LGVL.COM
LGVL: Lymphogranuloma venereum L2b.
Lymphogranuloma venereum (LGV), also known as lymphopathia venerea, tropical
bubo, climatic bubo, strumous bubo, poradenitis inguinales, Durand-Nicolas-Favre
disease and
lymphogranuloma inguinale, is a sexually transmitted disease caused by the
invasive serovars L1, L2, or L3 of Chlamydia trachomatis. Lymphogranuloma
Venereum L2b LGVL.com
Ligne à Grande Vitesse, French
The LGV Atlantique is a high-speed railway line running from Paris (Gare
Montparnasse) to Western France. It opened in 1989-1990. It divides into two
parts at Courtalain, one going westward to Le Mans (towards Brittany and Pays de
la Loire), the second one going southwestward to Tours (towards Aquitaine).
Route
The line leaves Gare Montparnasse to cross Paris' southern suburbs, partly under
the Coulée Verte. This is a tunnel above which footpaths and recreational areas
have been created in order to reduce the effect of the LGV running through the
area. The line at this point follows the route of the former railway line from
Paris to Chartres. TGVs coming from the north or southeast of France via the LGV
Interconnexion Est join the line at Massy. After the new Massy TGV station, the
line passes through the Villejust tunnel and then follows the A10 motorway. Near
the Saint-Arnoult toll plaza, the LGV turns south and leaves the motorway. The
line then follows the ligne classique from Paris to Vend?me until the junction
at Courtalain.
Stations
The LGV Atlantique serves the following stations:
* Paris Montparnasse
* Le Mans1
* Vend?me
* Tours
1 Le Mans is located on the western branch of the LGV Atlantique.
History
* 1 January 1983: creation of SNCF new line no. 2 committee
* 25 May 1984: public utility declaration
* 15 February 1985: official beginning of works at Boinville-le-Gaillard
* 1 July 1987: laying of first LGV Atlantique rail at Auneau
* 24 September 1989: line opens from Montrouge to Conneré
* 18 May 1990: TGV world speed record of 515.3 km/h
* 25 September 1990: southwestern branch opens
* 27 December 1990: baby born on a TGV Atlantique train
The LGV Est européenne (sometimes referred to as LGV Est) is an extension to the
French high-speed TGV network, connecting Paris and Strasbourg. It provides fast
service between Paris and the principal cities of eastern France and Luxembourg,
and several cities in Germany and Switzerland. It also enables fast connections
between eastern France and French regions already served by TGV, to the
southeast, the west and southwest, and to the north, with extensions towards
Belgium.
The line passes through the French regions of Alsace, Lorraine,
Champagne-Ardenne and ?le-de-France. The first 300 km section of this new 406-km
line, linking Vaires-sur-Marne near Paris to Baudrecourt in the Moselle, entered
service on June 10, 2007. Constructed for speeds up to 350 km/h, for commercial
service it is initially operating at a maximum speed of 320 km/h . It is the
first TGV line to travel at this speed in commercial service, the first to use
ERTMS , the new European rail signalling system and the first line also served
by German ICE trains.
The project
The construction of the new line has been split into two phases:
* from Vaires-sur-Marne (Seine-et-Marne) near Paris to Baudrecourt (Moselle),
where it joins the conventional Metz-Saarbrücken and Metz-Strasbourg lines,
opened June 2007;
* from Baudrecourt to Vendenheim (Bas-Rhin) near Strasbourg, expected around
2014. Until then, TGV will run between these two cities via the existing
Metz-Strasbourg line at the 160 km/h normal speed for the line.
Journey times have decreased as follows:
* Paris–Strasbourg: from 4 hours to 2h 20 (first phase) to 1h 50 (second phase)
* Paris–Reims: from 1h 35 to 0h 45
* Paris–Sedan: from 2h 50 to 2h 00
* Paris–Charleville-Mézières: from 2h 30 to 1h35
* Paris–Nancy: from 2h 45 to 1h 30
* Paris–Metz: from 2h 45 to 1h 25
* Paris–Luxembourg: from 3h 55 to 2h 05
* Paris–Basel: from 4h 55 to 3h 20
* Paris–Zürich: from 5h 50 to 4h 35
* Paris–Frankfurt: from 6h 15 to 3h 50
* Paris–Stuttgart: from 6h 10 to 3h 40 (first phase) to 3h 10 (second phase)
Besides the construction of the LGV the project included:
* construction of three TGV stations:
o Champagne-Ardenne TGV near Reims (Bezannes)
o Meuse TGV (Trois-Domaines)
o Lorraine TGV (in Louvigny, near Metz-Nancy Regional Airport)
* upgrades and improvements to terminal lines and facilities, especially between
the Gare de l'Est station in Paris and Vaires-sur-Marne and on the
Strasbourg–Kehl main line.
* modernisation of city centre stations
* electrification of lines through the Vosges valleys to permit seamless TGV
running
Construction
Earthworks for the first phase between Vaires and Baudrecourt started in spring
2002. The contractors took three years to complete the earthworks and some 327
pieces of structural work as well as re-establishing communications for people
and wildlife. Tracklaying and building the new stations started in 2004.
As the first infrastructure project of its kind to be declared a public utility
by the Ministry of the Environment, the TGV Est is also the first railway to be
financed largely by the French regions and the European Union (EU). The main
contractor for the project is RFF (Réseau ferré de France), the state-owned
company responsible for managing the French rail infrastructure.
Civil engineering works were distributed in eight contracts which were awarded
after bidding by five companies: SNCF, ISL, Tractebel, Scétauroute and Setec.
This is the first time there has been competition for the construction of a TGV
line since reform of the rail system in 1997 and the involvement of RFF. SNCF
Engineering, in partnership with EEG Simecsol succeeded in obtaining four of the
contracts (including one for the second phase), this being 50% of the civil
engineering project. Moreover, it directed the entire superstructure works
project (track, signals and electrification) under the responsibility of Réseau
Ferré de France.
Cost
The total cost is about €4 billion, apportioned as follows:
* 61% public funds
o French government
o 17 local authorities
o European Union
o Luxembourg
* 17% RFF
* 22% SNCF (including €800 million for TGV rolling stock)
Controversy
The TGV Est has been a subject of public debate for several reasons:
* The 2006 commencement of first phase service was pushed back to June 10, 2007.
* This will be the first TGV construction in which local communities have had to
participate financially together with the state government and European Union.
The contribution was fixed following a capital structure group discussion of the
communities, depending on the time decrease for users in relation to the ?le de
France. Alsace has therefore had to pay almost €300 million. It is possible that
this financial model will continue for the second phase.
History
* 22 May 1992: French-German la Rochelle summit; commitment by France and
Germany to create a high-speed rail line linking the two countries; comprising a
northern branch via Saarbrücken-Mannheim and a southern branch via
Strasbourg-Karlsruhe
* 14 May 1996: declaration of public utility
* 2001: refurbishment of a number of stations in Germany (for example
Kaiserslautern) and launch of infrastructure work in Germany (line upgrading for
200 km/hour on sections of the conventional line between Saarbrücken and
Mannheim)
* 28 January 2002: official beginning of works for first phase between Vaires
and Baudrecourt
* 18 December 2003: government of Jean-Pierre Raffarin announces approximately
50 improvement projects, of which eight are for the TGV, including second phase
works due to begin about 2010; additionally, connection of TGV Est with ICE to
occur between 2007 and 2010
* 19 October 2004: laying of the first LGV Est rail at Saint-Hilaire-au-Temple
(Marne) by the transport minister, Gilles de Robien; earthworks are 80% complete
and of the 338 structural projects, 290 (of which 14 are viaducts) are complete
* June 2006: the catenary between Marne and Meuse is powered
* 31 October 2006: the catenary for the entire length of the line is powered to
enable testing
* 13 November 2006: beginning of technical testing of the central 210 km of the
line using specialized trains to check correct track geometry, etc., at speeds
up to 320 km/h
* 25 January 2007: An initial budget of €94 million is allocated to the second
phase of the line between Baudrecourt and Strasbourg
* 30 January 2007: The power is on over the whole length of 300 km.
