Lausanne tram

The Lausanne tram ( French Tramway de Lausanne ) was a tram network that existed from 1896 to 1964 in the Swiss city ​​of Lausanne . From the beginning, the tram was operated by the Société des tramways lausannois . The 66.2 km long meter-gauge network, on which 13 lines operated, also included the overland trams to Moudon and Savigny , which had been taken over in 1910 by the Compagnie des chemins de fer électriques régionaux du Jorat .

The reintroduction of the tram has been implemented in a modern form since 2020. An initially 4.6 km long, standard-gauge line between the Lausanne-Flon and Renens train stations is under construction and is due to open in 2023. In a second stage, it is to be extended from Renens via Crissier and Bussigny to Villars-Sainte-Croix .

The old tram (1896–1964)

First projects

The first attempts to build a tram network in Lausanne date back to between 1869 and 1872. At that time there were proposals for a compressed air system, comparable to the compressed air tram that was later implemented in Bern . Since the hillside location of Lausanne with the great differences in altitude and steep inclines seemed unsuitable for an ordinary tram, the engineer Bergeron suggested in 1882 that a cable tram be built instead between the Lausanne train station and the city center - similar to the cable cars in San Francisco . The death of the engineer put an end to the project.

On December 21, 1894, the federal government promised the engineer Adrien Palaz a subsidy for the construction of a tram network. The following year he presented his financial plan and received support from the city authorities. The construction of the power station between Rue Saint-Martin and the medical school, which was supposed to supply the tram with electricity, began in August 1895.

expansion

Tram on Place Saint-François (1906 or 1907)

For the construction and operation of the future tram network, the Société des tramways lausannois (TL) was founded on June 5, 1895 , with Adrien Rappaz as managing director and later director. The basic route network with a total length of 7.2 km was officially opened on August 29, 1896 and put into operation on the following September 1. It comprised a ring line around the city center and five radial lines starting at Place Saint-François :

• Ceinture Pichard (ring line)
• Saint-François - Georgettes - Pully - Lutry
• Saint-François - Ecole de Médecine - Pont de Chailly
• Saint-François - Riponne - Pontaise
• Saint-François - Gare CFF ( SBB train station)
• Saint-François - Gare Chauderon ( LEB station)

The opening of the line to Pontaise was delayed three and a half weeks and did not take place until September 25th. She brings an enormous slope of up to 113 ‰ and allowed only four railcars are traveled, with one on the superstructure acting dog brake were equipped. In May 1898, the Lausanne municipal parliament approved an expansion program. Trams went to the University Hospital and La Rosiaz from December 31 of the same year, and from February 11, 1899 to Prilly (the latter using the route of the LEB suburban railway opened in 1873). On May 29, 1902, TL acquired the section from the university hospital to La Sallaz for 40,000 francs, which had been built by the Compagnie des chemins de fer électriques régionaux du Jorat (REJ). This made La Sallaz the starting point for the REJ overland tram to Moudon and Savigny , the Ligne du Jorat .

On June 25, 1901, the municipal parliament approved a further expansion program, which also provided for the construction of the new Prélaz depot and the power supply for the entire route network from the new municipal power station. On September 24, 1903, the TL put three further sections into operation: from the SBB train station to Ouchy , from the Boulevard de Grancy to Montoie and from the Chauderon train station to the Renens train station . In 1906 the TL opened a cross connection between the train stations of the SBB and the LEB as well as an overland tram from the Place du Tunnel to Cugy (extended to Montheron in 1907). Finally, in 1909, a line from Riponnne via Bel-Air Bergières was added.

Accident on October 28, 1913

Takeover of REJ

REJ has cooperated closely with TL since it was commissioned in 1902. The starting point of the Ligne du Jorat was the La Sallaz stop on what was then the northern outskirts of the city. The REJ was always in deficit and went on September 30, 1910 in the city tram company, whose route network grew at a stroke by 27 km to 62 km. The Lausanne terminus of the Ligne du Jorat has been relocated to the Place du Tunnel in the city center. In 1912 the TL introduced line numbers instead of the previously used symbols; the existing lines were given the numbers 1 to 9, and the newly opened route from Place Saint-François to the port of Pully was given number 10. Another reorganization took place in June 1930.

