Lausanne (250,000 inh.) is the capital of the Swiss canton of Vaud on the northern shore of Lake Geneva (Lac Leman) in the French speaking part of Switzerland. The Olympic Capital spreads out over the hills along the lake, and trolleybuses (most of them with a trailer) run up and down the serpentine roads to the old city centre near Flon.

In 1877 a funicular railway was built to connect the lakeside resort of Ouchy to the city centre. This single track line (double track at Montriond station to allow crossing of trains) was converted to rack railway operation in 1958 and was then operated with two 2-car-trains using a kind of electric locomotive. Trains provided a fast and frequent (6-10 minutes) service between Flon and Ouchy via the Swiss Federal Railways Station (Gare CFF). The line was later referred to as Métro-Ouchy, while Métro-Gare was a special shuttle service between Flon and Gare CFF using a separate track in the same tunnel between these two stations. Service on this line, which opened as a funicular in 1879 and was converted to rack railway in 1954, was provided by only one single carriage running permanently up and down. This was actually the busiest of all urban rail lines. On 22 January 2006 the original Métro-Ouchy was closed to allow its conversion to metro line m2 (View Metro-Ouchy Gallery).

Taking advantage of the former Métro-Ouchy right-of-way, a fully automated metro line (URBALIS system from Alstom), the m2, started revenue service on 27 Oct 2008, after an official opening celebrated on 18 Sept 2008. After a referendum held in Nov. 2002, construction began in late 2003. On the old section, the former Montriond station was renamed Grancy, and moved towards Gare CFF. A new station was added between Grancy and Jordils, named Délices. The m2 connects Ouchy and the central railway station to Croisettes in the north-east, with most of its alignment being underground, after most of the sections of the old line have been covered and a park created on the surface. At Flon transfer is provided to line m1 (Métro-Ouest) and the LEB-Railway S1 (a suburban railway serving the north-western parts of Lausanne and its surrounding towns), for which an underground terminus had opened on 28 May 2000. The entire rubber-tyred line is double-track except for a short single-track section to pass under the Federal Railway tracks. Along the approx. 6 km route there is a change in altitude of 338 m, with a maximum gradient of 12%, and an average gradient of 6%. Lausanne-Gare CFF station has platforms with an 11.5% slope! At 25 m below the surface, Fourmi station is the deepest.

The automatic metro line is 5.9 km long with 14 stations. 15 2-car trains, similar to Paris's MP89 vehicles (line 14) but only 30 m long, were delivered by Alstom. The depot is linked to the Vennes station.

The Métro-Ouest (Metro West), now known as line m1, is a modern light rail line which connects Lausanne's city centre at Flon to Renens in the west via Chavannes and Ecublens (opened 1991). The line is mainly at grade, on separate right-of-way with preference at road intersections. It's almost entirely single-track except at most stations where trains cross each other. The total length is 7.8 km with 15 stations (3 underground, average station distance is 557 m), one ride takes 19 minutes (commercial speed 26 km/h). The line is especially busy with students travelling to the EPFL and UNIL University campuses.

1877 - Métro-Ouchy
1991 - Métro-Ouest

27 Oct 2008 - m2 Ouchy - Croisettes

 Photos

- OPERATION

m1 (Métro-Ouest) operates Mon-Fri from 05:30 until 00:30, every 10-15 minutes; Sat every 12-15 minutes and Sundays 06:00 - 00:30 every 20 minutes.

m2 - 05:30-24:00 (Fri & Sat night until 00:30; Sunday from 06:00) - every 6 minutes between Ouchy and Croisettes and every 3 minutes between Gare CFF and Sallaz.

- FARES (2008, in Swiss Francs) for city zones 11/12:

Urban tariff single ticket - 2.60/3.00 CHF
Short trip (3 stops) - 1.90 CHF
24-hour-ticket - 7.60/8.60 CHF*

Weekly Pass 2 zones - 27.00 CHF

* Visitors ask for free ticket in your hotel!

T-L Lausanne Public Transport (Official Site)

Mobilis Vaud (Fare system)

Clickable city map

Lausanne Metro at Wikipedia

Métro-Ouchy at wikipedia.de

m2 - Non-official website with updated construction photos

Lausanne Metro track map incl. m2

LEB Suburban Line

More photos of the now disappeared Métro-Ouchy