Tram systems in Lausanne
Lausanne is located on the shores of Lake Geneva in the French-speaking part of Switzerland and is the capital of the canton of Vaud. The city of Lausanne has a population of around 145,000 and is the fourth largest city in Switzerland. The city is the home of the International Olympic Committee and over 50 international sport associations.
Lausanne has an extensive network of public transport, with ntional and international passenger trains run by of the Swiss Federal Railways depart from Lausanne railway station. The city's network of local buses and the metro lines are operated by Transports publics de la région Lausannoise (TL), with many of the routes using trolleybuses. There are alos commuter train lines run by the Lausanne–Echallens–Bercher railway (LEB) from Lausanne-Flon station and ships across Lake Geneva provided by the Compagnie Générale de Navigation sur le lac Léman (CGN).
Métro de Lausanne (Lausanne Metro) is Lausanne's light rail network and currently operates on two lines. Line M1 opened to the public in June 1991 and is about just under eight km in length, with 15 stops, three of which are underground. Line M2, which opened in 2008, is just under six km long and has 14 stops, nine of which are underground. The line operates over a steeply sloped area, reaching as steep as 12% in some places and to counter this, a rubber-tyred system is used. Both lines are operated by Transports publics de la région lausannoise (TL) and line M1 is owned by Tramway du Sud-Ouest lausannois (TSOL)
As part of the Axes forts project, 2 additional lines have been proposed. The first, metro line M3 was approved in a public referendum in February 2014 and work was due to start in 2018, with the line running between Ouchy and La Blécherette and being opened in two phases, the first from Ouchy to Lausanne-Chauderon and the second, extending it to La Blécherette. the other line, which will be a tramway, was awarded to TL in 2011 and following many objections, authorisation was given in 2018 for the project to commence by the Federal Administrative Court. The line is expected to open in two phases, with the first, which will run for 4.5km between Lausanne-Flon and Renens-Gare and have 10 stops, expected to open in 2023. The final section will add another six stops, running from Renens-Gare to Croix-Péage and is expected to be opened by 2030.
Lausanne currently has 2 light rail/ rapid transport lines and has two additional lines, a further metro line M3 and a tramway T1, under construction, details of which can be found on the Lines tab
The history of trams in Lausanne can be traced all the way back to 1862 when a horsedrawn tramway was inaugurated. In March 1896 the construction of the first electric tram line was started and the line commenced operation on the 1st September 1896. The network krew in size in the late 19th and early 20th century, gradually expanding towards La Sallaz, the starting point of the Jorat railways. In 1903, lins to Cour-Montoie, Ouchy and Renens lines were opened, and in 1909, Beaulieu can be reached from the station. In 1909, the transport of livestock was also undertaken on the trams, when they began to serve slaughterhouses of the Borde. This growth of the system continued until the 1930s, when the network has 66 km of tram lines. The hilly topography of Lausanne had always been a problem for the tram lines and with the introduction of trollybuses in the early 1930s, the size of the tram network began to shrink, until on 6th January 1964, the last tram in Lausanne ran.
Separately to the old tram system, the Métro Lausanne - Ouchy was inaugurated in 1877 as a funicular (the first one in Switzerland), linking takeside at Ouchy to Lausanne railway station and the center of the city at Flon. The funicular was converted to a rack railway in the mid 1950s and the line operated in this mode until January 2006, when the line closed to allow conversion to the metro M2.
Lausanne currently has 2 tram lines, and 2 lines under construction, which are listed below. To see more information about a particular line, click on the link in the table below (where applicable).
| Line | Description |
|---|---|
| M1 | Métro Line M1 is a light rail line that runs between Lausanne-Flon and Renens. |
| M2 | Métro Line M2 is a fully automated line that runs between Ouchy-Olympique and Croisettes and uses rubber-tyred trains for increased adhesion. |
| M3 | Métro Line M3 is a proposed fully automated line that is expected to open in 2025 and will run between Ouchy-Olympique and La Blécherette |
| T1 | Line T1 is a proposed tramay that is expected to be fully open by 2030 and will eventually run between Lausanne-Flon and Croix-Péage. |