---
title: SYSTRA at the heart of Lyon metro’s transformation
url: "https://www.systra.com/en/news/systra-at-the-heart-of-lyon-metros-transformation/"
type: post
date_published: 2018-10-17
date_modified: 2020-07-10
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  @type: Article
language: en-US
word_count: 584
reading_time: 3 min
canonical: "https://www.systra.com/en/news/systra-at-the-heart-of-lyon-metros-transformation/"
featured_image: "https://www.systra.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/ec400441e9451d65e09cf28cc34931.png"
---

# SYSTRA at the heart of Lyon metro’s transformation

![SYSTRA at the heart of Lyon metro’s transformation](https://www.systra.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/ec400441e9451d65e09cf28cc34931.png)

The Group is participating within a consortium in two major project management
assignments for this network, on which we have been working for several decades.
To increase its passenger capacities and modernise its systems, SYTRAL (Rhône
department and Lyon metropolitan transport syndicate) launched in 2015 several
projects on lines B and D. The works for these two assignments began a year ago
and are going full steam ahead.

## A new, technically complex automatic system for Lines B and D

The first project management assignment is that of Avenir Métro, which was
entrusted to the MELYES consortium of which Egis is leader. SYSTRA is
responsible for managing the integration of all the Systems, the work related to
the Rolling Stock market and the modernisation of depots. The objective is
firstly to automate Line B by 2020 and then to ensure the migration of Line D to
a new automatic operating system as of 2023. This migration of one automatic
system to another is very complex from a technical standpoint as it involves
disconnecting the system and putting another system in place during a single
weekend. This migration, done without interrupting the service, will also enable
new trains to be put into service on Line D, thereby enhancing the city’s
transport offer.

Prior to this, the preliminary works on Line B began in September 2017, and will
last until 2019, to prepare the lines for the arrival of the new trains and
enable the entire line to be automated.

**Albin Rodot, SYSTRA Business Manager and Works Manager for the Avenir Métro project, commented:**
 “The Avenir Métro project involves the teams of the France Directorate in Lyon
and the teams of the Technical Directorate (DTE) in Paris, representing around
15 people with many different areas of expertise. In three years, we have led
project management studies, then the awarding of contracts, and we have just
finished validating manufacturers’ execution studies, all while starting the
works on the line in operation. We are also supervising the installations
carried out on the maintenance site and monitoring the purchase of rolling
stock. This project is as comprehensive as it is complex in terms of
challenges.”

## Extension of Line B

Also launched in September 2017, the Line B extension works have gathered pace
in 2018. Commissioned 40 years ago, extension works will be carried out until
2023 and two new stations added: Oullins-Centre and Saint-Genis-Laval – Hôpitaux
Sud. Thousands of students, researchers and employees will use it to reach
several economic and teaching centres in the regions from the centre of Lyon.

The project management was awarded to the MELYES consortium, of which SYSTRA is
a part and Egis is the leader. Our teams are in charge of the design of the
whole tunnel section, which is 2.4km long, and of the station back-exit and
geotechnical studies. As the urban environment at surface level is dense, risk
management is especially crucial. SYSTRA is also responsible for most of the
works’ project management. We are in charge of the civil engineering, including
the tunnel boring machine, a station and its initial shaft, all while ensuring
technical coherence between the different civil engineering packages.

**Olivier Dufourd, the SYSTRA Infrastructure Project Manager added: **“The last
12 months have involved preparatory works, to divert the electrical and
underground networks, move car parks, and arrange the plots of land granted for
the site. The construction contracts have also been awarded and works on the
tunnel will be able to start this autumn.”

_Copyright: Alstom/Design&Styling-RC_P