[3] The route is 23 kilometres (14 mi) long, and served by six tram-train sets, built by Swiss manufacturer Stadler Rail.

The route from the airport to the city's business center at Part-Dieu Villette (Lyon-Part-Dieu railway station) by way of Vaulx-en-Velin – La Soie (for transfer to Metro Line A) and Meyzieu takes roughly half an hour.

The Conseil général of the Rhône franchised the operation of this line for 30 years to Rhônexpress, a consortium including Vinci SA (28.2%), Veolia Transport (28.2%), Vossloh Infrastructure Service (4.2%), Cegelec Centre Est (2.8%) and the Caisse des dépôts et consignations.

[6] SYTRAL oversaw the construction of the initial line, commonly referred to as the T3 Links, which ran between Lyon Part-Dieu and Meyzieu ZI; its commissioning in December 2006 represented a major milestone for the project.

The completed line is also managed by a consortium, headed by VINCI, which was awarded the concession to operate it for a fixed period of 30 years.

[7] However, the system has been criticised for its high prices, as well as for being awarded contractual rights for a monopoly along its route, the latter having been subject to legal challenges.

[7] Rhônexpress uses the line T3 infrastructure built by SYTRAL from Lyon to Meyzieu (a hub for commuters with a large surface parking lot available).

The information terminals that provide live train schedules include periodic audio announcements for passenger convenience.

Rolling stock was chosen after a tender, taking into account the technical criteria (speed up to 100 km/h [62 mph]), durability, security and compatibility with the common use of the T3 line infrastructure, economics (capacity adapted to the traffic and prospects for their development) as well as comfort and aesthetics.