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LGV Rhin-Rhône

LGV Rhin-Rhône Branche Est
LGV Rhin-Rhône schema.svg
LGV Rhin-Rhône schema
Overview
Type High-speed rail
Status Operational, partly under construction
Locale France (Burgundy, Franche-Comté)
Termini Petit-Croix, near Mulhouse
Villers-les-Pots, near Dijon
Stations Gare de Besançon Franche-Comté TGV,
Gare de Belfort - Montbéliard TGV
Operation
Opened 11 December 2011
Owner SNCF Réseau
Operator(s) SNCF
Rolling stock TGV Duplex
TGV Sud-Est
TGV Réseau
TGV POS
Siemens Velaro D (from 2014)
Technical
Line length 140 km (87 mi)
Number of tracks Double track
Track gauge 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 12 in) standard gauge
Electrification 25 kV 50 Hz
Operating speed 320 km/h (200 mph)
Route map
Line from Dijon
from Paris via west branch LGV Rhin-Rhône
0.0 to Vallorbe
8.3 River Saône
52.0 Besançon Franche-Comté TGV
57.1 to Besançon-Viotte
Line from Belfort
133.9 Belfort - Montbéliard TGV
to Delle
137.9 Line to Mulhouse
east branch LGV Rhin-Rhône to Mulhouse

The LGV Rhin-Rhône (Ligne à Grande Vitesse) is a high-speed railway line, the first in France to be presented as an inter-regional route rather than a link from the provinces to Paris, though it actually is used by some trains to/from Paris. The first phase of the eastern branch opened on 11 December 2011. Construction of its second phase was expected to start in 2014 but has unclear funding at this stage.

If completed, LGV Rhin-Rhône would have three branches:

The construction of the latter two branches and of the second phase of the Eastern branch is currently unfunded.

Running north-south, the Southern branch line would help connect Germany, the north of Switzerland, and eastern France on the one hand with the valleys of the Saône, Rhône, the Mediterranean arc and finally Catalonia on the other. The east-west Eastern and Western branches lines would help connect on the one hand London, Brussels, Lille and Île-de-France (i.e., Paris and surroundings) with Burgundy, Franche-Comté, south Alsace, southern Baden, and Switzerland on the other.

A connection will be built at Perrigny, south of Dijon, to serve TGV and freight trains. Auxon station will be connected to Besançon-Viotte station by a railway line which could be also used for commuter trains.

It is projected that 12 million passengers per year will use the LGV Rhine-Rhône service.

The first phase of the eastern branch runs 140 km (87 mi) of the 190 km planned length, connecting Villers-les-Pots (east of Dijon) to Petit-Croix (southeast of Belfort), was officially opened by President Nicolas Sarkozy on 8 September 2011, with passenger services starting on 11 December 2011.

The eastern branch is used by TGV trains operated by SNCF, the French national railway company. It will become a key link in both the North-South and East-West transport corridors. The line carries regional, national, and intra-European traffic. Mulhouse provides connection to Basel, Switzerland, and then to southwestern Germany and northwestern Switzerland.


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Wikipedia

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