Lyon. TCL boats on the Saône: we tested the shuttles in preview

The Bateaux Mouches, invented in Lyon, “left the Saône and the Rhône in 1913. More than a century later, we are happy to present Navigônes to you,” congratulated Bruno Bernard, president of the Métropole de Lyon and Sytral this Wednesday June 19, 2024.

This future TCL service will connect Confluence to Vaise via the Saône using river shuttles. We tested in preview this connection like no other, expected in Lyon for June 2025.

“Many promised it, we are doing it”

This offer, included in the TCL subscription, will allow travel from June 2025 between the Confluence dock (Lyon 2ᵉ) and the Industry district in Vaise (9th arrondissement) via the Saint-Antoine and Saint quays. -Vincent, on the Peninsula.

This file was very complicated to put together. Many promised it, many dreamed of it, we are doing it. The challenge is to offer our subscribers a bit of leisure and fun travel, it’s also a way of thanking them.

Can accommodate 70 passengers with 50 seats, four shuttles will circulate on the Saône from October 2025. There will be only two, thermal, in June 2025, then replaced entirely by electric boats from April 2026.

First work

You will have to wait a year before borrowing these boats in the TCL colors operated by the RATP DEV / Les Yachts de Lyon group. In question, the necessary work to develop the stops, build the boats and recruit captains and sailors.

The four stations are or will be under development:

• A terminus in the 9th arrondissement, Vaise district, Industry sector / Quai du commerce, on an existing redeveloped stop
• A stop to be created in the 1st arrondissement, at the bottom of the slopes of Croix-Rousse, quai Saint-Vincent, near the Saint-Paul district, in the 5th arrondissement
• A stop being developed on Quai Saint-Antoine, south of the Maréchal Juin bridge between rue Grenette and the Palais de Justice footbridge
• A stop on the Saône south of the Confluence dock

The Confluence stop will only be served on Wednesdays, weekends, during school holidays and public holidays.

Ideal for walking, but not a strong line?

Running every day of the week (excluding floods) from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m., the shuttles will pass every 15 minutes during rush hour for a 15 to 20 minute journey between Vaise Industrie and Quai Saint-Antoine, where work is taking place on the Presqu’île terraces.

We tested the journey from Confluence, lasting around 35 minutes. Verdict: today it seems difficult to consider this service as a real solution part of the daily mobility of Lyonnais due to the limited service. Greater Lyon is still banking on 560,000 travelers per year (for an annual operating cost estimated at 4.2 million euros) and does not exclude a line on the Rhône.

But one thing is certain : the walk is worth the detour. The service will undoubtedly be popular on weekends with good weather and in summer, with at least the advantage of offering an extraordinary view of the city and a very pleasant journey.

For non-subscribers, it is currently unknown whether a simple TCL ticket will allow you to use this line.

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