* 1 February 2007: The control centre at Pagny-sur-Moselle is opened.
* 13 February 2007: A new world record for train speed is unofficially set by a
TGV during tests on the TGV Est.
* 3 April 2007: An official new world speed record for conventional trains of
574.8 km/h is set by a TGV on the LGV Est.
* June 9, 2007: The inaugural voyage of the LGV Est is completed (see below).
* June 10, 2007: The LGV Est opens for commercial service.
* May 16, 2008: First Stop of ICE-MF due to a fire of transformator on this
route.
World speed record
TGV world speed record of 2007
A series of high speed trials, named Operation V150, were conducted on the LGV
Est prior to its June 2007 opening using a specially modified train. The trials
were conducted jointly by SNCF, TGV builder Alstom, and LGV Est owner Réseau
Ferré de France between 15 January 2007 and 15 April 2007. Following a series of
increasingly high speed runs, the official speed record attempt took place on 3
April 2007. The top speed of 574.8 km/h (159.6 m/s, 357.2 mph) was reached at
kilometre point 191 near the village of Le Chemin, between the Meuse and
Champagne-Ardenne TGV stations, where the most favourable profile exists.
The 515.3 km/h speed record of 1990 was unofficially broken multiple times
during the test campaign that preceded and followed the certified record
attempt, the first time on February 13, 2007 with a speed of 554.3 km/h, and the
last time on April 15, 2007 with a speed of 542.9 km/h.
Inauguration
On June 9, 2007, the TGV Est made its inaugural voyage, leaving from the Gare de
l'Est at 7:36am. Notable passengers included: Fran?ois Fillon, the French Prime
Minister, Alain Juppé, the Minister of Sustainable Development, and the
Argentinian Ambassador to France. The Prime Minister hailed this event as "a
beautiful symbol of the capacity of our country to innovate when it is united, a
symbol of European France, of the knowledge of French businesses, and a symbol
that gives confidence in the future." He hailed this achievement as "a union by
train between France and its German, Luxembourgish, and Swiss partners, between
the European institutions and the [French] capital."
On June 10, 2007, the first phase of the LGV Est opened for commercial service.
The LGV Interconnexion Est is a French high-speed rail line that connects the
LGV Nord and LGV Sud-Est through the ?le de France. Opened in 1994, it consists
of three branches, which begin at Coubert:
* west branch: towards Paris and western France, terminating at Valenton
* north branch: towards northern France, London and Brussels, joining the LGV
Nord at Vémars
* south branch: towards southeastern France, joining the LGV Sud-Est at Moisenay
Since the south and west branches have been "annexed" by the LGV Sud-Est, some
hold the view that the Interconnexion Est is only truly composed of the
Coubert-Vémars northern branch.
Route
Starting from the south (LGV Sud-Est or LGV Atlantique), the line begins at
Coubert junction and heads northeast. Near Tournan, there is a link to the
Paris-Coulommiers line. Further north, Marne-la-Vallée – Chessy station
(transfer to the RER A) serves the new town of Marne-la-Vallée and Disneyland
theme park. Near Claye-Souilly, two links under construction will join the line
to the LGV Est. The route next serves Aéroport Charles de Gaulle 2 – TGV station
(transfer to the RER B and air transport). Shortly thereafter, the line joins
the LGV Nord at Vémars junction.
Journey times
* Lille-Roissy CDG 0:50
* Lille-Lyon 2:50
* Lille-Nantes 3:50
* Lille-Grenoble 4:25
* Lille-Marseille 4:30
* Lille-Bordeaux 5:00
* Brussels-Lyon 3:40
* Brussels-Marseilles 5:25
* Brussels-Valence 4:30
* Brussels-Rennes 4:50
* Brussels-Montpellier 5:40
Expansion
* The construction of a suburban line along the LGV between Villeparisis and
Vémars is under consideration. This project could have two possible purposes: to
serve Roissy airport from Paris (as an alternative to the CDG Express); or to be
the beginning of a western line linking Creil to Meaux, Marne-la-Vallée and
Melun.
* It has also been proposed to complement the Interconnexion Est with an LGV
Interconnexion Sud or LGV Interconnexion Ouest.
The LGV Nord is a French 333 km-long high speed rail line that connects Paris to
the Belgian border and the Channel Tunnel via Lille; it opened in 1993.
With a maximum speed of 300 km/h, the line has appreciably shortened rail
journeys between Paris and Lille. Its extensions to the north (Belgium, the
Channel Tunnel) and the south (via the LGV Interconnexion Est) have reduced
journey times to Great Britain and Benelux and for inter-regional trips between
the Nord (Pas de Calais) region and the southeast and southwest of France.
Its route is twinned with the A1 for 130 km. As it is mostly built in flat
areas, the maximum incline is 25 meters per kilometer.
Of all French high-speed lines the LGV Nord without a doubt sees the widest
variety of high-speed rolling stock: the TGV Sud-Est, TGV Réseau, TGV
Atlantique, TGV Duplex, Eurostar, Thalys PBA and PBKA as well as the local
trains. Traffic is controlled by the Lille rail traffic centre.
Route
The LGV Nord begins at Arnouville-lès-Gonesse, 16.6 km from the Gare du Nord on
the Paris-Creil line. At Vémars, the LGV Interconnexion Est joins it via a
triangular junction, leading to Charles de Gaulle Airport and
Marne-la-Vallée-Chessy; this enables direct trains from London and Amsterdam to
Disneyland Paris.
After passing east of the forest of Ermenonville over the viaduc de Verberie, it
joins the A1 around Chevrières and accompanies it to the Lille suburbs.
At Ablaincourt-Pressoir (Somme), a new station, Haute-Picardie, is served only
by inter-regional TGVs. At Croisilles (Pas-de-Calais), a junction leads to the
Agny link towards Arras. The LGV crosses the A1 autoroute at Seclin (Nord).
At Fretin, a triangular junction links the LGV to the Lille-Brussels HSL 1
high-speed line eastwards, crossing the border at Wannehain and joining the
conventional network at Lembeek, south of Brussels. After the Fretin junction,
the LGV has a connection to the conventional network at Lezennes, near Lille.
This junction is used for TGVs going to Lille-Flandres. All TGVs and some
Eurostars stop at Lille-Europe. The non-stop Eurostars pass trough the tunnel
under the city off Lille at 200 km/h.
The line passes south of Armentières and north of Hazebrouck. At Cassel, a link
provides a connection with Dunkirk. The LGV continues west, crossing the A26
autoroute at Zouafques and ends at Calais-Fréthun, at the Eurotunnel terminal.
This enables TGV service to Calais and Eurostars through the Channel Tunnel to
London. The TGVs continue to Calais-Ville or reverse and go on to Boulogne.
* The route was much criticised, particularly by those in the Picardie region.
The LGV crosses the region without a stop; Amiens in particular would have liked
to have been on the line. The government judged a route via Amiens to be
impracticable, as the Lille route demanded a straight line between Paris and
Lille in order to give a reasonable Paris-Lille-London journey time. The LGV
Picardie project would address this issue by serving Amiens, and would reduce
the Paris-London journey time to less than 2 hours.
Stations
[hide]LGV Nord
Legend
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Channel Tunnel to CTRL and London
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Calais-Fréthun
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Lille-Flandres, Lille-Europe
exSTR TUNNELe
exSTRlf eABZlg
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Fretin Triangle HSL 1 to Brussels
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Haute-Picardie
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LGV Interconnexion Est
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Paris Gare du Nord
The LGV Nord serves the following stations:
* Paris Gare du Nord
* Haute-Picardie1
* Arras2
* Lille-Europe
* Calais-Fréthun
1 Haute-Picardie station has been nicknamed "Gare des Betteraves" or "Beetroot
Station," since it is located in the middle of nowhere and only accessible by
good road connections. Amiens wanted a station closer to the town centre,
stopping at Gare d'Amiens.
