Lausanne Metro

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Lausanne Metro
pink circle with three diagonal white lozenges forming stylised letter m
Background
Locale Lausanne
Transit type Light rail, Rapid transit[1]
Number of lines 2
Number of stations 28
Operation
Began operation 1991
Operator(s) TL
Technical
System length 15 km (9 mi)
Track gauge 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in)

The Lausanne Metro system includes two lines in Lausanne, Switzerland, owned by two distinct companies and operated by a third. The Line M1 is a light metro, while the Line M2 is a fully automated metro which opened on 27 October 2008. A third line M3 is in planning. Lausanne has replaced Rennes as the smallest city in the world to have a full metro system.

Line M1

pink circle with three diagonal white lozenges forming stylised letter m, followed by twice-broken blue-outlined white circle, containing blue number 1
Line M1

Interior of a line M1 train
Overview
Type Light rail
System Lausanne Metro
Locale Vaud, Switzerland
Termini Lausanne-Flon station
Renens railway station
Stations 15
Daily ridership 43,500 (university term-time)[2]
Operation
Opening 1991
Owner TSOL
Operator(s) TL
Technical
Line length 8 km (5.0 mi)
No. of tracks 1 (some double track sections)
Track gauge 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Electrification Overhead catenary (750 V DC)
Lausanne Line M1

The Lausanne Métro Line 1 was opened on 24 May 1991. The line is owned by a company named TSOL (Tramway du Sud-Ouest lausannois) and this acronym is widely used by the commuters who use the line. Trains on the line are operated by the Transports publics de la région lausannoise (TL, formerly Tramways Lausannois). The M1 is a light metro with a dozen surface stations and three underground.

The line, which is 8 km (5 mi) long, links the centre of Lausanne, the Lausanne campus (UNIL and EPFL) and Renens. The line is generally single track. At most stations a passing loop 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.

Stations

Station Altitude Situation
Lausanne-Flon 479m
Vigie 481m
Montelly 443m
Provence 430m
Malley 422m
Bourdonnette 389m
UNIL-Dorigny 388m
UNIL-Mouline 386m
UNIL-Sorge 391m
EPFL 397m
Bassenges 399m
Cerisaie 398m
Crochy 403m
Epenex 410m
Renens CFF 404m

Line M2


Line M2
Overview
Stations 14
Operation
Opening 2008
Technical
Line length 6 km (3.7 mi)
Track gauge 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) standard gauge
with running pads for the rubber
tired wheels outside of the steel rails
Route map
[]
Lausanne Métro M2
Legend
Les Croisetes
Vennes
Garage
Fourmi
La Sallaz
CHUV
Ours
Bessières
Riponne
Lausanne-Flon
Lausanne-Gare
Grancy
Montriond
Délices
Jordils
Ouchy
Line m2 in construction on the stretch of the former Metro-Ouchy
The M2 Lausanne Gare station showing one of the steeply graded platforms.
Ouchy M2 station, showing a train stabled on a closed platform 'not in use' and another train approaching in the distance. As this station is the end of line the photograph was taken in a way that also shows the track end, including the side guide bars as well as the running pads used by the weight-bearing rubber tired wheels. Photographed through a glass wall.

The Lausanne Métro Line M2 uses the track formerly used by the Lausanne-Ouchy, and then a brand new extension towards Epalinges, crossing the whole city of Lausanne from north to south.

History

  • Complementary enquiry : September 2001
  • Decision by the State Council : June 2002
  • Funding requested from the High Council : September 2002
  • Popular vote : end 2002
  • Metro-Ouchy operations stopped : January 2006
  • Duration of construction : 4 to 5 years
  • Official Inauguration : 18 to 21 September 2008
  • In operation from : 27 October2008

Technical

Characteristics of the line

  • (6 km (3.7 mi) from Ouchy to Epalinges, including 1.5 km (0.93 mi) replacing the former Lausanne-Ouchy.
  • 14 stations.
  • 360 m (1,180 ft) slope (375 m or 1,230 ft) slope.
  • 5.7% slope average with maximum of 12%. The constraints in braking distance and deceleration are such that the M2 can travel faster upwards than downwards.

