Trams in Lausanne

Lausanne, a city in western Switzerland and a cultural and commercial centre, has returned its tramway as a modern tram system.

The first attempts to create a tramway network in Lausanne date back to the period between 1869 and 1872, when a compressed air system was proposed comparable to that used on the Trams in Bern.

[1] In August 1895, construction began on the power station to supply electricity to the grid, located between rue Saint-Martin and the medical school.

[2] The network, consisting of six lines and a total length of 7.2 km, was inaugurated on August 29, 1896, and was put into service on 1 September following.

[7][8] In 1912, the line Saint-François - Port Pully (3.1 km)[9] On October 28, 1913, the only fatal accident occurred in the history of the Lausanne tramway.

[10] The brakes of the motor # 67 failed in the descent of Valentin, on the very steep line of the Pontaise, and the convoy hit a house, causing two deaths and two wounded.

The network reached its peak in 1933 with 66.2 km of lines and two extensions: Caserne - Parc des Sports (1/11) and Saint-Jean - Bois de Vaux (2/12).

[11] This line obtained satisfactory results and led the TL to begin the replacement of trams by trolleybuses in 1938, judged to be more adapted to the characteristic relief of the Vaudoise capital composed of steep and numerous slopes, more comfortable, faster and less expensive to manage.

maintained tram, and modernised which caused improvement of city transport, Lausanne suffered from many problems of developing countries, including pollution, traffic jam, increasing population, etc.

In 1970s, all these problems started, and by mid-1980s, inhabitants of Lausanne realized that non-control of motor vehicles & closure of trams was a great mistake.

Although the trolleybus was a pollution free transportation, maintenance of that system was even higher than trams, because it ran on rubber tyres, which required frequent replacement.

The network was meter gauge and, for the most part, single-track, very few sections are double-track, and are supplied with direct current at a voltage of 550-600 Volts.

Tramcars were caught in the traffic jams caused by the cars, and single track was the main obstacle for a hassle free service.