VAL

VAL is a type of automatic (driverless) light metro. It was designed in the early 1980s by Matra, for the then new metro system in Lille.

The acronym was originally for Villeneuve d'Ascq à Lille (Villeneuve d'Ascq to Lille), the route of the experimental track. It now officially stands for Vehicule Automatique Leger (automatic light vehicle).

It runs on rubber tires.

The Lille metro was inaugurated on April 25, 1983. VAL systems were subsequently built in several other French cities, including:

• Paris' Orlyval line in 1991
• Toulouse in 1993
• Rennes

The automatic trains on Paris Metro's line 14 are based on VAL technology, but built to a larger scale to be compatible with the other metro lines. Lyon's 4th metro line is a larger version of the VAL on metallic wheels.

VAL technology is also used in:

• Chicago's O'Hare International Airport Transit System
• Taipei in 1996

See also: Transportation in France