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. 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 three lines. On 22 January 2006 the original Métro-Ouchy was closed to allow its conversion to metro (see below).

The Métro-Ouest (Metro West), now 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 street crossings. 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 campus.

1877 - Métro-Ouchy
1991 - Métro-Ouest

 Projects

Plans for the near future include the construction of a fully automated metro line (URBALIS system by Alstom) which will actually be an extension of the M2 Métro-Ouchy. It will connect Ouchy and the central railway station to Croisettes in the north-east and most of its alignment will eventually be underground, with also most of the sections of the old line being covered. At Flon it will provide transfer to M1 (Métro-Ouest) and the underground terminus, opened on 28 May 2000, of the LEB-Railway S1 (a suburban railway serving the north-western parts of Lausanne and its surrounding towns). The entire rubber-tyred line will have double track (except for a short single-track section to pass under the Federal Railway tracks) and 8 new stations.
On 22 January 2006 the original Métro-Ouchy was closed. It is now being upgraded and double-tracked to be connected to the new section scheduled to open on 19 Sept 2008. After a referendum held in Nov. 2002, construction began in late 2003.

The new automatic metro line will be about 6.4 km long, with 6 minutes intervals between Ouchy and Croisettes and 3-min between Gare CFF et Sallaz. 15 2-car trains, similar to Paris's MP89 vehicles (line 14) but only 30 m long, are being delivered from Alstom. 6,600 passengers/hour are expected. Montriond station will be renamed Grancy, and moved towards Gare CFF. A new station will be built between Grancy and Jordils, named Délices. The depot is linked to the Vennes station.

- 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 - currently out-of-service

- FARES (2007, in Swiss Francs) for city zones 11/12:

Urban tariff single ticket - 2.40/2.80 CHF
Short trip (3 stops) - 1.80 CHF
24-hour-ticket - 7.00/8.00 CHF

Weekly Pass 2 zones - 26.00 CHF
Monthly Pass 2 zones - 58.00 CHF

T-L Lausanne Public Transport (Official Site) incl m2-project

Mobilis Vaud (Fare system)

Clickable city map

Métro-Ouchy at wikipedia.de

Brochure about m2 on Alstom site

m2 - Non-official website with updated construction photos

Lausanne Metro track map incl. m2

More photos at LAUSANNE PICTURE GALLERY Métro-Ouchy Métro-Ouest