The Lausanne trolleybus system () forms part of the public transport network of Lausanne, in the canton of Vaud, Switzerland. The system has been in operation since 1932Murray, Alan (2000). World Trolleybus Encyclopaedia, p. 73. Yateley, Hampshire, UK: Trolleybooks. . and is the third-oldest trolleybus system in the world, after those of Shanghai and Philadelphia.

Lausanne is a very hilly city, making trolleybuses well-suited to it as a transport mode. Today, the system is the largest in Switzerland. It is supplemented by the Lausanne Metro, and by various conventional bus routes.

The system is operated by Transports publics de la région lausannoise (TL) – formerly Tramways Lausannois – and comprises 12 trolleybus routes, serving not only Lausanne, but also the neighbouring municipalities of Le Mont-sur-Lausanne, Lutry, Paudex, Prilly, Pully and Renens. Following some line closures, the system no longer serves Cugy, Epalinges and Froideville.

History Opened on 2 October 1932, the Lausanne system was only the second trolleybus system to open in Switzerland, preceded by the rural Fribourg–Farvagny trolleybus system.Dölling, Gerhard (1993). Straßenbahnatlas Schweiz 1993, pp. 60, 112–114. Berlin: Arbeitsgemeinschaft Blickpunkt Straßenbahn e.V. . That line closed earlier in 1932. The Lausanne system was therefore the country's only trolleybus system at the time of its opening, and it retained that distinction until the opening of the Winterthur trolleybus system, in 1938. It has always been operated by TL, which stood for Tramways Lausannois until 1963 and was changed at that time to the present name, Transports publics de la région lausannoise.

The Lausanne system's first line was between Lausanne railway station (Gare CFF) and Ouchy. In 1938–1939, a number of additional lines were opened, and between 1938 and 1964 the system gradually replaced the Lausanne tramway network.

On 9 April 1951, the interurban tram line to Montheron was replaced by trolleybus route 20. On 7 January 1964, trolleybus route 7 replaced tram line 9 (the city's last urban tram line at the time), which had been closed the previous day. By that year, there were 10 trolleybus routes in Lausanne.

On 1 June 1969, a second interurban trolleybus line was launched, to Le Chalet-à-Gobet, as route 21. However, by 1974, this service had only four trips per day,Trolleybus Magazine No. 78 (September 1974), pp. 117–118. National Trolleybus Association (UK). . and in 1981 just three per day in the public timetable. On 3 June 1973, new trolleybus route 5 was introduced, running from Avenue Jomini to the surburb of Épalinges (using existing wiring of route 21 for much of its length), and on 1 June 1975, an extension of route 9 was opened between Pully and Lutry.

In 1987, route 7 was extended from La Rosiaz to Val Vert.Trolleybus Magazine No. 157 (January–February 1988), p. 19. National Trolleybus Association (UK). Trolleybus operation on interurban route 21 had ceased by 1986 or 1987. In connection with the planned 1991 opening of the city's new tramway, the TSOL (Tramway du sud-ouest lausannois, rebranded as Metro Line M1 in 2000), some expansion of the trolleybus system was undertaken. An extension was built to Bourdonnette, and route 2 was extended to there from Bellevire on 1 June 1991.Trolleybus Magazine No. 179 (September–October 1991), p. 126. National Trolleybus Association (UK). . The following day, motorbus route 15 was converted to trolleybuses.Trolleybus Magazine No. 180 (November–December 1991), p. 149. National Trolleybus Association (UK). .

In 1991, interurban route 20which by this time was one of the few interurban trolleybus lines remaining in Europe was renumbered 60. Trolleybuses last served the semi-rural section to Montheron in spring 1993, when a fire destroyed some feeder cable and all service on route 60 was temporarily converted to motorbuses. Limited trolleybus service (a few trips per day) was reintroduced as far as the short-working terminus at Cugy in October 1995, but was discontinued again, permanently, at the end of service on 31 May 1996. A 3-km suburban section of former route 60 regained trolleybus service in December 2011, when route 8 was extended from Bellevaux to Grand Mont after overhead wiring that had been removed in 2000 was reinstalled.Trolleybus Magazine No. 300 (November–December 2011), p. 140. National Trolleybus Association (UK).Trolleybus Magazine No. 302 (March–April 2012), p. 46. National Trolleybus Association (UK). .

In connection with the opening of metro line 2, in December 2008, route 5 (Place Tunnel – Epalinges) was withdrawn, but two new trolleybus routes were introduced:Trolleybus Magazine No. 283 (January–February 2009), p. 22. National Trolleybus Association (UK). .Trolleybus Magazine No. 284 (March–April 2009), p. 44. National Trolleybus Association (UK). . Route 25 used trolleybuses from the start, but the introduction of trolleybuses on route 21 (unrelated to the former interurban route 21) was delayed by construction until November 2009.Trolleybus Magazine No. 290 (March–April 2010), p. 46. National Trolleybus Association (UK). .

In June 2013, a new trolleybus route 17 (Georgette – Renens) replaced the western half of route 7, with the latter becoming Val-Vert – St. François.Trolleybus Magazine No. 311 (September–October 2013), p. 136, 139 . National Trolleybus Association (UK). . An extension of the wiring of route 25 from Bourdonnette to Renens-Gare was constructed in 2013–2014, and the route extension opened on 15 September 2014.Trolleybus Magazine No. 318 (November–December 2014), p. 162. National Trolleybus Association (UK). .

