page_title: Lyon tramway
section_title: History: the original network (1879 - 1957)
hierarchical_section_title: Lyon tramway / History: the original network (1879 - 1957)
caption_attribution_description: Carte postale ancienne éditée par ER N247 Lyon - Place carnot - Station des Tramways
context_page_description: The Lyon tramway comprises seven lines, six lines operated by TCL and one by Rhônexpress in the city of Lyon in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, France. The original tramway network in Lyon was developed in 1879, and the modern network was built in 2001.
  Lines T1 and T2 opened in 2001; T3 opened at the end of 2006; line T4 opened in 2009; line Rhônexpress opened in 2010; line T5 opened in 2012 and line T6 opened in November 2019. The tramway system complements the Lyon Metro and forms an integral part of the public transportation system in Lyon. The network of 6 tram lines operated by TCL runs 66.3 kilometres; the single line operated by Rhônexpress runs for 22 kilometres. The network is currently served by 73 Alstom Citadis 302 and 19 Alstom Citadis 402 trams.
  Line T1 extends from Debourg to IUT Feyssine via Perrache, Gare Part-Dieu - Vivier Merle and Charpennes. Line T2 runs from Perrache to Saint-Priest – Bel-Air via Jean Macé, Grange Blanche and Porte des Alpes. Line T3 goes from Gare Part-Dieu - Villette to Meyzieu Z.I./Meyzieu Les Panettes via Vaulx-en-Velin – La Soie.
context_section_description: The first steam-driven tram line, the number 12, linked Lyon and Vénissieux in 1888. The network was electrified between 1893 and 1899. Extensions to the suburbs were built until 1914. This was the height of the network - high quality service, low price, high frequency and high profitability for shareholders. The inflation between World War I and World War II made the network unprofitable. Beginning in the 1930s, tramways were progressively replaced with trolleybuses and later buses. A modernization plan, including underground sections in the city centre, planned in the 1940s was rapidly abandoned. The last urban tram ran on line 4 in January 1956 and the last suburban tram, the "Train bleu" in Neuville-sur-Saône, was abandoned in June 1957.
caption: Tram station at Place Carnot at the beginning of the 20th century
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