The Lausanne Métro Line M1 is a

light rail Light rail (or light rail transit, abbreviated to LRT) is a form of passenger urban rail transit that uses rolling stock derived from tram technology National Conference of the Transportation Research Board while also having some features from ...

line which links Lausanne-Flon, in the centre of Lausanne, to

Renens Renens () is a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the canton of Vaud, Switzerland. It is located in the district of Ouest Lausannois District, Ouest Lausannois, and is a suburb of the city of Lausanne. It is the fourth largest city in ...

, to the west of the agglomeration. The line serves an important purpose as it goes through the

Lausanne campus The Lausanne campus or Dorigny university campus (French: ''campus lausannois'' or ''campus de Dorigny'') is a large area in Switzerland where the University of Lausanne (UNIL), the École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) and several o ...

, making it a crucial transport method for students accessing their university. In 2013, its ridership was 13.2 million, making it the lesser-used line of the

Lausanne Métro The Lausanne Métro () system is a two-line urban rail transport system in Lausanne, Vaud, Switzerland. Around a quarter of the system has been used for urban rail transport since 1877, when the route between the city centre and Ouchy opened as ...

at this time. The line opened in 1991 and was branded TSOL (Tramway du sud-ouest lausannois) until 2000 when it was rebranded to its current name to prepare the system for the second urban rail line.

History

Route

The line operates between and , bypassing

Lausanne railway station Lausanne railway station () is the main intercity and regional railway station for the city of Lausanne, Vaud, Switzerland. It is often known as Lausanne CFF to distinguish it from others in the town. Description Lausanne is a through station, ...

. It is long. At Lausanne-Flon, there are connections to the

Lausanne–Bercher line The Lausanne–Bercher line is a metre gauge railway line in the canton of Vaud in Switzerland. The line connects the city of Lausanne with Bercher via Echallens, and is long. It is owned and operated by the (LEB). History After an initia ...

(leb), Métro line 2 and Buses of tl. At Renens, there are connections to regional trail services of

RER Vaud RER Vaud () is an S-Bahn network in the canton of Vaud in Switzerland. It is centered on Lausanne and began operating in December 2004. Lines the network consists of the following lines: * : – (– ) * : Grandson – Lausanne (– Cully) ...

and

RegioExpress RegioExpress, commonly abbreviated to RE, is a Train categories in Europe, category of fast regional train service in Switzerland, run by Swiss Federal Railways (SBB CFF FFS) or other railway companies (such as Treni Regionali Ticino Lombardia, ...

(RE) services of

Swiss Federal Railways Swiss Federal Railways (, SBB; , CFF; , FFS) is the national railway company of Switzerland. The company was founded in 1902 and is headquartered in Bern. It used to be a State-owned enterprise, government institution, but since 1999 it has be ...

(CFF).

Stations

Fleet

To run the service, the line was equipped with a set of modern Light Rail Vehicles (LRVs), which run using electricity supplied via an overhead live wire and can be run singly or in

multiple unit A multiple-unit train (or multiple unit (MU)) is a self-propelled train composed of one or more Coach (rail), carriages joined, and where one or more of the carriages have the means of propulsion built in. By contrast, a locomotive-hauled ...

s, with each formation needing a driver. There are a total of 18 of these original LRVs on the line, but after 20 years in service they were showing their age, and 2 were regularly out of use. Additionally, the line has been a victim of its own success, with 12.5 million passengers carried in 2012 and the line carrying the equivalent to the entire population of

Yverdon-les-Bains Yverdon-les-Bains () (called Eburodunum and Ebredunum during the Ancient Rome, Roman era) is a municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the district of Jura-North Vaudois District, Jura-Nord vaudois of the canton of Vaud in Switzerland. It ...

every day. In 2011, the

Canton of Vaud Vaud ( ; , ), more formally Canton of Vaud, is one of the 26 cantons forming the Swiss Confederation. It is composed of ten districts; its capital city is Lausanne. Its coat of arms bears the motto "Liberté et patrie" on a white-green bicolou ...

gave 34 million

Swiss Franc The Swiss franc, or simply the franc, is the currency and legal tender of Switzerland and Liechtenstein. It is also legal tender in the Italian exclave of Campione d'Italia which is surrounded by Swiss territory. The Swiss National Bank (SNB) iss ...

s to enable the existing LRVs to have a mid-life refurbishment, and to permit the operator to commission MOB to build 5 brand-new LRVs. Previously, it was physically impossible for all trains to operate with a double formation, but the additional vehicles will enable the line to operate a full double-car service on all 10 peak-hour trains. In order to accommodate the new trains, the depot at Ecublens has been enlarged and additional servicing facilities built. The first of the new LRVs was finished in July 2013 and was taken to the Ecublens depot in three distinct pieces: one half of the car body, the other half body, and the underframes and

bogie A bogie ( ) (or truck in North American English) comprises two or more Wheelset (rail transport), wheelsets (two Railroad wheel, wheels on an axle), in a frame, attached under a vehicle by a pivot. Bogies take various forms in various modes ...

s. The operator was left to complete final assembly, and the new car entered service in December 2013. It is expected that the full fleet will be in service by 2015, permitting a 5-minute interval service of double-length trains. All vehicles are high floor and capable of high speed operation. Each vehicle is formed of two cars, and in peak hours, two vehicles are coupled for increased capacity. The LRVs are electric and are equipped with one pantograph and feature air conditioned driving cabs.

Features

The line, which is long, links the centre of

Lausanne Lausanne ( , ; ; ) is the capital and largest List of towns in Switzerland, city of the Swiss French-speaking Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Vaud, in Switzerland. It is a hilly city situated on the shores of Lake Geneva, about halfway bet ...

, the

( UNIL and EPFL) and

. The line is generally

single track Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

. At most stations a

passing loop A passing loop (UK usage) or passing siding (North America) (also called a crossing loop, crossing place, refuge loop or, colloquially, a hole) is a place on a single line railway or tramway, often located at or near a station, where trains o ...

is provided to allow trains to pass, and a dedicated platform is provided for each direction. Exceptions to this are Bassenges, UNIL-Sorge and Provence stations, where the line is still single track serving one bidirectional platform. The entire Lausanne Modern tram network is hybrid type. It partly runs underground, partly runs on unreserved segregated track with raised rail with granite stones like mainline railway which is completely separated from other vehicles, and partly on elevated track.

Alignment and Interchanges

The modern tram route is completely on segregated rail track, with both underground and elevated sections. It offers a smooth and high speed service, due to little disturbances of road traffic. Interchanges become with

Lausanne Metro Lausanne ( , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Swiss French-speaking canton of Vaud, in Switzerland. It is a hilly city situated on the shores of Lake Geneva, about halfway between the Jura Mountains and the Alps, and facing the ...

and Lausanne Light Rail at Lausanne-Flon, and with suburban rail at

Notes and references

External links

* Official Website including both metro and tram
Transports Lausannois (TL)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lausanne Métro Line M1

Tram A tram (also known as a streetcar or trolley in Canada and the United States) is an urban rail transit in which Rolling stock, vehicles, whether individual railcars or multiple-unit trains, run on tramway tracks on urban public streets; some ...

Tram transport in Switzerland 600 V DC railway electrification Town tramway systems by city Railway lines opened in 1991 1991 establishments in Switzerland