In August 2022, trolleybuses were introduced on new route 20 (Blécherette – Lausanne Gare via Avenue Mont Blanc), which had been created as a new route in January but had been temporarily motorbus-operated initially.Trolleybus Magazine No. 362 (March–April 2022), p. 83. National Trolleybus Association (UK). .Trolleybus Magazine No. 367 (January–February 2023), p. 39. National Trolleybus Association (UK). . In December 2022, route 7 was revised to make its western terminus at Prilly (Galicien/arena) instead of St. François. TL began making use of more-powerful batteries in its newest trolleybuses to add some new route sections that are not equipped with overhead wires, and which trolleybuses cover on battery power only. The first such section to be part of the regular route was an diversion of the eastern part of route 4 from Pully-Gare to terminate at Faverges, implemented in December 2022, which partly uses the wiring of route 9 but traverses the Faverges loop on battery power. On 21 August 2023, route 1 was extended beyond La Maladière to EPFL (École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne), Route de Collardon, and most of the new section is not equipped with wiring.Trolleybus Magazine No. 372 (November–December 2023), p. 257.

Lines Today, the network has 12 lines:

1 École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne – St-François – Blécherette 2 Maladière-Lac – Ouchy – St-François – Désert 3 Lausanne-Gare CFF – Maillefer 4 Faverges – St-François – Chauderon – Coudraie 6 Maladière– Chauderon – St-François – Sallaz - Praz-Séchaud 7 Val-Vert – Prilly-Galicien (trolleybus sur cette ligne dès le 2ème semestre de 2026) 8 Pully-Gare – St-François – Bellevaux – Grand-Mont 9 Lutry-Corniche – Pully – St-François – Renens VD, Temple de Broye - Crissier, Place centrale (dès le 17 Août 2026) 20 Lausanne-Gare CFF – Blécherette 21 Paudex-Verrière – Blécherette 25 Glycines – Renens Gare – Maladière – Montchoisi – Pully-Gare

Since December 2009, line 8 has operated via Bellevaux to Grand-Mont, but the TL began the long extension of the overhead wire only in early 2011. Until completion of the extension in December 2011, every second service on this line was operated by articulated conventional buses - the extension was initially operated only every 20 minutes.

Some of the catenary masts used in constructing the extension of line 8 were recycled masts from the former interurban line 20 to Montheron. This line was powered by electricity until 1993; the catenary was dismantled in 1998.

Fleet

History

Upon its opening in 1932, the Lausanne system had just three trolleybuses, one manufactured entirely by Saurer and the other two by FBW / SWS and fitted with electrical equipment by BBC. They were withdrawn from service in 1964, but two were rebuilt for use as de-icing vehicles (to scrape ice from the overhead wires in winter), and remained in the fleet for several more years. (One was preserved, and in 1991 it was restored for operation as a heritage vehicle.) In the second half of the 1930s, an additional 32 trolleybuses were added to the fleet. Also manufactured by FBW, they were in length, had 22 seats and 31 standing places, and remained in service until 1976. Between 1951 and 1975, TL purchased many trolleybuses secondhand from other Swiss operators, primarily the Zurich trolleybus system and the Geneva trolleybus system, and in 1981 such vehicles still made up more than half of Lausanne's fleet.

As of the end of 1964, the system had a large fleet of trolleybuses and 20 passenger-carrying trailers. In 1975, 18 new trolleybuses arrived in Lausanne. Between 1982 and 1989, a total of 72 new trolleybuses were purchased. A few Lausanne trolleybuses had extremely long careers. Three acquired in 1951 from Zurich, nos. 536–538 (originally Zurich 54–56, then TL 36–38 until 1963/64), had been built in 1939 and by the 1980s they were among the oldest trolleybuses still in service anywhere in the world – probably the oldest. They were finally retired in 1984, at 45 years of age.

In 2001–2002, 28 Neoplan articulated trolleybuses were added to the fleet, replacing 29 rigid vehicles built between 1964 and 1969. TL experienced problems with the Neoplan trolleybuses, and all were taken out of service in May 2005, after only 3–4 years of use;Trolleybus Magazine No. 264 (November–December 2005), p. 143. National Trolleybus Association (UK). . they never returned to service,Trolleybus Magazine No. 267 (May–June 2006), pp. 66–67. National Trolleybus Association (UK). . and were eventually sold in 2010 to a dealer in secondhand vehicles in Romania, who sold them to the Ploiești system.

In 2012, the TL trolleybus fleet consisted of 58 rigid (two-axle) and 35 articulated vehicles. There were also 53 trailers available for coupling to the rigid trolleybuses, the Lausanne trolleybus system being one of only two trolleybus systems worldwide that still utilised this form of operation at that time, the other being the Lucerne system. In addition, at that time, the Lausanne system was, along with the La Chaux-de-Fonds and Lucerne systems, one of only three trolleybus systems in Switzerland still using non-articulated vehicles. By 2017, after trailer operation elsewhwere had ended, the Lausanne system was the world's last trolleybus system to use trailers.Trolleybus Magazine No. 337 (January–February 2018), p. 37. National Trolleybus Association (UK). .

Trailer operation ended in 2021, following the delivery of more new articulated trolleybuses, the last day of trailer use with trolleybuses being 4 May 2021, and the last non-articulated trolleybuses were also withdrawn around that time."Trolleynews [regular news section]". Trolleybus Magazine No. 358 (July–August 2021), p. 162. National Trolleybus Association (UK). . (Three two-axle trolleybuses initially remained in use for driving training, nos. 751–73, but had been withdrawn by October 2021.)Trolleybus Magazine No. 361 (January–February 2022), p. 41. National Trolleybus Association (UK). .

Retired fleet and heritage vehicles

Note: All trolleybuses that had been in the fleet before 1964 were renumbered around 1963/64 into the 500 series — most through the simple addition of a "5" (or 50) before their original fleet number, but nos. 51–56 became 613–618.