Responding to the need for increased mobility in the urban area, in Lausanne, the network of the Strong Directions for Urban Public Transport (Axes Forts de Transports Publics Urbains – AFTPU) comprises the will to provide the agglomeration with efficient and comfortable means to move. It is one of the strategic measures approved by the Lausanne-Morges Agglomeration Project (PALM).
By their objectives and the infrastructure they require to achieve these objectives, the Strong Directions represent the superior level of the hierarchy of the urban public transport network. Indeed, within the framework of the multimodal mobility targeted by the Lausanne-Morges conurbation, the Strong Directions aim to serve the strategic development and urban development sectors of the agglomeration, to increase the performance and general attractiveness of public transport thanks to a capacity, regularity of travel time and a high commercial speed, to strengthen the supply of public transport in the agglomeration and to improve the cost-effectiveness of operating the network.
The first stage of this deployment will involve the commissioning of the tramway between Lausanne-Flon and Renens-Gare of the Swiss Railways, starting 2018.
Another significant project for the urban transport in Lausanne is the extension of the metro network.
This May, Canton Vaud Directorate-General for Mobility and Transport has awarded two contracts to support the planned expansion of the Lausanne metro network, Line M2, which is being carried out as part of the Strong Directions for Urban Public Transport (AFTPU) programme.
This link between the city of Lausanne and the other regions of the Vaud Canton will become even more important in the coming years with the development of the Vaud RER and the extension of the Lausanne railway station. The Council of State submits to the Grand Council a plan for the development of the metro until 2025. This strategic vision should make it possible to double the capacity between Flon and Lausanne railway station, while preparing the arrival of the new metro line M3, in the direction of La Blécherette.
“The development of the Lausanne metros is part of the strengthening of the entire public transport chain in Vaud. The strong developments of the RER Vaud and the regional railways will bring more and more travelers to the station of Lausanne. With this plan of measures for the M2 and the M3, the aim is to reinforce the essential link of transport between the Lausanne agglomeration and all the regions of the canton”, explaines Nuria Gorrite, Head of the Department of Infrastructure within the Vaud Canton.
The project will address the urgent need for more capacity on Line M2, which has a design capacity of 25 million passengers, but carried 28 million passengers in 2014. New rolling stock is being acquired for the line and a second tunnel will be constructed between Grançy and Flon, which will make Line M2 double-track for its entire length. The tunnel will include a new station beneath the Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) station, which is being redeveloped as part of the Léman 2030 project.
The new tunnel is due to be completed in 2023. This will increase capacity on the core section of Line M2 to 11,700 passengers per hour per direction.
This article was published in the June issue of the Railway PRO Magazine that analyses the latest and most important railway projects around the world.
by Elena Ilie
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