Industry | Transport |
---|---|
Founded | 1884 (current name: 2000) |
Headquarters | Lugano, Switzerland |
Area served
|
Lugano and surrounding suburbs |
Owner |
City of Lugano Canton of Ticino Municipality of Massagno Municipality of Paradiso Municipality of Savosa Municipality of Vezia |
Website | http://www.tplsa.ch/ |
Trasporti Pubblici Luganesi (TPL) is a public transport operator in and around the Swiss city of Lugano. Previously known as the Società luganese dei tramway elettrici, Tranvie elettriche comunali, Azienda comunale del traffico (ACT) and Azienda comunale dei trasporti della Città di Lugano (ACTL), the organisation was founded in 1884 and adopted its current name in 2000.
TPL operates the city's urban bus network, along with a funicular that links the city's railway station with the city centre. It is a private limited company whose shares are mostly owned by the city of Lugano (58.56%) and the canton of Ticino (30.44%), with the remaining shares are owned by neighbouring municipalities. It is a member of the arcobaleno tariff network.
Lugano station was opened in 1874, as part of the Gotthard railway's Lugano to Chiasso line. By 1882, with the opening of the line across the Monte Ceneri Pass to Bellinzona, and the Gotthard Rail Tunnel beyond that, Lugano was connected with the rest of the canton of Ticino and with northern Switzerland.
However the station was located well above the city itself, which had developed alongside Lake Lugano. To link the two, the Lugano Città–Stazione funicular was opened in 1886. Initially it was operated by water power.
Economic development, not least because of the coming of the railway, lead to Lugano spreading beyond its original lakeside core, resulting in further need for local transportation. The Società luganese dei tramway elettrici (Lugano Electric Tramway Company) was responsible for constructing the city's urban tramways, which went into service in 1896.
The company was taken over by the city of Lugano in 1918 and the name changed to Tranvie elettriche comunali (Municipal Electric Tramways). At its peak, the tram network served outer termini at Besso, Cassarate, Cimitero Nuevo and Paradiso.