Getting around (transport)

Last checked: 5 Oct 2026. Unofficial student guide, not EPFL or government advice: confirm on the linked official pages before you act. Unfamiliar abbreviation? See the Glossary.

Day-one need: plan how you reach EPFL and buy tickets/passes from official sources. No prices here, they change; check the linked sites.

• Swiss Federal Railways (SBB / CFF): national trains and the main ticket app/website, sbb.ch (French: cff.ch).
• Train an hour or more late? Compensation and how to claim: see Train delays: compensation and your passenger rights.
• Lausanne region public transport (tl): metro m1, buses, tickets and the tl app, t-l.ch. EPFL notes the campus is served by m1 and tl buses (e.g. lines 1 and 31); confirm current routes on tl.
• EPFL mobility (official campus guidance): how the campus connects to Renens / Lausanne / Morges, the tl sales desk at EPFL’s Maison de la mobilité, and commuting tips, EPFL, Public transportation · EPFL, Getting to the campuses.

• Campus bike-sharing (Lime, not PubliBike): The PubliBike Lausanne-Morges / CAMIPRO "Campus" pass ended at the end of December 2025. The current network on the EPFL-UNIL campuses and across Lausanne-Morges is Lime (electric bikes). Leftover Campus CHF prices on the CAMIPRO page are historical (the banner may still read in the future tense).
  • Sign up in the Lime app with your EPFL email for the EPFL community rate: 30% off Lime per-minute pricing.
  • Mobility page amounts: EPFL community unlock CHF 0.35, about CHF 0.17/min after the 30% discount. Lime Pass (standard, no EPFL subsidy): 30 min / 24h CHF 4.95; 200 min / 7 days CHF 29.95; 400 min / 30 days CHF 53.95; 800 min / 90 days CHF 99.95. Confirm live in the Lime app before you ride.
  • EPFL Mobility: the local Lime fleet is 100% electric; 11 Lime stations on the EPFL campus (map on the Mobility page); end rides only in authorised parking zones and confirm with a photo in the app. A Lime account works on all Lime networks in Switzerland.
  • Details / map / how to ride: EPFL Bike sharing (Mobility)
  • Shutdown notice (historical Campus pass): EPFL Bike-sharing (CAMIPRO)
  • Road rules for bikes, e-bikes and e-scooters (where to ride, helmets, alcohol): see Bike, e-bike and e-scooter road rules.

• Mobility car sharing (occasional car trips): EPFL lists Mobility stations on campus at Esplanade, Rivier, Quartier Nord and EPFL Innovation Park (24/7; open with the Mobility app or a SwissPass card). Cars are station-based: return them where the reservation started.
  • Registering through the EPFL mobilityPLUS link waives the CHF 39.90 activation fee; under 28 there is no monthly fee (checked 5 Oct 2026). Since 1 March 2024 the CAMIPRO card can no longer be activated as a Mobility card.
  • Details, licence rules and deductibles: Mobility car sharing · EPFL, Carpooling, car-sharing and rental cars

• Demand-responsive transport (DRT / tl TAD): EPFL states a DRT service has been available since 17 August 2026 in the Renens and Ecublens areas and in parts of Chavannes-près-Renens, Crissier, and Saint-Sulpice. You book in the tl TAD app (iOS and Google Play); a minibus picks you up at a nearby DRT stop and takes you to your destination or to the rest of the tl / SBB network.
  • Fares (EPFL): a ticket or pass valid for zones 11-12; short-distance tickets are not valid. Ecublens: no fare supplement beyond usual Mobilis titles.
  • Hours (EPFL + Ecublens): Mon-Fri 6:00-20:00, Sat 7:00-19:00.
  • Booking help phone (EPFL + Ecublens): 021 621 08 14 (if you have difficulty booking in the app).
  • Network map (EPFL Mobility PDF, valid from 17.08.2026): zones 951 Renens and 953 Ecublens on Plan-TAD 951-953 (PDF).
  • App (linked from EPFL): tl TAD on the App Store · tl TAD on Google Play.
  • Commune summary: Ecublens news - TAD (same start date, app booking, hours and phone match EPFL; also notes classic tl/MBC stops plus new TAD stops, and minibuses of about 10 to 25 seats).
  • Primary EPFL page: EPFL - Public transportation. EPFL's « More information » / « Plus d'informations » pointer for TAD is the longer tl path tl, Transport à la demande (Ecublens also uses that path for its app link; its « Plus d'infos » short link is www.t-l.ch/transport-a-la-demande).
  • This does not replace m1 / bus 1 / 31 / MBC 701-705 for regular campus trips; it fills gaps in the west-Lausanne communes named above.
  • To verify: live wording on the tl transport à la demande web pages (short link and the longer path EPFL points to). Until those pages load cleanly for you, cite EPFL + Ecublens + the Plan-TAD PDF + the app store listings above.
  • To verify: CHF single-ticket amount for TAD itself (unpublished on EPFL and Ecublens; the published rule is a zones 11-12 ticket or pass, with no CHF figure). Mobilis single-ticket prices from other pages are not a published TAD fare.

