On 24 November 2002 Vaud voters approved, with 62% Yes, the decree granting the canton's participation in financing the Lausanne m2 metro between Ouchy and Les Croisettes (Épalinges). Support reached 77% in the city of Lausanne and 86% in Épalinges, the two ends of the future line.
The vote was not about the usefulness of the line — which was uncontested — but about the cantonal financial effort: CHF 305 million out of a cost then estimated at around CHF 590 million, with the Confederation contributing CHF 70 million. Debate crystallised around whether a canton CHF 9 billion in debt could commit such a sum.
Inaugurated on 18 September 2008 and opened commercially on 27 October 2008, the m2 became Switzerland's first fully automatic metro. More than twenty years after the vote, this briefing tests the campaign's promises and fears against the observed facts.
▲ Overall result Decree approved with 62% Yes. Massive support at both ends of the line: 77% in Lausanne, 86% in Épalinges. Cantonal contribution of CHF 305 million. | ▼ Vote map Broad approval canton-wide, strongest in the directly affected Lausanne agglomeration. The district-by-district breakdown is not reproduced here. |
Actors and figures
▲ Yes camp • Vaud Council of State (sponsor of the decree) • City of Lausanne and agglomeration municipalities • Large majority of parties (Socialists, Greens, Radicals, Liberals) • Regional business circles • Lausanne public transport (tl) | ▼ No camp • Opponents calling the project « pharaonic » • Advocates of rebuilding the tram network (deemed cheaper alternative) • Voices worried about cantonal debt (CHF 9 billion debt) |
Arguments and verdicts
▲ Arguments FOR (Yes camp) A structuring transport that will relieve the agglomeration « The m2 will give public transport a backbone and ease traffic in a saturated agglomeration. » ✓ Confirmed The modal shift was massive: ridership exceeded every forecast and central Lausanne recorded a roughly 13% drop in car traffic attributed to the new service. The m2 became the backbone of the network. Source: Le Temps; 24 heures; tl Demand that will justify the investment « Demand will be there and will make the line pay off. » ✓ Confirmed Engineers expected about 23.8 million passengers after five years. The m2 was already carrying 26.6 million in 2012, 31.5 million in 2018 and 36.2 million in 2025 — the busiest line on its network. Source: Statistics / tl; Le Temps A project that will transform Lausanne « The m2 will link the lake to the city heights and redraw Lausanne's mobility. » ✓ Confirmed Running from Ouchy up to the Sallaz plateau and Les Croisettes via the railway station, the Flon and the CHUV, the m2 shaped urban development and stands as the country's first automatic metro, on the steepest gradient of an adhesion metro. Source: 24 heures; cantonal press | ▼ Arguments AGAINST (No camp) A « pharaonic » project for an indebted canton « The work is too costly for a canton CHF 9 billion in debt; the bill will spiral. » ✗~ Partly refuted The budget fear was not baseless: the final cost exceeded CHF 730 million, against the 590 estimated. But the canton absorbed the burden — its debt then fell sharply — and the intensity of use made the m2 a largely amortised investment over time. Source: Wikipedia (press sources); Canton of Vaud Better to rebuild the tram « Rebuilding the tram network would be cheaper and sufficient. » ✗ Refuted A surface tram would have offered neither the capacity, nor the speed, nor the gradient-climbing of the metro. The line's rapid saturation showed a higher-capacity mode was needed — to the point of having to expand capacity as early as the late 2010s. Source: Le Temps; tl |
Factual record
4 Confirmed | 0 Partly confirmed | 1 Partly refuted | 0 Refuted |
Twenty years on, the m2 bet has paid off. The Yes camp's central promise — a structuring transport able to transform Lausanne's mobility — was kept and then some: record ridership, measurable modal shift, a work that became the network's backbone and the country's technological showcase.
The opponents' fears were not all baseless. The cost did spiral, exceeding CHF 730 million instead of the announced 590, vindicating those who feared a hefty bill. But the debt argument faded: the canton absorbed the spending and repaired its finances in the following years.
As for the tram alternative, history settled it: rapid saturation proved a heavy-rail mode was needed — so much so that, less than fifteen years after opening, capacity had to be raised and a new line launched. The only real reproach one can make of the m2 is that it was too small for its own success.