Performances

  • 25 million passengers/year (forecast).
  • 37 000 jobs serviced.
  • 37 mph (60 km/h) top speed.
  • 18 minutes from one end of the line to the other.
  • Up to 6 600 passengers/hour in each direction.
  • One train every 3 minutes between the main railway station and La Sallaz (every 6 minutes along the rest of the line).

A rubber-tyred metro

A rubber-tyred metro is able to climb at high speed the Lausanne slopes (12% in some places ; 5.7% average on the whole line).

Automated metro

The Line M2 is entirely automated, managed from a central command station. This means that it is cheaper to operate and more flexible during peak hours. The stations are equipped with platform screen doors and dedicated station personnel are on hand to assist passengers.

A separated right of way line

The M2 runs on its own right-of-way, with a double track (except in the tunnel under the CFF station due to high costs), underground for most (70%) of the route. The metro is the ideal solution to the security and congestion problems of the urban public transportation, since the subway can run without interfering with surface traffic.

Safe and practical stations

The underground stations are located as close as possible to the surface. They are equipped with stairs, lifts and facilities for handicapped people. The Lausanne slopes have been used to create multi-level access, make ramp access easier and take advantage of natural light as much as possible .

Trains

Mockup of a bogie of a M2 train

Technical data of the trains

  • Length of a train : 30,680 mm (100 ft 7.9 in)
  • Length of a car : 15,340 mm (50 ft 3.9 in)
  • Width of a car : 2,450 mm (8 ft 0.46 in)
  • Height of the car to ground level: 3,470 mm (11 ft 4.61 in)
  • Mass of an empty train : 57,316 kg (126,360 lb)
  • Mass of a train at maximum load (4 p/m²) : 72,856 kg (160,620 lb) (¹)
  • Width of the access doors : 1,650 mm (5 ft 4.96 in)
  • Height of the access doors : 1,900 mm (6 ft 2.80 in)

(¹) Calculated with an average of 70 kg (154 lb) per passenger.

Capacity of the trains

Number of passengers/m² Passengers per train
Nominal load 4 pax/m² 222
Full load 6 pax/m² 314
Maximum load 8 pax/m² 406

Delivery of the trains

The first train was delivered on 2 March 2006 in Lausanne. Since then, all the other trains have been delivered at a rate of two per month. When they arrived, the trains were stored in the CFF storage of Lausanne. Then, by autumn of 2006, the subway workshop facility having been completed, the vehicles were moved finally to the Vennes facility.

Accidents

On 23 February 2005, part of the tunnel under construction collapsed under the Saint-Laurent square in the centre of Lausanne. More than 500 m³ of debris (water and earth) fell into the tunnel, forming a huge fifteen metre gap. The area was completely evacuated for a few days and consolidation and geological analysis work started. A large pocket of water had not been noticed during the initial explorations.

Repair work lasted for a few months. The incident fortunately had no major consequence; nobody was in the area of the collapse which had heavily damaged a shopping mall. Part of the budget had been allocated for such risks and the deadline for the construction in December 2008 was not directly affected.

On 27 October 2006, a construction worker died from injuries. He had fallen a few days before on the construction site at the level of the entrance of the University Hospital of Lausanne (CHUV).

