Good news for travellers on a budget. They will soon be able to go to Lyon Saint-Exupéry airport for less than 2 euros. The Lyon public transport authority Sytral has announced that it will restart in September 2019 2 bus lines stopped in 2015 following a dispute with the company operating the Rhonexpress airport shuttle.
Up until 2015, there were two bus lines that served the airport and the rest of the eastern region of Lyon. When Rhônexpress signed its concession contract, it contained an exclusivity clause.
That means that until 2035 no other public service could offer the transport to Lyon Saint Exupéry Airport (LYS). For the company, the TCL public transportation was a direct concurrent and they sued for damages.
The Rhônexpress currently costs between 13€ and 15,20€ for one way.
The decision of the court
The court has deemed that the TCL buses did not directly compete. Thus the possible occurred loss was of minimal impact. Both lines have as only objectives to better the service in the economic area of the East, and also transport the employees of the airport and adjacent activities.
The Rhônexpress takes about 30 minutes. In contrast, the buses took between 50 and 70 minutes to link the city to the airport. Those buses were more a logical solution to traffic and the region. A direct rival to the Rhônexpress could be a train taking as much time but being cheaper.
The newfound solution to go to Lyon Saint-Exupéry Airport
As soon as the ruling became official, Fouziya Bouzerba, president of SYTRAL (local transport authority), announced that the lines will be functional as soon as the beginning of the school year. After the summer, lines 28 and 1Ex should be starting.
This will allow the employees of the airport to have eco-friendlier solutions to get to work and reduce their car usage. It will also develop the public transportation network in the east. It follows the strategy of the ecologic transition of the Metropole of Lyon.
With these buses, not only will the public transportation network be denser in the East but it will drastically reduce the price of connecting the city and the airport. A bus pass or a 1.90€ ticket instead of the current 26.70€ roundtrip for an adult.
This settles a fight that has been ongoing for a couple of years. The road to the airport will now have more opportunities. Nonetheless, that does not mean that discussion around the Rhônexpress is closed.