Rhône-Alpes is a major European transit hub, linking northern France and Europe to the
Mediterranean
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...
area. Millions travel along its
motorway
A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway and expressway. Other similar terms i ...
s in summertime from
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
to holidays at the sea. The
E15 Euroroute (
Britain
Britain most often refers to:
* The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands
* Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...
to
Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, i ...
) runs through the region. There are
international airport
An international airport is an airport with customs and border control facilities enabling passengers to travel between countries around the world. International airports are usually larger than domestic airports and they must feature longer ...
s at Lyon, Grenoble and Saint-Étienne and many other minor airports and airfields.
The region is also a transport hub for the rail-network with the
TGV
The TGV (french: Train à Grande Vitesse, "high-speed train"; previously french: TurboTrain à Grande Vitesse, label=none) is France's intercity high-speed rail service, operated by SNCF. SNCF worked on a high-speed rail network from 1966 to 19 ...
running through Lyon from Paris and the north, to the Mediterranean. A trans-national, high-speed rail-link is projected from Lyon to
Turin
Turin ( , Piedmontese language, Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital ...
.
Rail
Numerous cities of the region
Rhône-Alpes
Rhône-Alpes () was an administrative region of France. Since 1 January 2016, it is part of the new region Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. It is located on the eastern border of the country, towards the south. The region was named after the river Rhône an ...
are served by TGV :
* The
LGV Méditerranée
The LGV Méditerranée (French: ''Ligne à Grande Vitesse''; English: Mediterranean high-speed line) is a French high-speed rail line running between Saint-Marcel-lès-Valence, Drôme and Marseille, Bouches-du-Rhône, also featuring a connecti ...
:
Marseille
Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Franc ...
,
Lyon Part-Dieu, Valence TGV, and
Montélimar
Montélimar (; Vivaro-Alpine: ''Montelaimar'' ; la, Acumum) is a town in the Drôme department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in north Provence, Southeastern France. It is the second-largest city in the department after Valence. In 2018, ...
.
* To Paris : Lyon Part-Dieu, Valence TGV, Montélimar, Chambéry,
Grenoble
lat, Gratianopolis
, commune status = Prefecture and commune
, image = Panorama grenoble.png
, image size =
, caption = From upper left: Panorama of the city, Grenoble’s cable cars, place Saint- ...
, Bourg Saint-Maurice,
Saint-Étienne
Saint-Étienne (; frp, Sant-Etiève; oc, Sant Estève, ) is a city and the prefecture of the Loire department in eastern-central France, in the Massif Central, southwest of Lyon in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region.
Saint-Étienne is the t ...
* In construction, a line to the North-East:
Besançon
Besançon (, , , ; archaic german: Bisanz; la, Vesontio) is the prefecture of the department of Doubs in the region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté. The city is located in Eastern France, close to the Jura Mountains and the border with Switzerl ...
,
Strasbourg
Strasbourg (, , ; german: Straßburg ; gsw, label=Bas Rhin Alsatian, Strossburi , gsw, label=Haut Rhin Alsatian, Strossburig ) is the prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est region of eastern France and the official seat of the Eu ...
and Lyon Part-Dieu)
* In construction, a line to
Turin
Turin ( , Piedmontese language, Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital ...
: Lyon Part-Dieu, Challes-les-eaux, Grenoble-Université Gières
The TGV line Paris-Grenoble serves the international airport Lyon Saint-Exupéry.
Every weekend in winter, Bourg-Saint-Maurice becomes one of the busiest stations in the region, when it is served by TGV trains from Paris and from Brussels, and by Eurostar from London.
When a project of RER called
Réseau Express de l'Aire urbaine Lyonnaise
Réseau Express de l'Aire métropolitaine Lyonnaise (or Real) is a project that consists in improving and unifying some railways lines in the Lyon metropolitan area. It is said to be a "RER à la lyonnaise" (a sort of RER in Lyon).
The most signif ...
(REAL) is built, it will be the first RER of the province, the only other one being in Paris.
Another RER called CEVA is planned for 2017, for the region of The leman lake (Geneva, Annemasse, Thonon-les-bains, Evian-les-bains) with extensions to La roche / foron, Annecy.
Another railroad project is in realisation in
Grenoble
lat, Gratianopolis
, commune status = Prefecture and commune
, image = Panorama grenoble.png
, image size =
, caption = From upper left: Panorama of the city, Grenoble’s cable cars, place Saint- ...
to link the suburbs.
There are also tourist train lines in Rhône-Alpes (in
Ardèche
Ardèche (; oc, Ardecha; frp, Ardecha) is a department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of Southeastern France. It is named after the river Ardèche and had a population of 328,278 as of 2019.[Mont-Blanc
Mont Blanc (french: Mont Blanc ; it, Monte Bianco , both meaning "white mountain") is the highest mountain in the Alps and Western Europe, rising above sea level. It is the List of European ultra-prominent peaks, second-most prominent mountai ...]
