TCL: transport in Lyon

Lyon is a great city, and enjoys a very efficient system of public transport. In this article, I will explain how it is organised, for example its fares.

Metro, tram and bus

The licensed public transport company in Lyon is called TCL (Transports Communs Lyonnais). In this city, there are three available options: the metro, the tram and the bus. . You will surely use each of these at some point.

The metro in Lyon has four lines, each with a different colour and letter that distinguishes it:

• Metro A, Pink Line (although some say that it’s red xD) – in the direction of Perrache or Vaulx-en-Velin la Soie.

• Metro B, Blue Line - in the direction of Charpennes or Gare d'Oullins

• Metro C, Orange Line - in the direction of Hôtel de Ville or Cuire

• Metro D, Green Line - in the direction of Gare de Vaise or Gare de Vennisieux

The only thing I’d advise you to do when you take the metro, is to really make sure that you’ve taken it in the right direction. Also pay attention to whether or not you need to change line… I remember one morning that I arrived late to university because I was reading a newspaper and watching some girls who were fighting (:S don’t worry, I only saw this once, don’t go thinking that the Lyonnaise are savages xD), and, well, I was distracted and when I realised… I had already passed two stations from the one I was supposed to get off at! >. < But, well, in the end I arrived on time to my class (the miracles of destiny! :D).

The Lyon metro: Valmy station (no, not all of the stations are as great at this, but eh :P but they are all in very good condition. Unlike those of the Paris metro…)

As well, as these lines, from the Vieux Lyon metro station, you can take two funiculars (cable cars):

• Funiculaire Fourvière, that will take you directly to the The Basilica of Notre-Dame de Fourvière.

• Funiculaire Saint Just, that will take you to the district that bears the same name. If you live in the university residence André Allix (there are a lot of Erasmus and international students living here! ), then you will surely use this funicular on more than one occasion, as it is the closest one. Furthermore, there is an intermediate stop in Minimes. If you want to go to the ruins of the Ancient Theatre of Fourvière, it’s here that you will need to get off.

Line D, Green, is the most used. In contrast, Line C, Orange, is the shortest: it has only five stops.

In regards to the tram, there are five different lines. The most-used tram lines by university students are the T1 (that passes through the Berges du Rhône campus, from l'Université Lyon 2, and brings you to l’Université Lyon 1, the Doua campus, and to INSA) and the T2 (that also passes through the Berges du Rhône campus and brings you to the (far away :p) Bron campus, of Lyon 2 as well).

Finally, there are various bus lines (soooo many! Too many! :p). The only recommendation that I will give you is that, when you have to take the bus, pay attention to the name of the line that you need. For example, the C20 bus is not the same as the 20 bus. Although they have the same number, the ‘C’ indicates DIFFERENT routes. I put it in capitals so that you will remember it well. And yes, this did once happen to me, as I took the C9 bus instead of taking the 9 bus (on my own) and it took me to a completely different place to where I wanted to go hahaha xD

Apart from this, you should know that the lyonnaise transport system is more than well-organised: there are specific stops and the routes are clear. Furthermore, the buses have fixed timetables >. < (well, there are times where they are a few minutes late, but there are also times where they are early! :O) The transport is organised in a completely different way to how it is organised in Mexico! (although not unlike in England).

Regarding the Mexican system, this can be an advantage… but could also be a disadvantage :p Advantage because every station has a map of the city, the routes of the lines that stop there as well as the timetables. It would be difficult to lose yourself because you will always feel well-orientated and, according to the place you’re going to, you only need to ask how to get there, what bus to take and what stop to get off at (try to avoid directions such as: “take the route 52, when you pass the ‘XX’, get off at the third corner” xD).

