Second Driverless Metro Line Opens in ToulouseToulouse's second fully automatic metro line was inaugurated on Saturday 30th June, 2007 by Jean-Louis Borloo, France's minister for ecology, sustainable development and town and country planning and Jean-Luc Moudenc, mayor of Toulouse and Chairman of Tisseo SMTC, the Toulouse public transport authority.Toulouse metro Line B covers 15.8 km running north-south between Borderouge and Ramonville. The new fully automatic metro line has 20 stations, including an interconnection with Line A at Jean Jaurès station. Line B connects the north of Toulouse to the south in 27 minutes.The VAL automatic driverless rolling stock was built by Siemens Transportation, which also built Line A, commissioned in 1993 and extended by three stations in 2003. This technology means high operational flexibility. Waiting times at stations can be shortened to 60 seconds by increasing train frequency. Like Line A, Line B will operate 20 hours out of 24 and seven days a week. To ensure turnkey delivery of this automatic transport system, Siemens has supplied and installed the operation control centre, the automatic control systems, the trackside equipment, the high current and low current systems, the platform screen doors, the workshop equipment and 56 VAL 208 NG two-car train sets, some of which will boost the existing Line A fleet.Siemens' VAL fully automatic rubber-tyred metro systems are now operating in Lille, Rennes, Turin and Taipei. In Korea, a new line will be built in Uijeongbu in the suburb of Seoul. The VAL equips also the Paris Orly and Chicago O'Hare airports. Two new lines have been inaugurated at Paris-Charles de Gaulle airport: CDGVAL and LISA. Click fr/14. Read E-News Weekly 47/2004, 22/2004, 20/2004, 35/2003, 10/2003 & 5/2003. Visit www.smat-metro-toulouse.fr 29/07.