The European Investment Bank is considering a potential loan of EUR 170 million for the T2 tram line project in Tours (Lignes2tram), France, with an eligible cost of EUR 539 million, according to the EIB.

The project aims to construct and commission the city’s second tram line. This will include a new 12.5-km line served by 21 modern stations and the expansion of the existing depot, necessary for the operation and maintenance of the new vehicles. At the same time, the EIB loan will also support the purchase of 19 new trams, adapted to current energy efficiency and transport capacity requirements. It should be noted that in 2025 CAF won the contract to deliver 19 Urbos trams.

The new line is currently under construction, and once completed, it will run through the municipalities of La Riche, Tours, Joué-lès-Tours, and Chambray-lès-Tours. It will serve key community centers and services, such as the Trousseau and Bretonneau hospitals, numerous schools and universities, sports, recreational, cultural, and commercial facilities, as well as developing residential areas.

The project also includes the construction of two park-and-ride facilities and the redevelopment of two existing ones.

The western section of the line will connect the Prieuré-Saint-Cosme park-and-ride facility in La Riche with the Liberté-Charcot intermodal hub in Tours, and the southeastern section will link the Verdun station in Tours, via Joué-lès-Tours, to the Papoterie park-and-ride terminal in Chambray-lès-Tours.

The line will have two connections with Line A and will be served by 19 42-meter-long trams, each with 76 seats and a total capacity of 280 passengers.

The line is expected to become operational in 2028 and will serve 34,700 passengers per day with a tram frequency of 7 minutes.

The development of the tram network in Tours represents one of the most important recent urban mobility projects in France, designed as a complex system of transportation and urban space reorganization, not merely as a simple expansion of the tram infrastructure.

However, the expansion of the tram system in Tours is not limited to rail infrastructure. A second pillar of the project is the reorganization of an existing high-capacity bus line. This involves road infrastructure work, including the creation of dedicated lanes along more than 5 km of urban thoroughfares. The goal is to optimize traffic flows and adapt routes as the new tram line becomes operational.

In addition to these major investments in public transportation, the project also includes sustainable mobility measures, such as expanding the network of bike lanes and interventions to improve the urban landscape. Thus, it is not just about transportation infrastructure, but about a broader transformation of how urban space is conceived.