In the 1960s the decentralisation of the city of Lille was considered; some towns of the Lille region were isolated and were poorly served by existing public transport, while the centre of Lille was congested with traffic and buses. The decentralisation resulted in the creation of the Public Establishment of Lille East development (EPALE) in 1968. In the 1970s, a plan for a proposed four line light metro system was developed, favouring the VAL system over conventional rail systems.
Line 1 extension and the creation of a second line
While line one opened in April 1983 between 4 Cantons and République; it was extended, with the extension from République and C.H.R. B Calmette opening on 2 May 1984. The cost of opening the first line in both its phases cost about 2 billion Francs. [citation needed]
Construction of line two began in April 1985. A depot was opened on the second line at Villeneuve d'Ascq, after the terminus of the line Saint Philibert in Lomme. Line one became operational in late 1988 with testing being carried out for four months. In 1989, COMELI which runs the metro merged with COTRALI, which runs the bus and tram networks into a unified public transport body.
Line 2 opened on 3 April 1989 and it connects Lille with its two large suburban towns, Roubaix and Tourcoing, reaching CH Dron (centre hospitalier: "hospital centre") near the Belgian border on 27 October 2000. It is 32 kilometres (20 mi) long with 44 stations.[citation needed]
Both lines have platform screen doors at all stations, being the second metro to have platform doors, after the Saint Petersburg Metro.
The section between Lille and neighbouring towns of Roubaix and Tourcoing was built and opened in four stages. The first extension was inaugurated on 5 May 1994; the underground section has a length of 500 metres (1,640 ft 5 in) and connects the Euralille business area to the rest of Lille.
The third part is the longest to be opened, making about 13 km (8.1 mi). It became operational in March 1999 and commissioned on 18 August that year. This section goes through the towns of Villeneuve d'Ascq, Wasquehal, Croix, Roubaix and stops in downtown Tourcoing. Though the route is mainly underground, the metro runs on a 1.3 km (0.81 mi) viaduct between the stations of Fort Mons and Jean-Jaures. The final section was inaugurated on 27 October 2000 by Prime Minister Lionel Jospin.