Line C () of the Lyon Metro is the modern incarnation of the ''Funiculaire Croix-Rousse – Croix-Paquet'' (''Croix-Rousse – Croix-Paquet Funicular''), an old cable-hauled railway operating on part of the current alignment.

History

In 1891 the original

funicular A funicular ( ) is a type of cable railway system that connects points along a railway track laid on a steep grade (slope), slope. The system is characterized by two counterbalanced carriages (also called cars or trains) permanently attached to ...

line was opened, 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, reopening for service in 1974 (four years before lines A and B 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'' (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 An adhesion railway relies on adhesion traction to move the train, and is the most widespread and common type of railway in the world. Adhesion traction is the friction between the drive wheels and the steel rail. Since the vast majority of railw ...

(no rack). Funiculaire_Croix_Paquet_01

The line now serves five stations, and is 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 A tunnel is an underground or undersea passageway. It is dug through surrounding soil, earth or rock, or laid under water, and is usually completely enclosed except for the two Portal (architecture), portals common at each end, though ther ...

, 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 Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

opens, it will be the only metro line in France to use overhead wires instead of a third rail (although the Paris Métro lines initially built by the Nord-Sud Company (now lines 12 and 13) did originally use overhead before being taken over by the CMP (now RATP) and were converted to third rail power following the takeover).

List of the stations

* Hôtel de Ville–Louis Pradel * Croix-Paquet * Croix-Rousse * Hénon * Cuire

Chronology

* 9 December 1974: Croix-Paquet—Croix-Rousse * 2 May 1978: Hôtel de Ville–Louis Pradel – Croix-Rousse * 10 December 1984: Hôtel de Ville–Louis Pradel – Cuire

References

External links

Transports en Commun Lyonnais (TCL)
{{1st arrondissement of Lyon 1st arrondissement of Lyon 4th arrondissement of Lyon Rack railways in France Railway lines opened in 1862 Railway lines opened in 1978 C 1862 establishments in France 750 V DC railway electrification