On 28 July 2008 a high level manager for Alstom who had responsibility for the security system for the new lines was found hanging in the stairwell at the entrance to the Vennes station of the M2. The 45-year-old French man's death appeared to have been a suicide.[3]

Stations

Station Altitude New/existing Situation Stopping time
Ouchy 373 m (1,224 ft) existing Outdoors 70"
Jordils 392 m (1,286 ft) existing Outdoors 25"
Délices 408 m (1,339 ft) new Indoors 25"
Montriond 420 m (1,378 ft) deleted Outdoors -
Grancy 425 m (1,394 ft) new Outdoors 25"
Lausanne railway station 451 m (1,480 ft) existing Underground 35"
Lausanne-Flon 473 m (1,552 ft) existing Underground 35"
Riponne - Maurice Béjart 492 m (1,614 ft) new Underground 35"
Bessières 500 m (1,640 ft) new Underground 25"
Ours 517 m (1,696 ft) new Underground 35"
CHUV 570 m (1,870 ft) new Underground 35"
La Sallaz 610 m (2,001 ft) new Indoors 35"
Fourmi 651 m (2,136 ft) new Underground 25"
Vennes 683 m (2,241 ft) new Underground 25"
Les Croisettes 711 m (2,333 ft) new Underground 70"

Possible extensions

The end station Les Croisettes has been designed to allow a future extension of the line to the north towards Epalinges-Village, or even Le Chalet-à-Gobet.

Line M3

A line M3 is proposed to serve the new development area of La Blécherette [4] and the west of Lausanne (Malley, Renens Bussigny). Line M3 could be a metro similar to the M2 and would be in correspondence with M1, M2 and LEB railway at the station Lausanne-Flon. The M3 could take over the M2 line from Ouchy to Lausanne Gare and a new terminus for the M2 would be established.[5]

Former Lausanne-Ouchy line

Former Lausanne-Ouchy metro

The Lausanne-Ouchy railway was inaugurated in 1877 as a funicular. In 1959 the first overhaul took place by transforming the funicular into a rack railway under the name "métro". At that time, Flon and Gare CFF stations were demolished and replaced by concrete underground equivalents. The line was however always nicknamed "La Ficelle" (The String) by its users due to its funicular past and circulation above ground in the greenery for more than half of its run.

Connected to the Flon facilities, the freight trains from the main station to the storage area of the harbour (in Flon) travelled through this line until the construction of a direct connection between the freight station of Sébeillon and the Flon valley in 1954.

The line was finally closed to all traffic on 21 January 2006. The rolling stock will be sold to the French city of Villard-de-Lans which foresees the construction of a new rack railway, La Patache to ensure a link between the center of Villard and Le Balcon de Villard in 2008.

A bus service was put into operation to replace "La Ficelle" until the opening of the new metro M2. This service was called Métrobus (MB): the south loop linked Ouchy to the CFF station and the north loop linked the station to Montbenon (which is located right above the Flon area).

Network

  • 2 parallel lines

Characteristics

  • Ouchy - Flon
    • length 1568 yards (1482m)
    • altitude differential 106 m
    • slope 11,6%
    • train every 8 minutes
  • CFF Station - Flon
    • length 318 m
    • altitude differential 37 m
    • slope 12%
    • continuous circulation without timetable

History

  • 1877, creation of the funicular Ouchy - CFF Station - Flon
  • 1879, creation of the funicular CFF Station - Flon, parallel to the initial one
  • Traction cables driven by water turbines in the top station
  • 1954-1958, transformation of the line to the rack mode
  • 1984, sold to the city of Lausanne
  • 21 January 2006, end of the operations to allow the conversion into Metro M2 and extension to Epalinges
  • 19 September 2008, inauguration of the M2 line

See also

Notes and references

  1. ↑ The Lausanne Metro has two lines. Line 1 is light rail, line 2 is rapid transit.
  2. ↑ "m2 – plus de 100'000 voyageurs en deux jours" (PDF) (in French). Transports publics de la région lausannoise. 29 octobre 2008. Retrieved 22 September 2012. 
  3. ↑ (French) http://www.lausanne.ch/view.asp?DocId=29628
  4. ↑ http://www.agglo-lausanne-morges.ch/Documents/Doc_17_janv_2008/PALM-dossier-axes-forts-170108.pdf
  5. ↑ Le M3, qui passera ici ou par là, cherche encore sa voie - 24 heures

External links

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