However, being used to the buses in Mexico, such ‘efficiency’ can play against you. Because here in France, you have to plan, check the time that the bus will arrive and arrive at this time at the stop, or even before! Because arriving a minute late could mean the bus will have already left, and you’ll have to wait from 10 minutes (if you’re lucky) up to an hour or more >. < And you’d run the risk of arriving late to your class/ date/ outing/ party etcetera… It’s not like in Mexico, where the majority of routes have a bus that passes every few minutes. It was here in France where I learned (by force) the importance of time and planning… and I am here for the second time, already half a year in Lyon, and sometimes (often) I still have a hard time! :( But, oh well, one has to accustom themselves to everything, right? :)

Fares

One TCL ticket costs €1. 90. It works on the metro, the tram and the bus. Furthermore, once activated, it’s valid for an hour. That is to say you have 60 minutes to travel with the same ticket and use whichever mode of permitted transport (metro, bus or tram).

You can also buy the pack of ten tickets. They sell them for €17. 30, something like this. There are also tickets for the whole day, which are valid for 24 hours (from the beginning of the service until the end of it). They cost €6. There are also "tickets soirée", which are valid from 7pm until the end of the service.

Finally, there are also monthly, or even yearly, subscriptions, especially for students. I will give you all of the details of that next.

Fourvière Cable Car^^

Campus Subscription

There is a TCL subscription for all students in Lyon, French or otherwise, that are under 28 years old. It’s called the "Abonnement Campus". Currently, it costs €31. 80 per month, but the price increases a little each month (when I arrived, it cost €28. 80).

I recommend subscribing to the Abonnement Campus as soon as you can once you’ve arrived in Lyon. Then you can use the metro, the tram, and the buses without limit: I assure you it will save you a huge amount, instead of paying €1. 80 for each one of the innumerable journeys you will take. And you can imagine that when you first arrive in Lyon, you will be going from here to there (Titre de séjour (residence permit), registration, course choices etcetera, etcetera, etcetera…).

You can subscribe to this ‘abonnement’ online or in person in one of the TCL customer service offices. I recommend that you go in person because you can then get the card that same day. Mind you, you have to be patient (because, as you will have already imagined, you won’t be the only students that want this ‘abonnement’…) or get up early to be one of the first in the queue and therefore not wait an eternity to be served.

To subscribe to this ‘Abonnement Campus’ you have to go to have official proof that you are registered to the university. It could be your credentials or student certificate from the school that you are registered in here in Lyon. However, normally these are documents that are given to exchange students later. In this case, you can bring your acceptance letter from the university that you will be studying here in Lyon. And when you receive your credentials or certificate from the French university, bring them to the RCL office so that they can validate your student status for the rest of the academic year (and so they can therefore validate your discounts; )).

Indeed, one of my friends was here in Lyon for their Masters but, as she was 31 years old, she couldn’t use the Campus fare in her first year. So, she had to pay the normal fare for the monthly ‘unlimited’ subscription: 60 euros a month (now 77. 7 euros)… However, during her second year here, thanks to the structure of her borough (she lived in the 7th ‘arrondissement’), she could ask for a waiver to then have the ‘Abonnement Campus’, despite being older than 28 years old. The only thing that she had to prove was that she was a student, that she didn’t work and that she didn’t have sufficient means to pay the 60 euros a month. I recommend you investigate more in the ‘mairie’ (town hall) of your ‘arrondissement’ (borough) to know if you could also ask for this support.

Les Pleine Lune: Night Buses… Party Tiiiiime

With Lyon being such a big city with so many students, it’s normal that there are a lot of bars, clubs and parties… But, how do you get back home at two in the morning when the normal transport stops functioning at midnight? Well, it’s for this reason that the marvellous Pleine Lune buses exist! They’re four different bus lines that depart from Hôtel de Ville and go towards different areas in Lyon.

Although watch out, because they only run on Thursday, Friday and Saturday night (that is to say, Thursday for Friday, Friday for Saturday and Saturday for Sunday). They run every hour: at 1am, 2am, 3am and 4am. Just check which route is the most convenient for you; ) If you are staying in the André Allix Residence, the Pleine Lune 3 bus will take you here and will also take you to the Sainte-Irénée stop as well as the Sainte-Irénée Croix Blanche stop.

Attention: the Pleine Lune 4 that passes through Jean Macé and goes towards Saint Priest) only runs at 1am and at 3am!