Regional buses (e.g. MBC) and Mobilis zone tickets are sold through the same official channels (tl desk / CFF / carrier apps), use those, not third-party fare blogs.

No valid ticket at a check: a CHF 90 surcharge plus the fare (CHF 130 and CHF 160 for repeat cases), and the ticket or check-in must be completed before the vehicle leaves. See Fines in Vaud.

Late nights

Getting home to EPFL, Ecublens, Renens or Chavannes after the metro stops (checked 8 October 2026). Timetables change (including the mid-December annual change), so no sample departure times are given here: always check the tl or SBB app on the night you travel.

• No metro all night: the m1 (Flon to Renens via EPFL) stops shortly after midnight and restarts around 05:00.
• Weekend night network: tl runs night buses N1 to N6 on the nights of Friday to Saturday and Saturday to Sunday, roughly 00:40 to 05:00 (Ville de Renens, Transports), and on eves of public holidays (tl news, 32 ans au service des noctambules (6 Aug 2024)). Since December 2021 you can board and alight at every stop in both directions (tl annual report, Proposer un véritable réseau nocturne). Searching for "Noctambus"? In Lausanne, tl calls this the night network (réseau nocturne; formerly the "Bus Pyjama"). Route maps and timetables: tl, night network.
  • To verify: the exact public-holiday eves for the season you care about, in the tl or SBB app (lists change year to year).
• Weekday nights (Sunday to Thursday): no tl night buses. Plan around the last m1.
• Closest night line to campus: N5. No night bus stops at the EPFL m1 stations. On Friday and Saturday nights, N5 serves Lausanne St-François, Bel-Air, Chauderon, Malley, Renens, Chavannes-près-Renens, Renens gare/Epenex, then Ecublens stops including Epenex/Pont-Bleu, Croset, Pontet and Villars, continuing towards Venoge sud. From Ecublens stops (for example Pontet or Villars), you walk the last part to campus.
  • To verify: the walking route and distance from Ecublens Pontet or Villars to your part of campus (this page quotes no distance); check it in the app before you leave.
• Other night options: SBB night trains and RE services stop at Renens, where you can connect to N5 when it runs. N4 links St-François / Lausanne gare with Prilly, Renens centre, Crissier, Bussigny and Villars-Ste-Croix. Ville de Renens also lists LEB trains, regional bus 60 and PostBus 362 and 365. MBC regional bus 705 (Lonay to Ecublens / EPFL Piccard and EPFL (bus)) has weekend late-evening extensions (MBC, line 705); it is not the Morges-region Pyjam'bus, which is MBC lines 791 and 792 from Morges (MBC, Pyjam'bus).
• Tickets: no night supplement in the Lausanne region. Your usual Mobilis ticket, day pass or zone pass (for the zones you cross) is valid; tl removed its old night surcharge at the end of 2018 (Mobilis, For night-time outings). The Morges-region Pyjam'bus and Montreux-Vevey night services also use the standard Mobilis fare; the one exception Mobilis lists is PostBus night services in the Nyon region (CHF 3 supplement).
  • Fare checks and what travelling without a valid ticket costs: see Fines in Vaud.
  • To verify: the Mobilis single-ticket price for your night trip. Night trips use the standard fare and this page quotes no CHF amount; check it in the tl or SBB app.
• Night GA Travelcard (AG Night), if you are under 25: CHF 99 per year, unlimited 2nd-class travel on SBB, most other railways and many other public transport services in the GA area from 19:00 to 05:00 (until 07:00 on Saturday, Sunday and public holidays). Mobilis confirms it covers the whole Mobilis area; you can buy it until the day before your 25th birthday. SBB notes that night supplements are not included (this matters outside Vaud) and that validity follows the scheduled departure time. EPFL lists the AG Night among the passes sold at the campus tl desk. SBB, Night GA Travelcard · Mobilis, Pour les jeunes jusqu'à 25 ans
• Taxi: Ville de Renens lists Taxiphone 0800 801 802 and Taxis Services 0800 810 810.
• Lost something on a night bus? tl lost property goes through SBB Lost & Found: SBB lost property and parking.