The only fatal accident in the history of the Lausanne tram occurred on October 28, 1913. On the very steep Pontaise line, the brakes of railcar 67 failed and the car crashed into a house without braking, resulting in two deaths and two injuries. After two short route extensions to the Parc des Sports and to Bois de Vaux in 1933, the route network reached its greatest expansion.

Decline

The last tram ride was on January 6, 1964

The decline of the network began on October 2, 1932 with the introduction of a trolleybus line between Ouchy and the SBB train station. With the first line of this type in Switzerland, the TL initially wanted to find out whether trolleybuses were better suited to cope with the demanding topography of Lausanne with its many steep slopes. When enough experience was available, the management came to the conclusion that trolleybuses are cheaper, more convenient and faster than trams. In 1938 two lines were converted, in 1939 three more lines. The Second World War interrupted this development and tram operations had to be reintroduced on some sections of the route due to a lack of tires, but the TL continued the conversion process immediately after the end of the war. The overland tram to Montheron disappeared in 1951, the Ligne du Jorat in 1963. The last tram line, from Renens via Place Saint-François to Rosiaz (which was made up of parts of the earlier lines 7 and 9), was closed on January 6, 1964, to To enable road construction work for Expo 64 .

In July 1963, the Société des tramways lausannois changed its name to Transports publics de la région lausannoise , but kept the abbreviation TL and uses it to this day. Until the end of April 1970, the LEB still used a short connection from Chauderon station to the SBB freight station Sébeillon to transfer narrow-gauge freight wagons. With the opening of today's M1 line of the Métro Lausanne in 1991, local rail transport experienced a renaissance, although it did not cover any of the earlier routes.

Route network

At its peak in 1933, the route network of the Lausanne tram had a total length of 66.2 km. Of this, only 15.2 km had been expanded to have two lanes, and 29.2 km had an independent track. Its track width was 1000 mm, it was electrified with 550 (later 600) volts DC voltage . In contrast, the overland routes of the former REJ were electrified with 750 (later 950) volts DC voltage, their railcars ran on the city network with reduced voltage. The average curve radius was 20 to 25 m; the smallest was only 14 meters at Lutry, in a tight 90 ° turn. According to the hilly terrain, there were numerous steep sections, the maximum was 113 ‰ between Riponne and Pontaise.

Since 1930 there was a system with double line numbers on the city network. One-digit numbers stood for connections leading from the city center, two-digit numbers for those leading into the city.

line	route	Shutdown
1/11	Gare CFF - Ouchy	1933
2/12	Bois de Vaux - Bergières	1939
3/13	Gare CFF - Saint-François - Chauderon - Prilly	Merged into line 7 in 1938
4/14	Saint-François - Ouchy	1938
6/16	Gare CFF - La Sallaz	1939
7/17	Prilly - Gare CFF - Saint-François - La Rosiaz	1961/1964
8/18	Saint-François - Port de Pully	1938
9/19	Lutry - Saint-François - Renens	1961/1964
20th	Place du Tunnel - Cugy - Montheron	1951
21	Place du Tunnel - Chalet à Gobet	1962
22nd	Place du Tunnel - Moudon	1962
23	Place du Tunnel - Savigny	1962

This system existed until 1961. The last remaining line (Renens - Saint-François - La Rosiaz) consisted of parts of the earlier lines 7 and 9, which is why it was designated 7/9 until it was closed on January 6, 1964.

New tram (from 2023)

Lausanne tram (new)
↔ line M2 Lausanne-Flon → Line M1 ← Lausanne – Echallens – Bercher Port Franc Pont Chauderon EPSIC École des Métiers Prélaz-les-Roses Galicia Perrelet Perrelet depot Renens-Croisée Hotel de Ville Renens Gare Pont-Bleu Vermie Autobahn 1 worries Arc-en-Ciel Buyère Cocagne Autobahn 1 Croix-Péage

Project

In 2005, the State Council of the Canton of Vaud had a plan of action to implement the air pollution regulation in the Lausanne- Morges agglomeration drawn up and approved it on January 11, 2006. Among other things, an expansion of the main public transport axes was called for , as the existing bus routes do not meet the expected increase in demand would be able to absorb. For the axis from the city center of Lausanne in the direction of Renens , the action plan recommended the construction of a modern tram. After the final decision in favor of a tram was made in 2008, TL received a corresponding license from the Federal Council on September 26, 2011 . It came into force on January 1, 2012 and is valid for 50 years. The original project envisaged a connection between the Lausanne-Flon train station and the Renens train station . On January 17, 2012, the canton parliament supported a motion with 109 to 7 votes, which called for an extension beyond Renens to Villars-Sainte-Croix .