2 Arras station is located on a branch of the LGV Nord that splits off after
Haute-Picardie station.
History
* 29 September 1989: declaration of public utility
* 2 September 1991: commencement of tracklaying
* 9 September 1992: catenary in service
* 20 October 1992: first trials with TGV Atlantique trainset 301
* 23 May 1993: service commences between Paris and Arras
* 21 December 1993: TGV 7150 from Valenciennes to Paris, operated by set 511,
derailed at 300 km/h (186 mph) at the site of TGV Haute Picardie station (before
it was built). Rain had caused a hole to open up under the track; the hole dated
from the First World War but had not been detected during construction. The
front power car and the front four carriages derailed, but remained aligned with
the track. Out of the 200 passengers, one was slightly injured.
* The line was designed to facilitate European connections. The foreseen opening
of the Channel Tunnel made it a project of the utmost urgency, leading to an
acceleration of work. It opened in 1993, a year before the tunnel, from
Arnouville to Fréthun; the Belgian section followed in 1997.
* The Lyon-Lille connection by TGV began in 1984, using conventional lines
between the Ile-de-France and Lille.
Journey times and daily train frequency
From Paris
* Paris-Lille 1:00/24
* Paris-Douai 1:09/10
* Paris-Valenciennes 1:42/10
* Paris-Arras 0:49/9
* Paris-Dunkirk 1:38/9
* Paris-Lens 1:05/7
* Paris-Béthune 1:15/7
* Paris-Calais 1:23/5
* Paris-Cambrai 1:40/1
* Paris-St-Omer 1:56/1
* Paris-Boulogne 1:57/1
Inter-regional
* Lyon-Lille 2:48/11
* Lyon-Arras 2:46/3
* Lyon-Brussels 3:40/2
* Nantes-Lille 3:53/4
* Rennes-Lille 3:49/4
* Bordeaux-Lille 5:00/5
International
* Paris-London 2:15/14
* Paris-Brussels 1:22/27
* Paris-Liège 2:13/8
* Paris-Cologne 3:50/7
* Paris-Amsterdam 4:11/6
* Lille-London 1:40/10
The LGV Méditerranée is a French high speed railway line of approximately 250 km
length, which entered service in June, 2001. Running between
Saint-Marcel-lès-Valence and Marseille, it connects the regions of
Provence-Alpes-C?te d'Azur and Languedoc-Roussillon to the LGV Rh?ne-Alpes, and
therefore to Lyon and the north of France. Although construction cost rose to
€3.8 billion, the commencement of service on this line has led to a reversal of
the respective airplane and train markets; by making Marseille reachable in
three hours from Paris (a distance of over 750 km), the train now handles two
thirds of all journeys.
Route
The LGV Méditerranée begins at Saint-Marcel-lès-Valence, as the extension of the
LGV Rh?ne-Alpes. The new Gare de Valence TGV lies at the interchange with the
regular Valence-Grenoble line, allowing rapid connections towards Valence,
Romans-sur-Isère and Grenoble. At Crest, an emergency link is provided to the
Brian?on-Loriol line. The LGV then approaches the Rh?ne, rejoining the A7
autoroute at Montélimar. After having crossed the Canal de Donzère-Mondragon,
the line connects to the regular network by an emergency link situated between
Pierrelatte and Lapalud.
Spanning the Rh?ne three times (twice at Mornas, once north of Roquemaure), the
LGV continues to Angles, where a triangle allows access to the southwest and
southeast. The southwest branch is generally thought of as the beginning of the
future LGV Languedoc-Roussillon, joining the regular Avignon-N?mes line 25 km
later at Redessan. The southeast branch crosses the Rh?ne on two parallel
viaducts and serves the new Avignon-TGV station. The line then follows the
Durance which it crosses at Orgon.
At Ventabren, a 1.73 km viaduct extends across the A8 autoroute, the D10 and the
Canal de Provence. The line then dives towards the south, serving the new
Aix-en-Provence-TGV station, traverses the 8 km long Tunnel de Marseille and
re-joins the regular network at the entry to Marseille.
Stations
* Gare de Valence TGV at Saint-Marcel-lès-Valence; a unique two-level station
(below, TGVs; above, TERs) which allows rapid connections towards Valence,
Grenoble and Romans-sur-Isère
* Gare Avignon TGV south of Avignon; its proximity to the city centre has
ensured its popularity
* Gare Aix-en-Provence TGV near the Réaltor reservoir, halfway between
Aix-en-Provence and Marseille Airport; this station has proved more popular than
expected and serves the north of the Marseille area. It is also recommended by
agents for ships in Fos-Lavera-Port de Bouc, in preference to Marseilles.
Controversy
* Numerous protests, particularly from the wine growers of the Rh?ne valley,
obliged President Mitterrand to ask for alterations to the route; the original
path keeping to the left bank of the river, the final route skirting the river
and crossing it four times
* The nearly 250 km long line has no regularly used connection to the classic
network (unless one considers the southwest branch as a connector). Numerous
connections had however been proposed:
o a link at Saint-Marcel-lès-Valence between the LGV (southwards) and the
regular line (eastwards), accompanied by the electrification of the
Valence-Grenoble line. This would have permitted direct connections between
Grenoble and the Mediterranean; instead, passengers travelling between Marseille
and Grenoble must change at Valence-TGV. Another link from the LGV (southwards)
to the regular line (towards Valence) would have enabled service to Valence
central station from the south
o a link at Roquemaure from the north towards Avignon would not only have
enabled service to Avignon central station, but would have enabled faster
service for Arles. A link south of Avignon would equally have permitted the
linking of Avignon central station with Marseille in 25 minutes
o the regular use of the existing link at Pierrelatte would have enabled rapid
service to Orange from the north, as well as Avignon and Arles, given that no
link was created at Roquemaure
o a link at Orgon with the Avignon-Miramas line via Cavaillon would have enabled
service to Salon-de-Provence, Miramas and Istres from the north
* Montélimar wanted a TGV station
* Aix-en-Provence wanted its TGV station more eastwards, closer to the town
centre.
Journey times
From Paris
* Paris-Saint-Exupéry International Airport 1:50
* Paris-Valence 2:16
* Paris-Avignon 2:40
* Paris-Aix en Provence 2:55
* Paris-Marseille 3:00
* Paris-Toulon 3:55
* Paris-Hyères 4:15
* Paris-Fréjus 4.40
* Paris-Nice 5.35
* Paris-Nimes 2:55
* Paris-Montpellier 3:15
* Paris-Béziers 4:03
* Paris-Perpignan 4:45
Interregional
* Lyon-Marseille 1:40
* Lyon-Toulouse 4.30
* Lille-Nice 7:09
* Metz-Nice 9:15
* Geneva-Marseille 3.30
The LGV Picardie is a proposed high-speed railway line running between Paris and
Calais, via Amiens, in France.
When the LGV Nord was planned the residents of the town of Amiens in the Picardy
region campaigned to have it routed via their town. However, SNCF decided
instead to build the new high speed line on a more direct route between Paris
and Lille. The Picardy region was instead supposed to be served by the TGV Haute
Picardie station, though this has been criticised for lack of intermodal
connections, summarised by "station in a sugar beet field".
The line would presumably deviate from existing north of the Gare du Nord and
proceed directly to a new junction with the Calais branch of the LGV Nord to the
east of Calais Frethun station. It is unclear how Amiens itself would be served,
though the more cheaper and likely option is to use existing infrastructure. 20
minutes would be saved on the journey between Paris and Calais and making London
to Paris (Eurostar) in under 2 hours a possibility. An additional benefit would
be to relieve congestion on the LGV Nord itself.
