Brest tramway

In 1898 the first line of the Brest tram opened. The network was in operation until the city was bombed in 1944.[4] In 1947, it was replaced by trolleybuses, which operated on three lines, with 30 vehicles. From 1963, diesel-powered buses were purchased to modernize the vehicle fleet. From 1965, one-man operation was introduced on the buses, while the trolleybuses still had to be manned by two drivers. For reasons of personnel savings, the trolleybus operation was therefore discontinued on November 9, 1970.[5]

In 1984 the Urban Community of Brest (CUB), then chaired by Georges Lombard, evokes the return of the tram as part of the development of its urban transport plan. A study is financed by a state subsidy the following year. On December 19, 1988, the Community Council of the CUB unanimously votes to create a two-line network.[6] Next year, newly elected mayor of Brest becomes president of the CUB, and Pierre Maille takes over the file. On October 1, 1989 the urban community decides to complete the technical and financial studies leading to a project of two lines with a total length of 13.5 km. However, in 1990, more than 80% of the population have voted against the project in a referendum, which buried the project until the following decade.[7]

In the municipal elections of 2001, François Cuillandre, who succeeded Pierre Maille as mayor of Brest, becomes also the president of the CUB and launches studies concerning a new tramway project.[6] His new project intended to complement the North-South TCSP on a commercial axis of 8 km long, plus 2 km of service roads.[7] By the end of 2002, the project was subsidized at 30%, the first consultations and preliminary studies were launched, and back then the start of work was set to be in 2010. Next year, the start of work was set to start in 2009.[8][9] In November 2003, when the preliminary consultation was coming to an end, the mayor of Brest announced that the line would link the Technopôle Brest-Iroise to the Kergaradec business park, serving the streets of Siam and Jean-Jaurès.[10] It was also announced the transport payment, then set at 1.05%, one of the lowest in France, will be gradually reassessed in order to finance the line; it reached the rate of 1.65% in 2007.[11][7]

In 2006 a new step was taken with the creation of SemTram, the mixed economy company which will be responsible for the project management of the line. The SemTram is a group of companies made up of the SEM companies of the TCSP (SEM of public transport on its own site of the urban community of Brest ) and Egis Rail. The SEM of the TCSP is a local mixed economy company with a capital of 150 k € , created inApril 2006 on deliberation of December 16, 2005, which aims to ensure the project management of the work of the first tram line in Brest. It brings together seven partners who are: Brest Métropole Océane (53%), Caisse des dépôts et consignations (15%), Departmental Council of Finistère (10%), Brest CCI Brest (7%), Crédit Agricole du Finistère (5%), Caisse interfédérale de Crédit mutuel (5%), and Caisse d’épargne de Bretagne (5%).[12]

In February 2007, the community council of Brest Métropole Océane voted to build the Froutven branch at the same time as the rest of the line, bringing its total length to nearly 14.5 km, for an amount estimated in July 2006 at 298 million euros.[13]

Completed in May 2007, the consultation presenting the project to the population made it possible to add two additional stations, one in the city center and one in Kergaradec, for a total of 27 stations. The additional facilities are also announced: four relay parksincluding one with 350 places under the Place de Strasbourg, the pedestrianization of the streets of Siam and Jean-Jaurès and the crossing of the Recouvrance bridge in an unmarked site with car traffic. The line will support the renovation of the Pontanézen district, the creation of new public facilities, such as the Brest Arena or the installation of major brands in Froutven such as IKEA.

The line was inaugurated at 11 am, on June 23, 2012, at the end of the Rue de Siam, in front of the Recouvrance bridge, in the presence of the mayor François Cuillandre and the president of the Brittany region Jean-Yves Le Drian, marking the start of two days of festivities including a giant parade and a flashmob on the evening of June 23.[14][15] The Bibus network was offered for free during the inaugural weekend as well as for the first day of operation.[16]

On October 4, 2012, Tramways & Urban Transit magazine named the Brest tram the second "best international tram project of the year" tied with the Casablanca and Zaragoza tramways at the Light Rail Awards.[17]