The abandoned metro for an express tram in Lyon
The announcement was made official on Monday, October 24, 2022: the project for a new Lyon metro line, line E, is therefore abandoned. Instead, an “express” tramway connects the city center of Lyon to the west of the metropolis. The National Commission for Public Debate (CNDP) provides the terms of future consultations on this project.
The future line of the Lyon metro is therefore definitively buried. The one that was to carry the letter E will not see the light of day!
The elected officials (mostly environmentalists) of the Lyon public transport union (SYTRAL Mobilities) signaled the end of the game. The project initiated by the former majority will only remain cards in boxes and at least 8 million euros disbursed.
After years of studies, surveys of basements, consultations, the project is therefore only a memory. But the various consultations have demonstrated the significant need for service to the west of Lyon” and the need to improve mobility in this sector“, a residential sector, rather well-to-do, somewhat forgotten by the various public policies.
The west of Lyon is a territory whose road transport infrastructure is congested during peak hours. This sector also suffers from an unattractive public transport service because it is exclusively provided by buses and its commercial speed is limited by road congestion.
EGIS Rail (Project management assistance for transport development studies)Study report – July 2017
The metro project would have cost nearly 2 billion euros, it was then hoped up to 102 000 trips/day. Upon their arrival in business, environmentalists have never really shown their attachment to this mode of transport, preferring alternatives such as cable transport. In this same sector of the agglomeration, a project had been announced: a gondola service. A project, again, forgotten. After months of consultation and a tussle between the elected officials of the western municipalities (more often marked on the right) and the new majority (EELV) at the head of the metropolis, the cable car ultimately does not circulate in the sky Lyons.
It will therefore be a new tramway. Call it “TEOL” (for Tramway Express de l’Ouest Lyonnais), a new kind of tramway since it will be buried over a large part of its route: 6.5 km of new line, including 3 or 4 km underground. Its speed can reach 70 km/h. And the number of stations will be limited (6 to 8 maximum). Estimated budget: 750 million euros. Cheaper than the metro, of course, but with a lower capacity in terms of travel (45 to 60 000 expected trips/days).
This Monday, October 24, 2022, during a board of directors of “SYTRAL-Mobilities” the elected officials therefore voted ” for further studies and referral to the National Debate Commission” in order to determine the terms of future consultation.
There are two hypotheses: either we do nothing, or we go on a project that meets the needs of the inhabitants. At some point, it is the interest of the inhabitants who must start on everything else.
Bruno Bernard, President (EELV) of SYTRAL-Mobilities
If the schedule is maintained, the technical studies will continue until 2025. The consultation phases could take place between 2023 and 2024, the first works starting in 2026, for commissioning in 2031.