The French government have announced their future investment plans to be built
by 2020 and LGV Picardie has not been included. However, it has been listed as
planned in the longer term, presumably sometime after 2020.
The estimated cost of the line ranges from 3.2 to 4.4 billion
The LGV Rh?ne-Alpes is a 115 km-long French high-speed rail line situated in the
Rh?ne-Alpes region which extends the LGV Sud-Est southwards. Opening to service
in 1994, this line bypasses the built-up Lyon area towards the east, and in
addition serves Satolas station, now renamed Lyon-Saint-Exupéry. Beyond Valence
the line is continued by the LGV Méditerranée.
The line was constructed in two sections, north and south. The first section was
opened in time for the 1992 Winter Olympics in Albertville.
Route
The line crosses four départements, from north to south:
* Ain
* Rh?ne
* Isère
* Dr?me
The route of the new line represents a total length of 115 km; 42 km from
Montanay to Saint-Quentin-Fallavier, and 73 km from Saint-Quentin-Fallavier to
Valence.
The line is connected to the regular network by links at
Saint-Quentin-Fallavier, enabling links to Savoie, Isère and Italy via Chambéry
and Modane.
Line specifics
The line has a surface area of 12.18 km2 (in comparison Saint-Exupéry airport
occupies the same area).
Like the LGV Sud-Est, the line was designed for a nominal speed of 300 km/h,
with a minimum radius curve of 4,000 m, and a space between track centres of 4.2
m. The second section is designed for 320 km/h.
The line includes 10 large viaducts (total length 4.3 km), and 4 tunnels (total
length 5.3 km).
A command post named CCT (Commande centralisée des trains - Central Train
Command) enables the continual monitoring of trains running on the entire line
and to remotely control security installations. It is situated in Lyon, in an
SNCF building near the gare de Perrache.
Stations
The line comprises one new station: Gare de Lyon Saint-Exupéry, situated in the
commune of Colombier-Saugnieu. This station, with its striking architecture, is
the work of the Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava. It serves the aéroport
international de Lyon-Saint-Exupéry.
History
* 28 October 1989: declaration of public utility
* 13 December 1992: service begins on 42 km first section between Montanay and
Saint-Quentin-Fallavier
* 3 July 1994: service begins on 73 km second section between
Saint-Quentin-Fallavier and Saint-Marcel-lès-Valence
* 3 July 1994: inauguration of Gare de Lyon-Saint-Exupéry TGV
* 7 June 2001: inauguration of LGV Méditerranée extending this line southwards
The LGV Rhin-Rh?ne is a high-speed railway line under construction running
between Strasbourg and Lyon, in France. It will be used by TGV trains operated
by SNCF, the French national railway company. The eastern branch, a new line
between Dijon and Mulhouse, will become a key link in both the North-South and
East-West transport corridors. The line will have a large regional, national,
and intra-European impact.
Route
* The North-South line would help connect Germany, the north of Switzerland,
eastern France, the valleys of the Sa?ne, Rh?ne, and the Mediterranean arc and
finally to Nice (extending to Catalonia).
* The East-West line would help connect London, Brussels, Lille, ?le-de-France,
Burgundy, Franche-Comté, south Alsace, southern Baden, and the French and
German-speaking Switzerland.
It is projected that 12 million passengers will use the LGV Rhine-Rh?ne service
which will begin in 2012. The estimated cost of the project is 2.053 billion
euros. A connection will be built at Perrigny, south of Dijon, to serve TGV and
freight trains. Auxon station will be connected to Besancon-Viotte station by a
railway line which could be also used for commuter trains. The construction of
the LGV Rhine-Rh?ne will be undertaken by Rail Network of France (RFF).
A total of 12 of France's 21 metropolitan regions will benefit from the project
including:
* Alsace
* Languedoc-Roussillon
* Franche-Comté
* Bourgogne
* Rh?ne-Alpes
* Provence-Alpes-C?te d'Azur
* Midi-Pyrénées
* Lorraine
Construction
Construction of the line has been divided into various sub-projects:
* Eastern branch, from Mulhouse to Dijon (190 km from Genlis to Lutterbach)
* Western branch, crossing Dijon, joining the LGV Sud-Est near Montbard
* Southern branch, from Dijon to Lyon
Construction started at the north of Besan?on August 7, 2006.
Eastern branch
The eastern branch is currently the furthest advanced. The finance agreement for
the first phase of the eastern branch which connects Villers les Pots (east of
Dijon) to Petit-Croix (southeast of Belfort) was signed 28 February 2006.
Subsequent to preparatory works in 2005, construction officially started on July
3, 2006 by a ceremony in Villersexel-Les Margny, Haute-Sa?ne. This section is
projected to enter service around 2011.
Finance
Financing of the €2 billion project (excluding rolling stock) is broken down as
follows:
* RFF: 642
* SNCF: 94
* Switzerland: 66
* Bourgogne: 131
* Franche-Comté: 316
* Alsace: 206
* Rh?ne-Alpes: 66
* French government: 785
* European union: 200
Journey times
Upon completion of the Eastern branch:
* Strasbourg-Lyon 3:15, eventually 2:05 (currently 4:35)
* Belfort-Paris 2:20 (currently 3:50)
* Strasbourg-Marseille, eventually 4:30
High-speed rail is a type of passenger rail transport that operates
significantly faster than the normal speed of rail traffic. Specific definitions
include 200 km/h (124 mph) and faster — depending on whether the track is
upgraded or new — by the European Union, and above 90 mph (145 km/h) by the
United States Federal Railroad Administration, but there is no single standard,
and lower speeds can be required by local constraints.
While high-speed rail is designed for passenger travel, some high speed systems
offer also some kind of freight service. For instance, the French mail service
La Poste owns a few special TGV trains for carrying postal freight.
History
Railways were the first form of mass transportation, and until the development
of the motorcar in the early 20th century had an effective monopoly on land
transport. Railway companies in Europe and the United States used streamlined
trains since 1933 for high speed services with an average speed of up to 130
km/h (80 mph) and top speed of more than 160 km/h (100 mph). With this service
they were able to compete with the upcoming airplanes. World War II stopped
these services. In 1957, the Odakyu Electric Railway in Greater Tokyo launched
its Romancecar 3000 SSE. This set a world record for narrow gauge trains at 145
km/h, giving Japanese designers confidence they could safely build even faster
trains at standard gauge. Desperate for transport solutions due to overloaded
trains between Tokyo and Osaka, Japan, the idea of high speed rail was born.
The world's first "high-speed train" was Japan's Tōkaidō Shinkansen, officially
opened in October 1964, with construction commencing in 1959. The 0 Series
Shinkansen, built by Kawasaki Heavy Industries, achieved speeds of 200 km/h (125
mph) on the Tokyo–Nagoya–Kyoto–Osaka route. In Europe the first high speed rail
was the french TEE "Le Capitole" between Paris and Toulouse, he achieved speeds
of 200km/h with special adapted SNCF Class BB 9200 locomotives.
Definition of High-speed rail
There is no globally accepted standard separating high-speed rail from
conventional railroads; however a number of widely accepted variables have been
acknowledged by the industry in recent years. Generally, high-speed rail is
defined as having a top speed in regular use of over 200 km/h (125mph). The
fastest train available for commercial use (Alstom's AGV) has a service speed of
360km/h (220mph). Although almost every form of high-speed rail is electrically
driven via overhead cables, this is not necessarily a defining aspect and other
forms of propulsion, such as diesel locomotives, may be used. A definitive
aspect is the use of continuous welded rail which reduces track vibrations and
discrepancies between rail segments enough to allow trains to pass at speeds in
excess 200 km/h. Track radius will often be the ultimate limiting factor in a
train's speed, thus resulting in curves often exceeding a 5 kilometer radius.
