Toulouse. Can the city’s transport cope with the high heat this summer?
By Sarah Gilot
Published on
Who has not been confronted with Toulouse to a breakdown due to heat, or been forced to ventilate using their card Tisseo in the subway ? Within the city transport, the strong heat are not always easy to live with this summer Toulouse. And to make matters worse, the Haute-Garonne department has just been placed, Tuesday August 2, 2022, in orange heat wave of vigilance.
A complex situation for passengers, and… the transport itself. You have to be prepared and have patience during a journey, as many are not equipped with air conditioning.
When the heat rises, hard times for passengers
When the heat is felt in transport, the first direct victim is the passenger. And even if Toulouse is a city where public transport is well deployed, and those in several forms, they are not all suitable for the strong heat. Buses and trams are air-conditioned, most trains also. But side metro and cable caronly a few vents are present.
Devices that are not very effective when the heat rises. Met in the subway, Lisa, nurse, testifies, “when you get into the train at the end of the day with the crazy heat of your last days, it’s sometimes not bearable. And when a lot of people are in the same train, it’s very difficult”.
A situation in the subway to which Tisseo cannot really provide a solution. Contacted, they explain that “the installation of air conditioning underground” would not be possible “because of the small space available between the vault of the tunnel and the roof of the metro”.
The city’s tram and cable car are also closed during the month of August: from 1uh to August 15 for Téléo, from July 25 to August 26 for the T1 tram line and from July 25 to August 16 for the T2 line.
SNCF side
As for the train journey from Toulouse train station, the situation is also not always ideal. The SNCF explains that it has air conditioning in its trains, without being able to confirm that all of them are equipped with it. station sideit ensures to be vigilant in particular by the management of a stock of water for the passengers in the event of strong heat.
Transport also obtained by the rise of the thermometer
strong heat which does not only reach passengers when it comes to transport. His last are themselves also impacted by hot days. Breakdown of train or metro following high temperatures… The installations in place by SNCF and Tisseo can indeed be a victim of overvoltage. And this situation could continue for years to come with global warming. To counter this phenomenon, SNCF explains how to prepare before each summer.
“During periods of high heat, we pay particular attention to two things: the heat of the rails and the power cables. The first must not be too hot otherwise it may have deformations, the same for the second, the heat brings cable deformations. We reinforce them and we monitor the very risky areas in the summer.”
Apart from monitoring and train speed reduction when passing through risk areas, the SNFC explains that it cannot put other measures in place.
On his side, Tisseo did not give an answer on its solutions in terms of heat for its transport: metro, tram, bus, teleo.
Are transport and its facilities resistant to climate change?
Was this article helpful to you? Note that you can follow Actu Toulouse in the My Actu space. In one click, after registration, you will find all the news of your favorite cities and brands.