FRANCE: Lyon transport operator Sytral has started public consultation into two route options for an orbital tram extension in the northeast of the city, as one of several schemes to be developed over the next five years.
The T6 Nord project would see the existing route from Debourg to Hôpitaux Est extended northwards to meet T4 at La Doua-Gaston Berger, near the National Institute of Applied Sciences. The 5·6 km extension would add 12 stops, including interchanges with metro Line A at Gratte-Ciel and T3 at Gare de Villeurbanne.
The consultation opened by Sytral President Bruno Bernard on March 15 is due to run until April 12, enabling Sytral to finalise its preferred route option the following month. Detailed studies of the selected route would lead to a Declaration of Public Utility in 2023 and a start of construction before the end of that year. Test running would begin in the final quarter of 2025 ahead of opening in 2026.
Taking route T6 to a total length of 12·2 km and 26 stops, the northern extension is projected to boost ridership to around 55 000 passengers/day. Trams would initially run at 10 min intervals during peak hours, increasing to every 7 min by 2030, with an end-to-end journey time of 43 min from Debourg to La Doua.
Consultations are expected to open in the coming weeks for tram routes T9 and T10, which are both due to be built by 2026. The former would run for 7·8 km, linking La Doua with the Line A terminus at La Soie via Vaulx-en-Velin, crossing the Canal de Jonage twice. The 6·7 km T10 would provide an east-west connection across the south of the city from Gerland on Line B to Vénissieux on Line D. In the longer term, Sytral envisages that these two routes could be extended to meet near Eurexpo, creating an eastern ring line.
Sytral is looking to start consultation in the autumn for two further projects for completion by the end of 2025. Tram route T8 would share tracks with T4 from La Doua to Condorcet before diverging westwards onto a 2 km branch across the River Rhône to Bellecour, connecting with Line C in the city centre. Route C1 would be a 6 km cable car connecting Gerland with Sainte-Foy-lès-Lyons and Francheville on the western side of the Rhône.
A number of metro projects are to be studied, augmenting the ongoing southern extension of Line B from Oullins to Sint-Genis-Laval. These include an eastern extension of Line A from La Soie to Meyzieu, a northern extension of Line B from Charpennes to Rillieux-la-Pape and a northeastern extension of Line D from Vaiseto La Duchère. A new Line E would run west from Part-Dieu station to Bellecour and Craponne.