Although a few exceptions exist, zero grade crossings is a policy adopted almost
worldwide, with advanced switches utilizing very low entry and frog angles.
Magnetic levitation trains fall under the category of high-speed rail due to
their association with track oriented vehicles; however their inability to
operate on conventional railroads often leads to their classification in a
separate category.
Rationale
Mount Fuji with Shinkansen and Sakura trees in the foreground, Japan.
Mount Fuji with Shinkansen and Sakura trees in the foreground, Japan.
German designed 3rd generation InterCityExpress on Cologne-Frankfurt high-speed
rail line
German designed 3rd generation InterCityExpress on Cologne-Frankfurt high-speed
rail line
In both Japan and France the initial impetus for the introduction of high speed
rail was the need for additional capacity to meet increasing demand for
passenger rail travel. By the mid-1950s, the Tōkaidō Main Line in Japan was
operating at full capacity, and construction of the first segment of the Tōkaidō
Shinkansen between Tokyo and Osaka started in 1959. The Tōkaidō Shinkansen
opened on October 1, 1964, in time for the Tokyo Olympics. The situation for the
first line in Japan was different than the subsequent lines. The route was
already so densely populated and rail oriented that highway development would be
extremely costly, and that one single line between Tokyo and Osaka could bring
service to over half the nation's population, in 1959 that was nearly 45 million
people, today well over 65 million. The Tokaido Shinkansen line is the most
heavily traveled high speed line in the world, and still transports more
passengers than all other high speed rail lines in the world combined, including
in Japan. The subsequent lines in Japan had rationale more similar to situations
in Europe.
In France the main line between Paris and Lyon was projected to run out of
capacity by 1970, so it was decided to build a new line. In both cases the
choice to build a completely separate passenger-only line allowed for the much
straighter higher speed lines. The dramatically reduced travel times on both
lines bringing cities within three hours of one another caused explosions in
ridership. It was the commercial success of both lines that inspired those
countries and their economies to expand or start high speed rail networks.
In the United States the decades after World War II, improvements in automobiles
and aircraft, severe antitrust restrictions on railroads, and government
subsidization of highways and airports made those means practical for a greater
portion of the population than previously. In Europe and Japan, emphasis was
given to rebuilding the railways after the war. In the United States, emphasis
was given to building a huge national interstate highway system and airports.
Urban mass transport systems in the United States were largely eschewed in favor
of road expansion. The U.S. railways have been less competitive partly because
the government has tended to favour road and air transportation more than in
Japan and European countries, and partly because of lower population density in
the United States, but as energy costs increase, rail ridership is increasing
across the country.
Travel by rail becomes more competitive in areas of higher population density or
where gasoline is expensive, because conventional trains are more fuel efficient
than cars . Very few high-speed trains consume diesel or other fossil fuels but
the power stations that provide electric trains with power can consume fossil
fuels. In Japan and France, where the most extensive high speed rail networks
exist, a large proportion of electricity comes from nuclear power. Even using
electricity generated from coal or oil, trains are more fuel efficient per
passenger per kilometer travelled than the typical automobile because of
efficiencies of scale in generator technology. Rail networks, like highways,
require large fixed capital investments and thus require a blend of high density
and government investment to be competitive against existing capital
infrastructure for aircraft and automobiles. Urban density and mass transit have
been key factors in the success of European and Japanese railway transport,
especially in countries such as the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Switzerland,
Spain and France.
High-speed rail by country
High-speed lines in Europe. 320–350 km/h 300 km/h 250–280 km/h 200–230 km/h
High-speed lines in Europe. 320–350 km/h 300 km/h 250–280 km/h 200–230 km/h
High-speed rail by country
See also: Planned high-speed rail by country
For the purposes of this table, high speed rail is defined as passenger rail
running at a top speed of 125 mph (200 km/h) or higher. Countries with scheduled
service faster than 300 km/h;
Country ↓ Scheduled trains ↓ Test run speed record ↓
Austria 230km/h 250 km/h
Belgium 300, 240km/h 347 km/h
Canada 220km/h
China 431 km/h maglev
350, 300, 250, 200 km/h conventional 502 km/h maglev
394 km/h conventional
Finland 220km/h 255 km/h
France 320, 300, 280, 210km/h 574 km/h
Germany 320, 300, 240km/h (conventional) 550 km/h maglev
404 km/h conventional
Italy 300, 260, 200km/h 368 km/h
Japan 300, 250, 200 km/h (conventional) 581 km/h maglev
422 km/h conventional
Norway 210km/h 260 km/h
Portugal 220km/h 275 km/h
Russia 210km/h 260 km/h
South Korea 300, 240km/h 355 km/h
South Africa 200km/h
Spain 300, 240km/h 345 km/h
Sweden 200km/h 295 km/h
Taiwan 300, 240km/h 350 km/h
United Kingdom 300, 200km/h 335 km/h
United States 240, 200km/h 295 km/h
Comparison with other modes of transport
High speed rail is often viewed as an isolated system and simply as advantageous
or disadvantageous as compared to other transport systems, but all transport
systems must work together to maximize benefits. A good HSR system has capacity
for non-stop and local services, and has good connectivity with other transport
systems. HSR, like any transport system, is not inherently convenient, fast,
clean, nor comfortable. All of this depends on design, implementation,
maintenance, operation and funding. Operational smoothness is often more
indicative of discipline than technological prowess.
Due to current infrastructure designs in many nations, there are constraints on
the growth of the highway and air travel systems. Some key factors promoting HSR
is that airports and highways have no room to expand, and are often overloaded.
High-speed rail has the potential for high capacity on its fixed corridors
(double decked E4 Series Shinkansen can carry 1634 passengers, double that of an
Airbus A380 in all economy class), and has the potential to relieve congestion
on the other systems. Well established high speed rail systems in use today are
more environmentally friendly than air or road travel. This is due to:
* displaced usage from more environmentally damaging modes of transport.
* lower energy consumption per passenger kilometer
* reduced land usage for a given capacity compared to motorways
Automobiles
Shinkansen First High speed train design in 1964, the 0 Series at Fukuyama
Station, April 2002 (retired). The first Shinkansen trains ran at speeds of up
to 210 km/h (130 mph) , soon after increased to 220 km/h (135 mph).
Shinkansen First High speed train design in 1964, the 0 Series at Fukuyama
Station, April 2002 (retired). The first Shinkansen trains ran at speeds of up
to 210 km/h (130 mph) , soon after increased to 220 km/h (135 mph).
High-speed rail has the advantage over automobiles in that it can move
passengers at speeds far faster than those possible by car. The lower limit for
HSR (200 km/h, 125 mph) is substantially faster than the highest road speed
limit in any country. Ignoring the few countries without a general speed limit,
the speed limit is rarely higher than 130 km/h (80 mph). For journeys that
connect city center to city center, HSR's advantage is increased due to the
lower speed limits within most urban areas. Generally, the longer the journey,
the better the time advantage of rail over road if going to the same
destination.
Moreover, train tracks permit a far higher throughput of passengers per hour
than a road the same width. A high speed rail needs just a double track railway,
one track for each direction. A typical capacity is 15 trains per hour and 800
passengers per train (as for the Eurostar sets), which implies a capacity of
12,000 passengers per hour in each direction. By way of contrast, the Highway
Capacity Manual gives a maximum capacity for a single lane of highway of 2,250
passenger cars per hour (excluding trucks or RVs). Assuming an average vehicle
occupancy of 1.57 people, a standard twin track railway has a typical capacity
13% greater than a 6-lane highway (3 lanes each way), while requiring only 40%
of the land (1.0/3.0 versus 2.5/7.5 hectares per kilometer of direct/indirect
land consumption). This means that typical passenger rail carries 2.83 times as
many passengers per hour per meter (width) as a road. Some passenger rail
systems, such as the Tokaido Shinkansen line in Japan, have much higher ratios
(with as many as 20,000 passengers per hour per direction). Congested roadways
tend to be commuter – these carry fewer than 1.57 persons per vehicle
(Washington State Department of Transportation, for instance, uses 1.2 persons
per vehicle) during commute times. Congestion also causes the maximum throughput
of a lane to decrease.
