly (Rue de l’Église) and, on a branch, the district of Petit-Quevilly (opened 1 August 1915). The network had grown to its largest, with of routes (including the tramway of Bonsecours).
World War I