Trains have begun trial runs on the new line 2 of the Lausanne Metro, which is set to start handling passengers in September this year.
The Metro system, which is Switzerland's only subway, has been undergoing renovations to expand and upgrade the ageing system since 2003.
The original line was a funicular or rack line, running from Ouchy on the lakefront to Flon in the city centre and had been open for more than a century.
Operator Metro Lausanne-Ouchy decided to upgrade the line in 2003 and signed a contract with Alstom to provide the rolling stock, power supply, signalling, and track and project management.
A driverless automatic system has been used for the project, allowing the metro line to operate with a relatively small staff.
The line was closed in 2006 and subsequently dismantled, the rack line's alignment was then reworked to accommodate the automatic system, which allows the line to extend northwards over a new 4.5km section through northern suburbs to Les Croisettes.
The system is two-track throughout, except for a short single-track section beneath the SBB station. The 14 stations feature 30m platforms with access to the six train-side doors through automatically activated platform edge screen doors. Of the total route length, about 70% of the track is below ground.
A new station provides connections between the 7.8km metro line m1, a more conventional light rail operation and the Lausanne-Echallens-Bercher metre-gauge local rail service.
When the rail opens Lausanne will replace Rennes as the smallest city in the world to have a full metro system.
By Daniel Garrun