South Korea's KTX train can speed up to 300 km/h. French TGV type.
South Korea's KTX train can speed up to 300 km/h. French TGV type.
Aircraft
Optimal distance
While commercial high-speed trains have maximum operating speeds much slower
than jet aircraft, they have advantages over air travel mostly for relatively
short distances, and can be an integral part of any good transportation system.
They also connect city center rail stations to multiple other city center rail
stations (with an intermediate stop passenger loading/unloading time of 3-8
minutes), while air transport necessarily connects airports outside city centers
to other airports outside city centers (with a stop time for intermediate
destinations of 30 minutes to 1 hour.) Both systems complement each other if
they are well designed and maintained.
HSR is best suited for journeys of 2 - 3 hours (150-600 km or about 100-400
miles), for which the train can beat both air and car in this range. When
traveling less than about 650 km (400 mi), the process of checking in and going
through security screening at airports, as well as the journey to the airport
itself makes the total air journey time no faster than HSR. However,
anecdotally, competition authorities in Europe treat HSR for city pairs as
competitive with passenger air at 4-4.5 hours, allowing on a 1-hour flight at
least 40 minutes at each point for travel to and from the airport,
checkin-security-boarding, disembarcation-baggage retrieval and other waits.
However, unless air travel is severely congested, merely providing a comparable
service is often not a compelling financial basis for build an HSR system from
scratch. As a rule of thumb, rail journeys need to be four hours or thereabouts
to be competitive with air travel on journey time. One factor which may have a
further bearing on HSR's competitiveness is the general lack of inconvenience
when using HSR, for example the lack of a requirement to check baggage, or
repeated queuing for checkin, security and boarding as well as the typically
high on-time reliability as compared to air. Separately, from a business
traveler's perspective, HSR can offer amenities such as cellular phone network
availability and on for example Franco-German TGV-Est wireless internet
broadband.
There are routes where high-speed trains have totally beaten air transport, so
that there is no air connection anymore. Examples are Paris-Brussels and
Cologne-Frankfurt. If the train stops at a big airport, like Paris and
Frankfurt, these short distance airplanes lose an extra advantage for the many
travellers who want to go to the airport for a long-distance journey. Air plane
tickets can include a train segment for the journey, with guaranteed rebooking
if the connection is missed, like normal air travel.
Other considerations
All or part of this article may be confusing or unclear.
Please help clarify the article. Suggestions may be on the talk page. (September
2007)
Although air travel has a speed advantage, trains can typically be boarded more
quickly, and in a central location. This can mostly – or completely – offset the
speed advantage of air travel. Many people live in suburbs of large cities and
drive their own car to the airport when they want to fly. In a hub-and-spoke air
system like in the USA, large airports are heavily favored by airlines because
using them can increase load factor and thus profitability. Airlines do not want
to commit to non-hub areas, which if along the route have the potential for
benefit from supplementation with high speed rail. However, in a point-to-point
air system like in Europe (where population density is higher), major air hubs
are discouraged by low-cost carriers due to congestion and high landing costs.
Therefore, travel between two minor cities is already better served by air.
Rail lines also permit far greater capacity and frequency of service than what
is possible with aircraft, and rail schedules find fewer weather-related
interruptions than do airline schedules. Although comfort over air travel is
often believed to be a trait of high speed rail, it is not inherent, it depends
on the specific implementation. From the operator's point of view, a single
train can call in at multiple stops, often far more stops than aircraft, and
each stop takes much less down time. One train stopping pattern can allow a
multitude of possible journeys, increasing the potential market.
In regards to large amounts of luggage, HSR can be trying compared to air
travel, as storage space is limited, and in the case of Japan, trains can and
often are crowded, have standing passengers, especially during rush hour and
holidays.
High speed trains are more energy efficient than aircraft on a same load factor
basis, as trains consume less energy per passenger kilometer. This may result in
less carbon dioxide emissions, however this depends on each implementation's
actual usage patterns and their indirect effects. Short-haul energy requirements
for transporting people are generally more competitive on trains than long haul.
(where rail competes best on time), because takeoff and landing have
proportionately high energy requirements per km versus cruising.
From the point of view of required traffic control systems and infrastructure,
high-speed rail has the added advantage of being much simpler to control due to
its predictable course, even at very high passenger loads; this issue is
becoming more relevant as air traffic reaches its safe limit in busy airspaces
over London, New York, and other large centers. However, it must be noted that
high speed rail systems eliminate the possibility of traffic collisions with
automobiles (adding cost, simplicity, and safety), while other systems do not.
The history of a maximum speed
Maximum speed in service
Although one time specially modified system and trainset land speed record for
railed vehicles make headlines, such as the 574.8 km/h TGV run or the
non-wheeled 581 km/h JR-Maglev MLX01 run, they are far from typical situations
as safety, cost, reliability, mass production are major concerns for high speed
rail engineers and designers. If one wants to compete purely on records, railed
vehicles have attained 10,400 km/h (6,462 mph) (rocket propulsion, unmanned,
test of missiles etc, done in the USA).
What is more useful is the fastest maximum operating speed (MOR) of ANY segment
of any high speed rail line, currently 350 km/h (217 mph), a record held by
China. It is Beijing–Tianjin Intercity Rail which links Beijing to neighbouring
Tianjin (117 km in 30 minutes). They have hit speeds of 394 km/h in tests,
although they will only run at 350 km/h during normal operation. That rail line
went into operation on August 1, 2008.
Previous record holders were TGV and ICE service on part of the LGV Est Line in
France. at 279.4 km/h from Lorraine-TGV to Champagne-Ardennes-TGV (167.66 km in
36 min) and Nozomi Shinkansen at 261.8 km/h (162.7 mph) from Hiroshima to Kokura
according to the last official Railway Gazette International World Speed Survey
study in 2005. With the introduction of the new N700 Shinkansen on July 1, 2007,
the Kokura to Hiroshima time may have decreased further.
From 2011, new trains on the Japanese shinkansen will operate at up to 320 km/h.
In the further future, several other lines are planned or proposed to operate at
this speed, including a line to be built by the California High Speed Rail
Authority (although that line will not be operational before 2025 even if
financed as soon as possible).
Records in trial runs
Land speed record for railed vehicles
* 1963 - Japan - Shinkansen - 256 km/h
* 1965 - West Germany - Class 103 locomotives - 200 km/h (demonstration runs,
scheduled service starting 1968)
* 1967 - France - TGV 001 - 318 km/h (gas turbine type)
* 1972 - Japan - Shinkansen - 286 km/h
* 1974 - West Germany - EET-01 - 230 km/h
* 1974 - France - Aérotrain - 430.2 km/h (high speed monorail train)
* 1975 - West Germany - Comet - 401.3 km/h (steam rocket propulsion)
* 1978 - Japan - HSST-01 - 307.8 km/h (Auxiliary rocket propulsion)
* 1978 - Japan - HSST-02 - 110 km/h
* 1978 - Italy - Pendolino - 250 km/h
* 1979 - Japan - Shinkansen - 319 km/h
* 1979 - Japan - ML-500R (unmanned) - 504 km/h
* 1979 - Japan - ML-500R (unmanned) - 517 km/h
* 1981 - France - TGV - 380 km/h
* 1985 - West Germany - InterCityExperimental - 324 km/h
* 1987 - Japan - MLU001 (manned) - 400.8 km/h
* 1988 - West Germany - InterCityExperimental - 406 km/h
* 1988 - West Germany - TR-06 - 412.6 km/h
* 1989 - West Germany - TR-07 - 436 km/h
* 1990 - France - TGV - 515.3 km/h
* 1992 - Japan - Shinkansen - 350 km/h
* 1993 - Japan - Shinkansen - 425 km/h
* 1993 - Germany - TR-07 - 450 km/h
* 1994 - Japan - MLU002N - 431 km/h
* 1996 - Japan - Shinkansen - 446 km/h
* 1997 - Japan - MLX01 - 550 km/h
* 1999 - Japan - MLX01 - 552 km/h
* 2003 - Germany - Transrapid 08 - 501 km/h
* 2003 - Japan - MLX01 - 581 km/h
* 2006 - Spain/Germany - Velaro E - 404 km/h (unmodified commercial trainset)
* 2007 - France - V150 - 574.8 km/h
Target areas for high-speed trains
The TGV Sud-Est fleet was built between 1978 and 1988 and connected Paris with
Lyon. Originally the sets were built to run at 270 km/h (168 mph), but most were
upgraded to 300 km/h (186 mph) for the opening of the LGV Méditerranée.
