Lyon Metro Line C

Lyon Metro Line C logo

Lyon Metro Line C (Ligne C du métro de Lyon) is a unique rapid transit railway line in the Lyon Metro network, characterized by its historical and technological aspects.

Line C is the modernized version of the former Funiculaire Croix-Rousse – Croix-Paquet, a cable-hauled railway that operated on part of the current alignment. The original funicular line was opened in 1891 and ran between its namesake stations. After surviving the closure of the nearby funiculaire Rue Terme – Croix-Rousse in 1967, this line was closed in 1972 for refurbishment and conversion to rack railway technology. It reopened for service in 1974, four years before lines A and B of the Lyon Metro opened.

When it was integrated with the metro as Lyon Metro Line C in 1978, the line's southern end was extended from Croix-Paquet to Hôtel de Ville–Louis Pradel (City Hall), also equipped with rack rail. A further extension of Line C opened on 8 December 1984, when its northern end was extended from Croix-Rousse to Cuire as an adhesion railway (no rack).

History[muokkaa]

The original funicular line opened in 1891, running between its namesake stations. After surviving the closure of the nearby funiculaire Rue Terme – Croix-Rousse in 1967, this line closed in 1972 for refurbishment and conversion to rack railway technology. It reopened for service in 1974, four years before lines A and B of the Lyon Metro opened. When it was integrated with the metro as Lyon Metro Line C in 1978, the line's southern end was extended from Croix-Paquet to Hôtel de Ville–Louis Pradel (City Hall), also equipped with rack rail. A further extension of Line C opened on 8 December 1984, when its northern end was extended from Croix-Rousse to Cuire as an adhesion railway (no rack).

The line now serves five stations and is 2.4 kilometers long. It was constructed using various methods: the original route used by the former funicular line runs up a steep incline rising from a deep tunnel to an exposed trench, the newly built level segment at Croix-Rousse using cut-and-cover, and the latest section beyond Hénon running on the surface. Croix Paquet station claims to be the steepest metro station in the world, with an incline of 17%. The repurposed alignment of the original funicular from Croix-Paquet to Croix-Rousse is among the world's oldest structures currently used by metro trains, having first opened in 1891.

It is currently the only steel-wheeled line on the Lyon Metro, as well as the only steel-wheel metro line in France outside Paris, excluding sections of the Paris Metro that run beyond the Paris city limits. Until Paris Metro Line 15 opens, it will be the only metro line in France to use overhead wires instead of a third rail.