The public approval process led to various optimizations. An underground terminus in Flon was dispensed with and it was replaced by an above-ground one on the Place de l'Europe, which resulted in savings of CHF 83 million. In March 2016, the Federal Office of Transport (FOT) issued the building permit . This also included road construction measures to compensate for the closure of the Rue de Genève and the Grand-Pont to car traffic. Among other things, a small forest near Flon was to be cleared to make space for the Vigie-Gonin road ramp. The Green Party described this as an "ecological aberration". In May 2016, the municipal parliament released CHF 20 million, followed by the cantonal parliament, which in June confirmed the cantonal investments of CHF 453 million. Green Party politicians obtained a super-provisional injunction against the controversial road ramp, which is why the project was legally blocked from September 2016.

The Federal Administrative Court recognized the validity of the tram project in February 2018, but responded to the complaints and rejected the ramp. Cantonal authorities and representatives of TL announced an appeal against the judgment. In March 2018, the canton parliament rejected a petition demanding that the Flon grove be placed under protection. In May 2018, the Federal Administrative Court granted TL permission to start construction work in Renens, thereby partially withdrawing the suspensive effect from the complaints.

As the highest authority, the Federal Supreme Court overturned the decision of the Federal Administrative Court in February 2019, which recognized the FOT's responsibility for the entire project, including the road ramp. As a result, the BAV was henceforth only responsible for the road infrastructure as such. The newspaper 24 heures reported in October 2019 that the canton is finally dispensing with the Vigie-Gonin ramp and instead leaving the Grand-Pont open to automobile traffic. After the Federal Administrative Court had rejected the last objections, construction work began on July 7, 2020.

route

The first stage of the standard-gauge modern tram is to be opened in 2023. The section will be 4.6 km long and include ten stops in the municipalities of Lausanne and Renens . The eastern starting point will be the Place de l'Europe above the Lausanne-Flon train station . There will be transfer options to lines M1 and M2 and to the Lausanne – Echallens – Bercher-Bahn (LEB). The route will run roughly in a north-westerly direction, following Rue de Genève, Avenue de Morges, Route de Renens and Rue de Lausanne. The provisional terminus will be the square in front of the Renens train station , where there will be further transfer options to the RER Vaud trains and the M1.

Construction work on the second stage is scheduled to begin in 2022. It will be 3.1 km long and include six more stops in the municipalities of Crissier , Bussigny and Villars-Sainte-Croix . The route will initially follow the Rue du Terminus, the Route de Bussigny and the Boulevard de l'Arc-en-Ciel, passing under Autobahn 1 . At the Arc-en-Ciel stop in Bussigny, the route will turn north. After crossing the motorway, it will end at the Croix-du-Péage stop on the municipal boundary of Villars-Sainte-Croix.

operation

After completion, a tram will run every six minutes. This enables a transport capacity of initially 2750 people per direction and hour, in the long term it is to be increased to 4000 people. It is currently not known which vehicles will be used, as there has not yet been a call for tenders. The depot will be built on the property west of the current bus depot and the TL headquarters in Perrelet, in the municipality of Renens. A warehouse for the Heineken brewery previously stood on this site, which was acquired by the canton of Vaud in 2015 .

literature

• Ralph Bernet (Ed.): Trams in Switzerland . GeraMond, Munich 2000, ISBN 3-932785-07-X .
• Où sont passés les tramways? Les Lausannois témoignent . In: Charles-Étienne De Gasparo, Patrick Vianin (eds.): Ingénieurs et architectes suisses . tape 116 , no. 17 . Société anonyme des éditions des associations techniques universitaires, August 8, 1990, p. 339–347 (French, e-periodica.ch ).
• Michel Grandguillaume, Jacques Jotterand, Yves Merminod, Jean-Louis Rochaix, Pierre Stauffer, Jean Thuillard: Les tramways lausannois 1896–1964 . Bureau vaudois d'adresses, Lausanne 1977, ISBN 2-88125-000-9 .
• Auguste Wohnlich: Les tramways lausannois . In: Bulletin technique de la Suisse romande . tape 33 , 1907, pp. 1-7 , doi : 10.5169 / SEALS-26214 .

