Early Trams in Nice

[RogerFarnworth]

As part of my birthday present this year my wife gave two books written in French about the Trams of Nice. I am enjoying working out what the books say! This post relates to the relatively unusual practice of regular transport of goods on a tram network, which was common practice in Nice.

https://rogerfarnworth.wordpress.com...de-provence-60

[RogerFarnworth]

The TNL in Nice grew in size in the years before the first world war but had great difficulty in getting new lines authorised and built

https://rogerfarnworth.wordpress.com...de-provence-62

This post focusses on the years immediately before the First World War. It was at this time that the network reached its fullest extent and it was the time when it was both in its best condition and carrying the greatest number of passengers. After the First World War things began to change and competition from other forms of transport increased.

[RogerFarnworth]

Currently I am reading a book written in French about the tramways of Nice and the Cote d'Azur written by Jose Banuado. Sadly the book is only available in French. I have to use an internet based translation package to understand the book as my French is very limited.

This post is based on Jose Banuado's book and covers the period of the First World War.

http://rogerfarnworth.com/2018/08/28...de-provence-80

[RogerFarnworth]

This next post reflects on the conditions on the tramway network in Nice in the years after the war:

http://rogerfarnworth.com/2018/12/28...de-provence-83

[RogerFarnworth]

It was not long before the tramways around Nice began an inexorable decline. The early 1930s saw the loss of many of the tram routes outside the city of Nice. Buses were the new thing as far as public transport was concerned. The car became gradually more important.

http://rogerfarnworth.com/2019/04/09...de-provence-84

[RogerFarnworth]

Further decline in the urban tramway network in Nice occurred from the late 1920s into the 1930s. Buses became politically more acceptable than the trams. ... This post continues my reflections based on a translation of the work of Jose Banaudo from French into English. ...

http://rogerfarnworth.com/2019/10/14...de-provence-86

A Changing Urban Network in/around Nice

The 1930s through to the 1950s saw major changes in the urban environment. As elsewhere, the car began to dominate people understanding of progress. Other firms of transport, to a greater or lesser extent, took a secondary place. Independence, rather than interdependence, came to dominate political thinking. Strengthening democracy after the Second World War valued the perspective of the individual. By the end of the 1950s the place if the 'expert' in any debate was beginning to be challenged. No longer were people as willing to be told what was best for them. In a significant way, the car became a touchstone for that growing independence and self-confidence. The tram and the train began to be seen as part of the past rather than an important part of the future.

[RogerFarnworth]

A return to Nice is in the offing and I have turned back to books by Jose Banaudo.

Jose Banaudo published a two volume set of books about the historic trams of Nice, “Nice au fil du Tram.”

This is the first of a series of articles based on the second volume. (Jose Banaudo; Nice au fil du Tram, Volume No. 2: Les Hommes, Les Techniques; Les Editions de Cabri, Breil-sur-Roya, France, 2005). The books were published as French language texts, quotations directly from the books have been translated with the assistance of ‘Google Lens’ and ‘Google Translate’.

http://rogerfarnworth.com/2023/08/26...ritimes-no-88/

[RogerFarnworth]

The next article in a series following through the second volume of Jose Banaudo's two volume set of books about the historic trams of Nice, "Nice au fil du Tram."

http://rogerfarnworth.com/2023/09/28...ritimes-no-89/

[RogerFarnworth]

Jose Banaudo writes, "As an extension of the Cannes Tramway route which linked Mandelieu, Cannes and Antibes, the TNL coastal line extended from Cap-d’Antibes to the Menton district of Garavan via Cagnes, Nice, Villefranche, Beaulieu , Monaco, Cap-Martin and Menton. These juxtaposed sections formed a continuous axis of 76 km of interurban tramway which served almost the entire coastline of the Alpes-Maritimes, from the Emite of the Var department to the Italian border.”

The linked article is the first looking at this coastal (littoral) route and looks at the length between Nice and Cap d'Antibes.

http://rogerfarnworth.com/2023/10/11...ritimes-no-90/

[RogerFarnworth]

La Ligne du Littoral et ses Antennes, First Generation Electric Tramways – Nice-Monte Carlo (Chemins de Fer de Provence/Alpes-Maritimes No. 91) …

The line between Nice and Monte Carlo opened in a series of stages. First from Monaco to Place d’Armes in Monte Carlo on 14th May 1898; then from Place Massena in Nice to Villefranche, on 1st February 1900; Villefranche to Beaulieu on 3rd November 1900; TNL trams were permitted to run on Monaco’s tramways from 28th May 1903; and the remaining length, Beaulieu to Monaco Place d’Armes opened on 7th November 1903. Over the next few years some single track lengths were doubled.

http://rogerfarnworth.com/2023/10/28/nice-monte-carlo

Future articles will focus on two branch-lines which left the Nice to Monte Carlo line and on the extension beyond Monte Carlo to Menton.