Sometimes, the buses in Lyon have small flags :D They have them for important days such as the 14th of July or Armistice Day. They also have them when they’re commemorating something, for example when they declared a national day of morning for those attacked in November (when I saw these little flags the first time, I asked the driver why they had them and voilà the answer he gave me… Nuri is always a curious one :P)

Photo taken by: http://i28.servimg.com/u/f28/12/88/53/94/2502_010.jpg

Tip: Look out for the inspectors!

Maybe you don’t need the ‘Abonnement Campus’ (because you live close to your faculty, for example) and you only need to use the metro or tram every once in a while… the temptation to get on the bus without paying can be strong. And the thing is, you can get on the bus or tram (and even on the metro) without a ticket and travel for free. Yes, it’s true. However, it’s not something I recommend, because here in Lyon there are very often ‘contrôleurs’, that is to say, people that work in the TCL and are in charge of verifying that everyone has a valid ticket. If they catch you without a ticket… the fine is 50 euros! It’s more trouble than it’s worth… so be careful, or, better yet, buy a ticket. Better to be safe than sorry!; )

Where can you buy tickets?

You can buy tickets in the automatic ticket machines that are in every metro or tram station. Although be careful, because you can only pay by card or with coins, as they don’t accept notes. On occasion, you can buy your tickets or renew your monthly subscription in the tobacco shops. You just need to check if they have the TCL logo to know if they’re an ‘authorised distributor’, so to speak.

Upon boarding the bus, you can buy tickets, but they cost €2, so it’s more convenient to board with bus with your ticket already to hand; )

Art in the metro and seasonal exhibitions

To finish, something that I like about public transport in Lyon, as well as its efficiency, is that the metro is a public space where you can come across art. I have already written an entry regarding this precisely: in every station, there are very interesting frescoes, sculptures and other details that give each of these spaces a personality. I recommend that you read the ’Art Métro’ plaques because this is where the arts of work are explained. So, you can notice details that, otherwise, you wouldn’t have seen.

For example, one I discovered recently, was the ‘Art Métro’ in the the Parilly station: the ceiling is made up of a green mosaic that imitates tree leaves, whilst the metro platforms have shapes that remind me of the crypts of the Gothic churches. This contrast refers to life and death, light and darkness. It seemed like a very interesting piece to me and, despite having been here on maaaaany occasions, if I had not read the famous plaque, I would have never noticed.

Photo of the work of Sean Hart, is the Charpennes - Charles Hernu station (Line A, Pink, and Line B, Blue). (Photo taken by: http://img.20mn.fr/20qMhzHFSrSBwuDMGJm_gQ/648x415_artiste-sean-hart-va-exposer-18-janvier-2016-metro-lyonnais.jpg )

As well as these permanent works, on occasion there are seasonal expositions. The most recent was one of the urban artist, Sean Hart: giant signs with ‘mysterious’ messages that catch the eye of the passers-by. For example, you can simply read the phrase: ’L’amour existe’ (‘Love exists’). Upon seeing this phrase, you feel inspired by it and it makes you smile, especially when one is hurriedly taking the metro to university or to work <3

I remember another exhibition of photos from a photographer whose pseudonym is Gone Underground. It included images that literally illustrated the names of the metro stations. The same photographic project has been done in the Paris metro, and Lyon was also entitled to its own series.

Example of the photos taken by Gone Underground: do you get the reference: Vieux Lyon = Old Lion (Photo taken by: http://www.lyoncapitale.fr/var/plain_site/storage/images/media/01-photos/actualite/vieux-lyon-expo-francois-sola/3699073-1-fre-FR/Vieux-Lyon-Expo-Francois-Sola_image-gauche.jpg )

Conclusion

Well, this was a long article, it’s true. But I have tried to explain clearly, and in detail, how the public transport work in Lyon, its fares, as well as its particularities :) Generally speaking, the French public transport works in the same way, so these tips and explications will also be useful if you go to another city.

Photo gallery