)
Road
Rhône-Alpes is a major European transit hub, linking northern France and Europe to the
Mediterranean
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...
area. Millions travel along its
motorway
A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway and expressway. Other similar terms i ...
s in summertime from Paris to holidays at the sea. The
E15 Euroroute (Britain to
Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, i ...
) runs through the region.
Public transport
12 transport authorities of public transport are implanted in
Rhône-Alpes
Rhône-Alpes () was an administrative region of France. Since 1 January 2016, it is part of the new region Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. It is located on the eastern border of the country, towards the south. The region was named after the river Rhône an ...
* The
Rhône-Alpes
Rhône-Alpes () was an administrative region of France. Since 1 January 2016, it is part of the new region Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. It is located on the eastern border of the country, towards the south. The region was named after the river Rhône an ...
region
* The department of
Ain
Ain (, ; frp, En) is a department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in Eastern France. Named after the Ain river, it is bordered by the Saône and Rhône rivers. Ain is located on the country's eastern edge, on the Swiss border, where ...
* The department of
Isère
Isère ( , ; frp, Isera; oc, Isèra, ) is a landlocked department in the southeastern French region of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. Named after the river Isère, it had a population of 1,271,166 in 2019.[Loire
The Loire (, also ; ; oc, Léger, ; la, Liger) is the longest river in France and the 171st longest in the world. With a length of , it drains , more than a fifth of France's land, while its average discharge is only half that of the Rhône ...]
* The department of
Rhône
The Rhône ( , ; wae, Rotten ; frp, Rôno ; oc, Ròse ) is a major river in France and Switzerland, rising in the Alps and flowing west and south through Lake Geneva and southeastern France before discharging into the Mediterranean Sea. At Ar ...
* The department of
Sytral
*
Saint-Etienne Métropole
* The Port of Isère
* The community of Pays Viennois
* The community of Villefranche-sur-Saône
* The community of Bourg-en-Bresse
* The community of Grand Roanne
The three largest cities of Rhône-Alpes are equipped with
streetcars and have a large bus network. The largest,
Lyon
Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of t ...
, has four metro lines.
Lyon and
Saint-Étienne
Saint-Étienne (; frp, Sant-Etiève; oc, Sant Estève, ) is a city and the prefecture of the Loire department in eastern-central France, in the Massif Central, southwest of Lyon in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region.
Saint-Étienne is the t ...
have kept their lines of
trolley bus
A trolleybus (also known as trolley bus, trolley coach, trackless trolley, trackless tramin the 1910s and 1920sJoyce, J.; King, J. S.; and Newman, A. G. (1986). ''British Trolleybus Systems'', pp. 9, 12. London: Ian Allan Publishing. .or troll ...
es and, Saint-Etienne is one of the few cities in France to have retained its trams (in use since 1881).
Many cities also have their bus networks (Valencia the CTAV Chambéry the STAC, Villefranche-sur-Saône, Roanne, etc.). There are also networks of inter-departmental cars.
In winter, additional lines open to connect the valleys to ski resorts. This is the case between Grenoble and Chamrousse.
Finally, the airport Lyon Saint-Exupéry is accessible by regular shuttle bus from the major surrounding cities, including Lyon, Saint-Etienne, Grenoble and Chambéry. There are also links between Grenoble and Saint-Geoirs Grenoble and between Bouthéon Saint-Etienne and Saint-Etienne.
The Rhône-Alpes region is undergoing profound changes with regard to its rail network and many projects are being developed to the
xpress_Network_of_the_urban_area_of_Lyons,_The_Project_of_the_East_Rail_Lyon,_the_Tram-train_from_the_west_Lyonnais.
_Public_transport_links_in_Lyonnais
_Métro
The_Lyon_Metro,_in_
Lyon_
Lyon,,_;__Occitan:_''Lion'',_hist._''Lionés''_also_spelled_in_English_as_Lyons,_is_the__third-largest_city_and__second-largest_metropolitan_area_of_France._It_is_located_at_the_confluence_of_the_rivers_Rhône_and_Saône,_to_the_northwest_of_t_...
,_opened_in_1978_and_now_consists_of_four_lines._It_is_part_of_the_Transports_en_commun_lyonnais.html" "title="Project_of_the_East_Rail_Lyon.html" ;"title="xpress Network of the urban area of Lyons, The Project of the East Rail Lyon">xpress Network of the urban area of Lyons, The Project of the East Rail Lyon, the Tram-train from the west Lyonnais.
, opened in 1978 and now consists of four lines. It is part of the Transports en commun lyonnais">Transports en Commun Lyonnais