France: Facts & Stats

Demographics | Economy | TRANSPORTATION  | Culture

• 31,840 km 1435 mm (4 ft 8½ in) 
• 99 km 1m gauge (1998) 

Trains, unlike road traffic, drive on the left (except in Alsace-Moselle). Metro and tramway services are not considered trains and thus generally follow road traffic in driving on the right (except the metro of Lyon). 

See also: TGV, high-speed rail, French railway history, Chemins de Fer de Provence, Channel Tunnel. 

Métros: 

• Paris Metro, operated by the RATP (Régie Autonome des Transports Parisiens) and the RER 
• Laon, Poma 2000 
• Lille, VAL (Véhicule Automatique Léger, "Light Automatic Vehicle"), operated by Transpole. 
• Lyon Metro 
• Marseille, operated by the RTM (Régie des Transports de Marseille) 
• Rennes Metro, VAL 
• Toulouse, VAL 

Tramways and light railways: 

This mode of transport started disappearing in France at the end of the 1930s. Since the 1980s, several cities have re-introduced it. List of cities operating a tramway or light rail system: 

• Bordeaux, since 2003 
• Caen, since 2002, 'trams on tyres' guided bus system featuring a single guidance rail while running on tyres (partially separate tracks) 
• Grenoble, since 1987 
• Île-de-France 
  - T1 between Saint Denis and Noisy-le-Sec, since 1992
  - T2 between La Defense and Issy Plaine, since 1997 
• Lille — Roubaix — Tourcoing 
• Lyon, since 2001 
• Marseille 
• Montpellier, since 2000 
• Nancy, since 2000, 'trams on tyres' guided bus system featuring a single guidance rail while running on tyres (partially separate tracks) 
• Nantes, since 1985 
• Orléans, since 2000 
• Paris 
• Rouen, since 1994 
• Saint-Etienne 
• Strasbourg, since 1994 
• Valenciennes, since 2006 

Under construction: 

• Mulhouse 
• Nice 
• Paris, T3 around the city 

Planned: 

• Angers 
• Brest 
• Le Mans 
• Toulon 
• Tours 

Closed: 

• Paris, since March 1937 
• Caen, 1935 

Rail links with adjacent countries:  

• Andorra — no 
• Belgium — yes 
• Germany — yes 
• Italy — yes 
• Luxembourg — yes 
• Monaco — yes 
• Spain — yes — break-of-gauge 1435mm/1676mm 
• Switzerland — yes 
• United Kingdom — yes;

Aviation:

There are about 478 airports in France (1999 est.) 

Among the airspace governance authorities active in France, one is Aéroports de Paris , which has authority over the Paris region, managing 14 airports including Charles de Gaulle International Airport and Orly Airport. The former, located in Roissy en France near Paris, is one of Europe's principal aviation centers and is also France's main international airport.