Transportation
Lille is an important crossroads in the European high-speed rail network. It has two train stations, five auto routes and an international airport.
Getting in
By air
Lille Lesquin International Airport (IATA: LIL)
- It is the 12th most frequented French airport in number of passengers and in terms of shipping, it ranks fourth.
- The shuttle bus station is opposite the Arrivals hall and approximate time to the Euralille shopping mall is 20 minutes.
- There are several taxi companies at your service to/from the airport:
- Taxi Anny – 0607.626.629
- Taxi Jean Luc – 0614.367.221
- Taxi Mario – 0675.037.518
- Taxi Bertrand – 0670.710.512
- Taxi Guillaume – 0688.530.631
- Taxi Gares – 0320.066.400
- Taxi Rihour – 0320.552.056
- Taxi Union – 0320.060.606
By train
- Lille lies on the Brussels-Paris-London connection.
- The voyage to Brussels takes about 40 minutes, to Paris about an hour, and to London about an hour and 25 minutes. It is also linked by TGV (fast trains) to Lyon (3 hours), Nantes (4 hours), and Marseille (5 hours).
- It has two train stations, which stand next door to one another: Lille-Europe station (Gare de Lille-Europe), which primarily serves high-speed trains and international services (Eurostar), and Lille-Flandres station (Gare de Lille-Flandres), which primarily serves lower speed trains.
By road
- Autoroute A27: Lille - Tournai - Brussels / Liège - Germany
- Autoroute A23: Lille - Valenciennes
- Autoroute A1: Lille - Arras - Paris / Reims - Lyon / Orléans / Le Havre
- Autoroute A25: Lille - Dunkirk - Calais - England / North Belgium
- Autoroute A22: Lille - Antwerp - Netherlands
Getting around
The Lille Métropole has a mixed mode public transport system, comprising buses, trams and a driverless metro system, all of which are operated under the Transpole name.
Public transport
Metro
The Lille Metro is a VAL system (véhicule automatique léger = light automated vehicle), the first automatic metro line in the world.
- Line 1 (yellow) links C.H.R. B Calmette to 4 Cantons.
- Line 2 (red) links C.H. Dron to St. Philibert.
The metro operates from 5 a.m. until midnight, with trains every 1.5 – 4 minutes (1 min. during rush hour), and every 6 – 8 minutes early mornings and evenings. On Sunday there is a train every 4 – 6 minutes.
The single fare costs 1.25€.
Tramway
The tram system consists of two interurban tram lines, connecting central Lille to the nearby communities of Roubaix and Tourcoing, and has 45 stops.
Buses
Transpole also operates 68 urban bus routes, 8 of which reach into Belgium.