Lyon protests halt TCL metro and trams, cutting off the city centre

Protests in Lyon on Saturday 24 October gradually brought much of the TCL public transport network to a halt, and by early evening the city centre could not be reached by metro. According to Lyon Capitale, TCL (Transports en Commun Lyonnais, the city’s metro, tram and bus operator) said at around 18:00 that it did not expect service to resume before 22:00.

What happened

Lyon Capitale reports that the TCL network began shutting down step by step from midday as the demonstrations went on. Several metro and tram lines stopped completely or ran on shortened routes, and most bus lines were disrupted or suspended. The paper also linked to its own coverage of the protest, which it described as the second “acte” (round) of demonstrations against “la vie chère”, the high cost of living.

Lyon Capitale gave this picture of the network as shown on the TCL app at around 18:00.

Metro

• Line A: running only between Vaulx-en-Velin La Soie and Laurent-Bonnevay.
• Line B: running only between Saint-Genis-Laval Hôpital Lyon Sud and Gare d’Oullins.
• Line C: running only between Cuire and Croix-Paquet.
• Line D: fully stopped since midday.

Tram

• T1 and T4: stopped.
• T2: running between Saint-Priest Bel Air and Bron Hôtel de Ville.
• T3: running between Meyzieu les Panettes and Gare de Villeurbanne.
• T5: running between Eurexpo and Bron Hôtel de Ville.
• T6: running between La Doua and Mermoz-Pinel.

Trambus and Rhônexpress

• TB11: terminating at Verlaine.
• TB12: terminating at Cyrano.
• Rhônexpress (the airport tram link): running only between Saint-Exupéry airport and Vaulx-en-Velin La Soie.

Lyon Capitale also reports that shared e-scooters (“trottinettes en libre-service”) were taken off the streets inside the area covered by the “interdiction préfectorale de manifester”. This is a protest ban issued by the préfecture, the local office of the national government.

What it means for you

All the lines listed above stopped short of the city centre, so anyone travelling into central Lyon by metro on Saturday evening could not get there. Metro A ran only on its eastern section beyond Laurent-Bonnevay. Line B ran only south of Gare d’Oullins, Line C only north of Croix-Paquet, and Line D did not run at all from midday.

Trams still running were limited to the eastern and outer parts of the network, and T1 and T4 were not running. Most bus lines were also affected, so people living in central districts had few public transport options.

If you were flying in or out of Saint-Exupéry, Rhônexpress kept running between the airport and Vaulx-en-Velin La Soie. From La Soie, Metro A ran only as far as Laurent-Bonnevay, so you would have needed another way to cover the rest of the journey into town.

Inside the city centre, Lyon Capitale says the only practical options were walking or Vélo’v, the city’s bike-share scheme, depending on how many bikes were available. Shared e-scooters had been removed from the protest ban area.

What residents should do:

• Check the TCL website or app before any journey. TCL recommends this itself, and the situation could change during the evening.
• Do not count on TCL’s 22:00 restart estimate for trambus lines TB11 and TB12. According to Lyon Capitale, those two lines were not expected back before Sunday.
• If you have to go into or across the centre, plan to walk or check Vélo’v availability before you leave.

What to watch next

The main thing to check is whether TCL’s planned 22:00 restart actually happened across the network. TCL had not confirmed a time, and Lyon Capitale noted that things could change during the evening. For TB11 and TB12 users, the question is when service returns on Sunday. Lyon Capitale’s report does not say when the protest ban perimeter ends or when the e-scooters will be brought back, so check the TCL website and local announcements for updates.

Source: Lyon Capitale