Friday 9 December - Tram T6 to Viroflay

It was a beautiful sunny day today.  However, with little wind the pollution index for Paris was very high and restrictions were in place for motor vehicles.  Because of this all travel on public transport in the Ile de France was free so I took the opportunity to ride the metro to Chatillon and take the rubber tired tram T6 all the way to the end of the line at Viroflay Rive Droite.  The final part of this line, including an extensive tunnel under the river and the two stations at Viroflay was opened in the summer. The line runs through the mind numbing southern suburbs of the city.

At Chatillon

This is a long line which takes around 45 minutes.  There is a long steep hill out of Chatillon which the six unit rubber tired trams take in their stride. The line was pretty busy at ten minute intervals. Both stations at Viroflay are underground.  There is an easy connection at RD with RER line L to Saint-Lazare.  I decided to take this back into town because of the great views across the city approaching La Defense.  The Eiffel Tower was plainly visible although there was some atmospheric haze.  

Viroflay Rive Droit

Quite a contrast in ages of equipment.  The rubber tired trams are quite new while the trains on line L are approaching life expiry.  The STIF have already announced plans to replace them within a couple of years.  Even so the ride was pretty good.