Tram systems in Saint-Étienne
Saint-Étienne is a city in the Loire department of France’s Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, southwest of Lyon. Its growth was closely associated with coal mining, metalworking, arms manufacture, bicycles and ribbon weaving. This industrial heritage remains an important part of its identity, alongside a more recent emphasis on design and creative industries. Saint-Étienne joined UNESCO’s Creative Cities Network as a City of Design in 2010, and the former arms factory site now houses the Cité du design.
Public transport in Saint-Étienne and the surrounding metropolitan area operates under the STAS brand. Three tram lines form the core of the urban network, complemented by trolleybuses and bus services serving other districts and neighbouring communities. Regional trains provide connections across the wider area, including to Lyon, while Châteaucreux is the city’s principal railway station and an important interchange between trains, trams and buses.
Saint-Étienne has retained tram operation since its first line opened in December 1881, making it one of the few French cities whose original tramway survived the widespread closures of the twentieth century. The present network combines this established north–south corridor with newer routes serving Châteaucreux and the northeastern districts.
The network comprises three overlapping services. T1 links Hôpital Nord in Saint-Priest-en-Jarez with Solaure through the city centre. T2 connects Cité du Design with Châteaucreux via the central shopping and civic area. T3 runs from Bellevue through Châteaucreux and the northeastern corridor towards Terrasse, with some services continuing to Hôpital Nord. Together, the lines serve major hospitals, university sites, shopping areas and cultural venues, with further railway connections at Bellevue, Carnot and Terrasse.
STAS — Transdev Saint-Étienne
Transdev Saint-Étienne, part of the Transdev group, operates the STAS network on behalf of Saint-Étienne Métropole, the authority responsible for organising and funding public transport in the metropolitan area.
Saint-Étienne’s first tramway opened on 4 December 1881 between Bellevue and La Terrasse. Steam locomotives hauled passenger carriages along the city’s main north–south corridor, and routes soon extended towards industrial communities including Firminy, Saint-Chamond and Rive-de-Gier. The tramways followed the valleys linking the city with the surrounding industrial area.
Electric tramways appeared in 1897 under a separate operator, the Compagnie des Tramways Électriques de Saint-Étienne. Its routes included connections to Châteaucreux station. The established steam network was subsequently electrified during the early twentieth century.
From the 1930s onwards, the network contracted as buses and trolleybuses replaced tram routes. By 1954, only the busy Bellevue–La Terrasse line remained. Its heavy passenger demand and passage through narrow central streets helped secure its survival, as replacing the trams with road vehicles would have been difficult. Saint-Étienne therefore retained its principal tram corridor during the period when most French cities abandoned theirs.
During the 1970s and early 1980s, improvements gave trams greater separation from road traffic and integrated the route with pedestrian improvements in the city centre. A railway interchange at Carnot opened in 1980, strengthening connections between the tramway and regional rail services.
The surviving line was extended south from Bellevue to Solaure in February 1983, an early milestone in the revival of tramway construction in France. A northern extension from La Terrasse to Hôpital Nord followed in December 1991, bringing the tramway into Saint-Priest-en-Jarez and providing a direct connection to the hospital complex.
In October 2006, a new branch connected the city-centre route with Châteaucreux railway station. The project also introduced separate directional alignments through part of the centre. Services were reorganised under the identifiers T1, T2 and T3 in 2010, establishing the three-line numbering used today.
The next major expansion opened on 16 November 2019. New tracks extended T3 beyond Châteaucreux through the northeastern districts, serving the Soleil neighbourhood, the Zénith entertainment venue, the area around Stade Geoffroy-Guichard and the Technopôle before rejoining the existing northern corridor. This created an alternative route between Châteaucreux and Terrasse and established the broad layout of the current network.
Saint-Étienne currently has 3 tram lines, which are listed below.
| Line | Description |
|---|---|
| T1 | Line T1 runs between Hôpital Nord and Solaure via Terrasse, Cité du Design, Hôtel de Ville and Bellevue. |
| T2 | Line T2 runs between Cité du Design and Châteaucreux Gare via Place Carnot, Hôtel de Ville and Place du Peuple. |
| T3 | Line T3 runs between Hôpital Nord and Bellevue via Terrasse, Technopôle, Châteaucreux Gare and Place du Peuple. |
Saint-Étienne’s tramway uses 1,000 mm metre-gauge track, retaining the gauge of the historic network. Its narrow track gauge and restricted vehicle width distinguish it from most modern French tramways and require rolling stock adapted specifically to the system.
Trams are electrically powered at 600 V DC, supplied through overhead wires. The newer CAF vehicles can also operate at 750 V DC, although the network uses 600 V for compatibility with the older fleet.
The passenger fleet combines Alsthom–Vevey articulated trams with CAF Urbos 3 vehicles. The metropolitan authority lists a total fleet of 43 trams.
The Alsthom–Vevey vehicles belong to two generations, commonly identified as STE1 and STE2. Retained vehicles have undergone refurbishment to extend their working lives alongside the newer trams.
The 16 CAF Urbos 3 trams, introduced from 2017, have five articulated sections and are approximately 33 metres long and 2.15 metres wide. They have a fully low floor and driving cabs at both ends, allowing them to reverse direction without using a turning loop. Their narrow bodies and metre-gauge running gear were designed to suit Saint-Étienne’s infrastructure.
The CAF fleet provides a step-free interior throughout the vehicle. Trams also have designated wheelchair spaces, audible stop announcements and visual passenger information. The older vehicles provide accessible accommodation, although their internal layout differs from the fully low-floor CAF design.
The network uses the Transpôle depot and maintenance facilities, which support the tram fleet and provide tracks for vehicle testing as well as day-to-day operational requirements.
Saint-Étienne Métropole’s mobility planning includes an extension of tram line T2 from the existing network at Dalgabio towards the Monthieu/Pont-de-l’Âne area in the east of the city. The proposal would improve public transport access to this commercial and redevelopment district. It is included within the programme looking towards 2035.
The wider mobility strategy was approved in January 2026, with priority projects covering the period to 2035 and longer-term objectives extending to 2040. Inclusion in this strategy establishes a planning basis for the tram extension, but does not itself confirm a construction timetable. A firm opening date has not been established.