In 1978, with the construction of the new TGV train station, Part Dieu became a traffic hub. The TGVs are the French High Speed trains. These trains link Lyon with Paris in less than two hours, at an amazing speed of more than 220 Kmh! Recently new TGV lines have been built. Now it is possible to travel to Dijon and Geneva in two hours, to Grenoble in one hour and to Marseille in three hours!
If you need to move around France, you should forget the planes, TGVs are almost as fast and much more convenient. Train stations are in the cities' center, and you do not have to worry about check in times and other air travel annoyances. And the best of all, they are really cheap!