Le tramway lyonnais © Arnaud Aimain / RUL

Travelling with TCL (Lyon’s public transport operator)

Lyon is a city that is very easy to visit on foot or by public transport. Take advantage of it!

TCL in a nutshell…

The TCL network comprises the following:

  • 4 metro lines, 
  • 7 tramway lines,
  • 140 bus, trolleybus and shuttle lines,
  • 2 funicular lines,
  • 3000 stops

It serves 73 towns, including the 58 towns that make up the Metropolitan Area, covering 746 km².
Each day, the TCL network operates 1.7 million journeys.
See maps of the network

A few basic rules you need to know  

Simply buying a ticket or pass is not enough: you must validate your ticket each time you get on a bus or tram, or at each metro or funicular station you begin your journey at. 
If you use several buses, or a bus and the metro, consecutively, you must validate your ticket each time. 

There is a wide range of pricing options to choose something that suits you: 

>  With a Lyon City Card, you get unlimited access to the entire TCL network for 1, 2, 3 or 4 days (depending on the lenth of validity of your card). Further information
A single ticket is valid for 1 hour (the time of the last validation is taken into account) throughout the network.
Long duration tickets from 2 to 72 hours allow you to travel around the network for longer.
>  Books of 10 tickets for students (up to 27 years old) and young people less than 26 years old (duration of 1 hour between 2 validations).
Books of 10 tickets for large families with at least 3 children aged under 18 (duration of 1 hour between 2 validations).
Family tickets for 1 day are available for 2 to 5 people maximum travelling together, whether they are related or not (unlimited travel, 2 adults maximum and 3 children aged 4 to 17 years old or 1 adult + 1 to 4 children).
>   Group tickets for more than 10 people.
>   Travel passes for a week or a month are also available.

For all discounted tickets (student, large family, etc.) you must be able to present evidence.
Children aged under 4 travel for free on the network.

Full details of prices on TCL network

Original services  

> "Pleine Lune" night lines: to meet the needs of night owls, some lines run later on weekends. Further information about night lines
> Alighting on request after 10 pm: for passenger safety reasons, particularly women. It is possible, after 10 pm, to ask the bus driver to get off between two stops, in order to get as close as possible to the final destination. 
> Accessibility on the network has been facilitated for passengers with reduced mobility. 
> Park and Ride: you can park your car for free in one of the 21 Park and Ride facilities around Lyon, using your transport ticket, and continue your journey on public transport. Avoid traffic jams and do your bit for the environment!
Further information about Park and Ride