Web links

Commons : Lausanne tram  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Project website for the new tram (French)
• Transports publics de la région lausannoise (French, English)
• Transport projects in the Lausanne region (French)
• Route network 1938 (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} De Gasparo, Vianin: Où sont passés les tramways? P. 339.
2. ↑ ^{a b} De Gasparo, Vianin: Où sont passés les tramways? P. 343.
3. ^ Bernet: Trams in Switzerland. Pp. 127-128.
4. ↑ ^{a b c d e} Bernet: Trams in Switzerland. P. 128.
5. ^ Valérie Maire: Le tram du Jorat: entre ville et campagne. In: Connexions. Transports publics de la région lausannoise , December 2013, accessed on January 13, 2021 . 
6. ↑ De Gasparo, Vianin: Où sont passés les tramways? P. 341.
7. ↑ De Gasparo, Vianin: Où sont passés les tramways? Pp. 342-343.
8. ↑ De Gasparo, Vianin: Où sont passés les tramways? Pp. 343-344.
9. ↑ De Gasparo, Vianin: Où sont passés les tramways? P. 345.
10. ^ Homely: Les tramways lausannois. Pp. 2-3.
11. ↑ Lausanne. The GS tram site, accessed January 13, 2021 . 
12. ↑ EMPD 294 - Réalisation du tramway Lausanne-Renens. (PDF, 12.7 MB) Canton of Vaud , March 2016, accessed on January 13, 2021 (French). 
13. ^ Federal Council grants a license for the Lausanne – Renens tram line. admin.ch , September 16, 2011, accessed on January 13, 2021 . 
14. ^ Soutien pour prolonger la voie jusqu'à Bussigny. 20 minutes , January 17, 2012, accessed January 13, 2021 (French). 
15. ↑ L'arrivée du tram à Lausanne sur de bons rails. 20 minutes , February 13, 2014, accessed January 13, 2021 (French). 
16. ↑ Cindy Mendocino: Le tram a gagné une bataille mais pas la guerre. 24 heures , March 10, 2016, accessed on January 13, 2021 (French). 
17. ↑ Cindy Mendocino, Alain Détraz: Lausanne dit oui au financement du tram Flon-Renens. 24 heures , May 24, 2016, accessed on January 13, 2021 (French). 
18. ^ Lise Bourgeois: Plus de 453 millions engagés pour le tram Renens-Lausanne. 24 heures , June 14, 2016, accessed on January 13, 2021 (French). 
19. ↑ Charaf Abdessemed: Vigie-Gonin: l'étrange combat des Verts lausannois. lausannecites.ch, September 21, 2016, accessed on January 13, 2021 (French). 
20. ↑ Renaud Bournoud, Cindy Mendicino: La rampe qui se dresse sur la route du tram. 24 heures , February 8, 2018, accessed on January 13, 2021 (French). 
21. ^ Not à la pétition en faveur de la forêt du Flon à Lausanne. Swissinfo , March 18, 2018, accessed on January 13, 2021 (French). 
22. ↑ Cindy Mendocino: Feu vert pour un petit bout de tram. 24 heures , June 26, 2018, accessed on January 13, 2021 (French). 
23. ↑ Le TF relance le projet de tram entre le Flon à Lausanne et Renens. Radio Télévision Suisse , May 9, 2019, accessed on January 13, 2021 (French). 
24. ↑ Renaud Bournoud, Cindy Mendocino: Lausanne ne pas Rasera la forêt du Flon pour une route. 24 heures , October 8, 2019, accessed on January 13, 2021 (French). 
25. ↑ Les travaux préparatoires du chantier du tramway prennent leurs quartiers à Renens. tramway-lausannois.ch, July 7, 2020, accessed on January 13, 2021 (French). 
26. ^ De Lausanne à Renens. tramway-lausannois.ch, accessed on January 13, 2021 (French). 
27. ^ De Renens à Villars-Ste-Croix. tramway-lausannois.ch, accessed on January 13, 2021 (French). 
28. ↑ Aïna Skjellaug: Le grand retour du tram à Lausanne. Le Temps , April 22, 2016, accessed January 13, 2021 (French). 
29. ↑ Renaud Bournoud: A Renens, le tram remplace les caisses de bières. 24 heures , January 8, 2015, accessed on January 13, 2021 (French).