Lausanne, the largest city in the Vaude canton of Switzerland has roughly 140.000 residents. It is a major pole in the Lémanique Metropolitan Region with about 1.3 million residents. The city is slopy and hilly which normally would make rail public transit very difficult. Non the less it has two remarkable metro lines.
Line 1 opened in 1991 and connects the station Lausanne-Flon and the town of Renens, stopping at the campus of the renowned École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL).
The infrastructure is much LRT like. It has secure level crossings with roads, some single-track sections and only three underground stations. The light-weight vehicles use a 750V catenary.
The first series of vehicles of the types Bem 4/6 were built by the German manufacturer DÜWAG and were based on their “B-Wagen” for the LRT in Cologne and Bonn. The fleet was extended by the Be 4/6 series between 2013 and 2015. The two series are compatible and can run as double traction.
Int his video we look at stations and vehicles of line 1 and have some impressions of a ride from Renens to Lausanne-Flon.