The TGV Sud-Est fleet was built between 1978 and 1988 and connected Paris with
Lyon. Originally the sets were built to run at 270 km/h (168 mph), but most were
upgraded to 300 km/h (186 mph) for the opening of the LGV Méditerranée.
Taiwan's Japanese-built 300 km/h 700T series train
Taiwan's Japanese-built 300 km/h 700T series train
Main articles: High-speed rail by country and Planned high-speed rail by country
The early target areas, identified by France, Japan, and the U.S., were
connections between pairs of large cities. In France this was Paris–Lyon, in
Japan Tokyo–Osaka, and in the U.S. the proposals are in high-density areas. The
only high-speed rail service at present in the U.S. is the Acela Express, in the
Northeast Corridor between Boston, New York and Washington, D.C.; it uses
tilting trains to achieve speeds of up to 240 km/h (150 mph) on existing tracks.
One notable fact is that in Europe, Korea, and Japan, dense networks of city
subways and railways connect seamlessly with high speed rail lines. Despite
efforts to create high speed rail in the USA, cities that lack dense intra-city
rail infrastructure will find low ridership for high speed rail, as it is
incompatible with existing automobile infrastructure. (People will want to drive
when traveling in city, so they might as well drive the entire trip). Since in
Japan intra-city rail daily usage per capita is the highest, it follows
naturally that ridership of 6 billion passengers exceeds the French TGV of 1
billion (until 2003), the only other system to reach a billion cumulative
passengers. For comparison, the world's fleet of 22,685 aircraft carried 2.1
billion passengers in 2006, according to International Civil Aviation
Organization.
The California High Speed Rail Authority is currently studying a San Francisco
Bay Area and Sacramento to Los Angeles and San Diego line. The Texas High Speed
Rail and Transportation Corporation strives to bring Texas an innovative
high-speed rail and multimodal transportation corridor. The Corporation
developed the Brazos Express Corridor to link Central Texas.
Later high speed rail lines, such as the LGV Atlantique, the LGV Est, and most
high speed lines in Germany, were designed as feeder routes branching into
conventional rail lines, serving a larger number of medium-sized cities.
A side effect of the first high-speed rail lines in France was the opening up of
previously isolated regions to fast economic development. Some newer high-speed
lines have been planned primarily for this purpose, such as the Madrid–Sevilla
line and the proposed Amsterdam–Groningen line. Cities relatively close to a
major city may see an increase in population, but those farther away may
actually lose population (except for tourist spots), having a ripple effect on
local economies.
Five years after construction began on the line, the first Japanese high-speed
rail line opened on the eve of the 1964 Olympics in Tokyo, connecting the
capital with Osaka. The first French high-speed rail line, or Ligne à grande
vitesse (LGV), was opened in 1981 by SNCF, the French rail agency, planning
starting in 1966 and construction in 1976.
Market segmentation has principally focused on the business travel market. The
French original focus on business travelers is reflected by the early design of
the TGV trains, including the bar car. Pleasure travel was to be a secondary
market; now many of the French extensions connect with vacation beaches on the
Atlantic and Mediterranean, as well as major amusement parks and also the very
popullar Alpine ski resorts in France or Switzerland. Friday evenings are the
peak time for TGVs (train à grande vitesse) (Metzler, 1992). The system has
lowered prices on long distance travel to compete more effectively with air
services, and as a result some cities within an hour of Paris by TGV have become
commuter communities, thus increasing the market while restructuring land use.
On the Paris - Lyon service, the number of passengers grew to impressive numbers
justifying the introduction of double-decks coaches on the TGV trainsets.
Other target areas include freight lines, such as the Trans-Siberian Railway in
Russia, which would be allow 3 day Far East to Europe service for freight as
opposed to months by ship (but still slower than air), and allow just in time
deliveries. High speed north-south freight lines in Switzerland are under
construction, avoiding slow mountainous truck traffic, and lowering labour
costs.
Technology
France's TGV technology has been adapted for use in a number of different
countries.
France's TGV technology has been adapted for use in a number of different
countries.
Much of the technology behind high-speed rail is an improved application of
mature standard gauge rail technology using overhead electrification. By
building a new rail infrastructure with 20th century engineering, including
elimination of constrictions such as roadway at-grade (level) crossings,
frequent stops, a succession of curves and reverse curves, and not sharing the
right-of-way with freight or slower passenger trains, higher speeds (250–320
km/h) are maintained. Total cost of ownership of HSR systems is generally lower
than the total costs of competing alternatives (new highway or air capacity).
Japanese systems are often more expensive than their counterparts but more
comprehensive because they have their own dedicated elevated guideway, no
traffic crossings, and disaster monitoring systems. Despite this, the lion's
share of the Japanese system's cost is related to boring tunnels through
mountains, as was in Taiwan. Recent advances in wheeled trains in the last few
decades have pushed the speed limits past 400 km/h, among the advances being
tilting trainsets, aerodynamic designs (to reduce drag, lift, and noise), air
brakes, regenerative braking, stronger engines, dynamic weight shifting, etc.
Some of the advances were to fix problems, like the Eschede disaster. The record
speed for a wheeled electric train is 574.8 km/h is held by a shortened TGV
train and long straight highly modified track. The record speed for an
unmodified commercial trainset is 403.7 km/h, held by the Velaro E. European
high-speed routes typically combine segments on new track, where the train runs
at full commercial speed, with some sections of older track on the extremities
of the route, near cities.
In France, the cost of construction (which was €10 million/km (US$15.1
million/km) for LGV Est) is minimised by adopting steeper grades rather than
building tunnels and viaducts. However, in mountainous Switzerland, tunnels are
inevitable. Because the lines are dedicated to passengers, gradients of 3.5%,
rather than the previous maximum of 1–1.5% for mixed traffic, are used. Possibly
more expensive land is acquired in order to build straighter lines which
minimize line construction as well as operating and maintenance costs. In other
countries high-speed rail was built without those economies so that the railway
can also support other traffic, such as freight. Experience has shown however,
that trains of significantly different speeds cause massive decreases of line
capacity. As a result, mixed-traffic lines are usually reserved for high-speed
passenger trains during the daytime, while freight trains go at night. In some
cases, nighttime high-speed trains are even diverted to lower speed lines in
favor of freight traffic
The LGV Sud-Est is a French high-speed passenger rail line, which links Paris
and Lyon. The inauguration of the first section between Saint-Florentin (Yonne)
and Sathonay (Rh?ne) on 22 September 1981 marked the beginning of the
re-invigoration of French passenger rail service.
