Lausanne Metro

System 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 ). Métro m1 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-Gare in the west via Chavannes and Ecublens (opened 1991). The line is mainly at grade, on a separate right-of-way with priority at road intersections. It is 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), a ride takes 19 minutes. The line is especially busy with students travelling to the EPFL and UNIL University campuses. More about line m1 Links T-L Lausanne Public Transport (Official Site) Mobilis Vaud (Fare system) LEB Suburban Line Lausanne Metro at Wikipedia Métro-Ouchy at wikipedia.de Lausanne Metro track map incl. m2 Robert Schwandl : TRAM ATLAS SCHWEIZ & ÖSTERREICH (3rd edition) Feb. 2023 , Robert Schwandl Verlag, ISBN 3-936573-72-5 (More info ) Detailed geographically correct maps of all Swiss and Austrian tram and trolleybus systems, illustrated with numerous colour photos and enhanced with basic data about routes, lines, rolling stock, etc. Photos More photos of the now disappeared Métro-Ouchy