Métro Lausanne–Ouchy, Funicular railway in Lausanne, Switzerland
The métro Lausanne–Ouchy, also known as la Ficelle, is a funicular railway in Lausanne, Switzerland, that connected the Flon area with Ouchy on the shore of Lake Geneva. It covered a distance of about 0.9 miles (1.5 km) and climbed a height difference of 106 meters, with five stations along the route.
The funicular opened in 1877 and was one of the first modern funiculars in Switzerland. It was converted to a rack railway in 1958 and later replaced by the automated M2 metro in 2008.
Locals affectionately called it la Ficelle, meaning "the string", a nickname that stuck because of the cable that pulled the cars. Today, the spirit of the line lives on in the M2, and you can still see remnants like the saved pilot car Bt 5, preserved by transport enthusiasts.
The line is no longer in service, but you can still walk the route or take the modern M2 metro that follows much of the same path. The area around the former stations is hilly, so wear comfortable shoes if you plan to explore on foot.
At the time of its opening, the line was among the first metropolitan railways in the world, even before the term "metro" was commonly used. The original project planned to use pneumatic propulsion, but after failed tests, it switched to a cable system.
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