Tram Line T1, seen here at Guillotiere, opened in January 2001
linking the city centre at Perrache station with the city's main
station, Part-Dieu and Lyon 1 University in the north-east of the
city
Line T2 opened at the same time, sharing the T1 alignment across
the River Rhone on the Pont Gallieni, before running along Avenue
Berthelot (seen here at Place Jean Mace) to the suburb of St Priest.
The first extension to the original system was opened in September
2005, extending T1 southwards under the railway from Perrache along
Cours Charlemagne to Montrochet opening up a remote area of the
city centre.
Line T3 was the next project, running south from Part-Dieu to
reach a lightly-used goods only rail line before heading north-east to Meyzieu,
opened in late 2006. T3 will later form the city part of a new
express tramway to Lyon's airport.
Lyon also has a well established 3-line rubber-tyred metro system
(one line of which is automatic and driverless), two funicular
lines and a steel-wheel rack and pinion metro line (illustrated
above)
Lyon also runs trolleybuses which run through part of the classical
city centre, passing the Hotel-de-Ville (above). New express lines
are planned where flows still do not justify tram construction.
PHOTOGRAPH SERIES
2006 : Lines T1, T2 and construction work
on T3 at and near Gare Part-Dieu 2007 : Line
T3
In common with existing trend of the time in France, Lyon closed its "first-generation"
tramways, with the last services running in 1956, but only 45 years later has
two new lines in operation, again following the recent French trend for new
tramways. From concept to fruition, the two lines now in operation took less
than four years - a remarkable feat. And that is not all : two extensions have
been built and two more complete lines are either under construction or authorised.
Once Lyon had scrapped its original trams it concentrated on building
a fully-fledged Metro along Parisian lines, using rubber-wheeled technology
and now boasts three highly efficient lines serving the city, one of which is
operated automatically without any staff aboard. A short rack railway serving
the Croix-Rousse area is integrated into the system as Metro Line C and two
short funiculars rise steeply from the centre of the old city on the west bank
iof the River Saone to St Just and Fourviere, from where magnificent views over
the classical and modern parts of the city are possible. Earlier expectations
of the population mushrooming to over 2 million fuelled ambitions for the proponents
of the metro system, but with around 500,000 in the city itself and 1.2 million
in the agglomeration of 56 self-governing communities, the city has had to take
a more realistic view of its transport planning.
Current plans identify
a numbers of "lignes fortes", essentially traffic corridors with significant
passenger potential, for which high quality public transport is to be provided.
Not all of these routes will be built as tramways and already two have been
identified as best suited to trolleybus operation. Lyon already runs trolleybuses,
but the new routes will provide dedicated bus lanes with the potential for future
conversion to trams if traffic justifies it.
T1 and T2 as the first two
lines are known, ran from Gare Perrache on the southside of the historical city
centre across the River Rhone before diverging at the end of the Pont Gallieni
; T1 turning north along Quai Claude Bernard before threading its way through
the streets of the modern city on the east bank, reaching Gare Part-Dieu, the
main railway station for the city. Continuing north, then east, the line passed
through the modern campus of the "Lyon 1" university before terminating
at IUT - Feyssine, a total of 8.2 km. From Charpennes outwards the line is essentially
a replacement for what was originally planned as a northward extension of metro
line B, perfectly illustrating the recent change in policy at Lyon. Line T2 continues straight off the Pont
Gallieni along the long Avenue Berthelot , turns left on to Avenue Jean XXIII
to reach Avenue Rockefeller at Place d'Arsonval and the Grange Blanche Metro
Station. The line continues eastwards out of Lyon proper into Bron and ultimately
to St Priest, a total of 14.7 km, the last 4.7 km being opened in December 2003.
There is little potential for tram development in the centre of Lyon, where
the metro and trolleybuses serve the heart of the community in the area between
the rivers Rhone and Saone, but to the south of Gare Perrache, it was decided
that the rather remote and run-down area beyond the railway embankment would
be opened up by extending the tram line down Cours Charlemagne rather than extending
the Metro which at one time would have been the preferred solution. Opened in
September 2005, the 3 station extension is served by T1 trams only.
The next project, appropriately named T3 is due to open in late 2006, linking
Gare Part-Dieu with the north-western community of Meyzieu, mostly along a rail
alignment closed many years ago to passenger service but retained for infrequent
goods workings. Once T3 is completed, work should start on a further extension
to the Airport (Saint Exupery, which is 24 km distant from the city centre).
The line, codenamed by its acronym, LESLYS, will use T3 tracks but operate
an express service through the city until it reaches a completely new high-speed
alignment which should see trams bring airport passengers to the city in less
than the average 35 minutes currently taken by the airport shuttle bus service.
T4 is the next of the "lignes forts" to be selected for a tramway
service. Branching from T2 at Jet d'Eau, it will run along the Boulevard des
Etats-Unis to the terminus of metro line D at Gare de Venissieux then continue
to the community of Minguettes. If the go-ahead is given in early 2006, operation
by the end of 2009 is expected, with construction proceeding quickly in now-established
Lyonnais style. Once this is in operation, an inner-city link from Jet d'Eau
will bring T4 to its intended terminus at Part-Dieu, with the possibility of
through running northwards over T1 tracks.
Lyon has paid particular attention
to ensuring that trams run wherever possible on segregated alignments and this
has led to significant traffic calming measures on the routes the tram takes.
Efficient public transport services, aided by priority for trams at controlled
traffic intersctions, is expected to attract sufficient custom to reduce demand
for road space considerably. The cars themselves are five-section versions of
Alstom's modular "Citadis" design and have proved to be very successful
in performance and particularly quiet in operation. Striking in their all-over
white livery with a tasteful red, blue and yellow mural depicting city scenes
along the lower body, the cars are particularly distinguishable by the design
of the end modules of the double-ended cars - a design specific to Lyon, quite
different to other versions of Citadis trams and increasingly a mark of the
city in their own right.
