Urban rail: what changes by 2030
The investment plan for the next six years runs to eighty pages, most of them about bridges and substations. Only three items concern passengers, and those are worth explaining.
Extension to the main station
The most expensive item and the only one that adds new track. The line is to be extended by 2.4 km and connected to the station so that changing between train and tram happens across a single platform edge. The cost is estimated at 2.1 billion.
City centre reconstruction
The track in the centre dates from the nineties and is past its service life. Replacing it means a closure scheduled to last eleven months. Replacement services will run on a diversion, adding eight minutes to some journeys.
What is not in the plan
Night rail service is not addressed at all, nor is extending signal priority at junctions. Both were among the most frequent comments raised at the public consultation.