This line, subsequently extended southwards by the LGV Rh?ne-Alpes and LGV
Méditerranée and northwards by the LGV Interconnexion Est, has led to the
speeding up of journey times:
* between Paris and the southeast quarter of France (and by extension towards
Switzerland and Italy)
* between the southeast and the north and west of France (and by extension
towards Britain and Belgium)
Route
The line crosses six départements, from north to south:
* Seine-et-Marne
* Yonne
* C?te-d'Or
* Sa?ne-et-Loire
* Ain
* Rh?ne
The TGV system's compatibility with the regular rail network avoided the need
for new infrastructure construction in the dense urban areas of Paris and Lyon.
The distance from Paris (Gare de Lyon) to Lyon (Part-Dieu) is 425 km. The LGV
route is 409 km long; by avoiding built-up areas between Paris and Lyon
(particularly Dijon) this enables a route 87 km shorter than the regular line
(512 km). There are no tunnels.
The line includes various connectors to the regular rail network:
* at Pasilly-Aisy towards Dijon, and further through the Jura mountains to
Vallorbe/Lausanne or Neuchatel/Zürich
* at Macon-Pont-de-Veyle towards Bourg-en-Bresse and Savoie
* at Saint-Florentin
* at Le Creusot TGV station
* at Macon-Loché station
These last three are used by service trains or in order to divert passenger
trains if needed.
The line runs next to the A5 autoroute for 60 km and the N79 road for 15 km. For
its full length, a 5 m wide area has been reserved for a telecommunication
artery.
Line specifics
The line has a surface area of 16 square kilometres (in comparison Charles de
Gaulle International Airport occupies 32 square kilometres), with an average
width of 40 m. Platforms are 13 m wide, with a space between track centres of
4.2 m. The line was designed for a nominal speed of 300 km/h, with a minimum
radius curve of 4,000 m (although 7 curves were made to a smaller radius, but no
less than 3,200 m.)
In total, the line comprises 847 km of track. This is formed by UIC 60 (60.3
kg/m) rails placed in lengths of 288 m, welded in place (with certain segmented
sections.) The concrete sleepers of 2.41 m are formed of two blocks of concrete
tied together by a metal strut. There are 1660 sleepers per kilometer.
Traction power is supplied by eight EDF substations at 25 kV AC, 50 Hz. The
catenary is fed by a "feeder" cable in phase opposition, which is equivalent to
a 50 kV supply and reinforces the available power, one trainset being able to
draw up to 14 MW.
Signalling draws on high-frequency track circuits, signals being transmitted
directly to the driver's console. There are lineside marker boards indicating
the limits of each block section, but no signals as such.
Stations
The LGV Sud-Est serves the following stations:
* Le Creusot
* Macon-Loché
* Lyon Part-Dieu
Le-Creusot and Macon-Loché are basic-looking stations situated away from
built-up areas. They have two side platforms and four tracks, the two central
tracks being reserved for through trains, the side tracks serving for stopping
trains.
History
* 10 July 1967: SNCF research management launches project C 03 on high speed,
titled "Rail Transport Possibilities through New Infrastructure"
* 26 March 1971: approval of new line project by inter-ministerial committee
* 23 March 1976: declaration of public utility, the decree being signed by
Jacques Chirac, prime minister
* 7 December 1976: works commence at écuisses (Sa?ne-et-Loire)
* 14 June 1979: first rails laid near Montchanin (Sa?ne-et-Loire)
* 20 November 1980: track laying ends (Cluny)
* 22 September 1981: inauguration of first section (Saint-Florentin-Sathonay) to
Montchanin by President of the Republic, Fran?ois Mitterrand
* 26 February 1981: trainset no. 16 (TGV Sud-Est) breaks the world record for
rail speed at 380 km/h between Courcelles-Frémois (C?te-d'Or) and Dyé (Yonne) in
a gradually descending portion of the line
* 27 September 1981: commercial service begins
* 25 September 1983: service begins on northern section (Combs-la-Ville -
Saint-Florentin)
* 31 August 1992: derailment at 270 km/h of TGV in Macon-Loché station; several
waiting passengers on the platform are slightly injured by flying ballast
* 13 December 1992: service begins on northern section of LGV Rh?ne-Alpes (from
Montanay to Saint-Quentin-Fallavier)
* 26 May 1994: service begins on LGV Interconnexion Est (connection with LGV
Nord)
* March 1996: beginning of line renovation works (replacement of ballast and
points, works designed to last until 2006)
* 2 June 1996: service begins at the junction with Villeneuve-Saint-Georges by
the Coubert triangle
The LGV Sud Europe Atlantique (LGV SEA), also known as the LGV Sud-Ouest, is a
proposed high-speed railway line running between Tours and Bordeaux, in France.
If built, it would be used by TGV trains operated by SNCF, the French national
railway company. The project is in its final stages of approval as of March,
2006. It is an extension of the LGV Atlantique.
TGV High Speed Train, at Poitiers, France
TGV High Speed Train, at Poitiers, France
Purpose
Project Map (English/French)
Project Map (English/French)
The purpose of constructing the LGV SEA is to bring high-speed rail service to
southwestern France and connect the régions of Poitou-Charentes, Aquitaine and
Midi-Pyrénées with the high-speed rail service of Northern Europe, which
connects Paris to London, Brussels, Amsterdam and beyond. The trip between Paris
and Bordeaux will take around two hours and ten minutes with a projected speed
of 300 km/h. The inter-city links between Tours, Poitiers, Angoulême, and
Bordeaux will also be improved and southwestern France will be better connected
to diverse parts of the country and the rest of Europe.
The project is also a response to the heavy traffic on the existing rail line.
The speed differences between the high-speed TGV trains, which reach speeds of
up to 220 km/h on the existing tracks, and the slower freight trains and TER
(regional) trains which share the same track, create highly congested tracks and
prevent the most efficient usage of the rails.
Creating dedicated tracks for the TGV allows more freight and TER trains to use
the existing tracks. New regional TER services will be created, especially to
ease services that are currently crowded. The increase in freight trains on the
existing track is also expected to ease truck traffic on the roads in the
régions, as trains transport more and more merchandise, easing the impact on the
environment as well.
The project is also expected to benefit the economy. The construction of Phase 1
alone is expected to create 10,000 construction jobs a year for five years. Jobs
in the transport, commerce, and service sectors are expected to be created as
well. Local businesses will likely see competitiveness increase as their markets
expand, and tourism to the region will likely increase as well.
Details
* The new high-speed route will bypass Libourne, shortening the total distance
traveled compared to the existing route.
* No new train stations will be built between Saint-Pierre-des-Corps and
Bordeaux: service to Chatellerault, Poitiers and Angoulême will take advantage
of existing train stations, with connections allowing access to the high-speed
rails.
* South of Poitiers, a connection will allow trains to access the old tracks
towards La Rochelle.
* The total time gain between Tours and Bordeaux will be around 50 minutes. 300
km of track will be constructed and the cost of the project is estimated to be
4.7 billion Euros.
* The new line will increase annual ridership by about five million travelers.
Phases
For financial reasons, the project was divided into phases:
Phase 1: Angoulême-Bordeaux
* 2001-2003: Pre-project studies and procedures
* 3 February 2005 - 16 March 2005: Final public hearings
Phase 2: Tours-Angoulême
* 2004-2006: Pre-project studies and procedures
* When constructed, Phase 2 must be completed on a rapid schedule due to the
increase in traffic that will likely be caused by the completion and opening of
Phase 1.
Phase 3: Bordeaux-Spanish frontier
* Proposed, not currently decided.
* 2004-2005: Preliminary studies
* 2006: Public debate
History
* 25 September 1990: Service began on the south-west branch of the LGV
Atlantique to Saint-Pierre-des-Corps, west of Tours
* 1 April 1992: Initial proposals for a high speed link between
Saint-Pierre-des-Corps and Bordeaux. Early in its conception, the line was going
to be called LGV Aquitaine.
* 1994-1995: Public debate on the LGV Aquitaine project
* 1997-1998: Preliminary studies on the Tours to Bordeaux line
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