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Issue 6 2007, Past issues / 26 November 2007 /
Many railway operators decided to implement ground-to-train radios on their networks during the fourth quarter of the 20th century, which, for most of them, was to use variants of UIC specific analogue technology.
In order to anticipate the upcoming obsolescence of this existing radio and having in mind the objective to improve interoperability of railway operations all over Europe, the UIC took action in the early 1990s to determine which new technology could be specified and promoted. (more…)
Issue 6 2007, Past issues / 26 November 2007 /
On 25 May 2007, Anne-Marie Idrac, the president of the SNCF Group and Hubert du Mesnil, the President of Réseau Ferré de France, signed a new infrastructure management agreement to cover the financial years from 2007 to 2010 inclusive, for maintenance and upgrading of the French national railway network.
There are three concerned areas. Firstly, there is path plotting, of which an annual sum of approximately €32 million has been set aside for. Then operations, that is to say operational traffic management and traffic follow-up. An annual amount increasing from €794 million in 2007 to €861 million in 2010 will be dedicated to this area, which includes the safety and regularity assessment missions. Finally, the management agreement concerns the routine maintenance and major maintenance of railway facilities, for an amount decreasing from €1,890 million to €1,860 million over the term of the contract. (more…)
Issue 6 2007, Past issues / 26 November 2007 /
Alstom’s high-speed bogies are the result of a joint collaboration with SNCF which started some 30 years ago in the frame of the TGV development. From the outset of the TGV development, it appeared that articulated train architecture would be the most suitable solution to satisfy the objectives of safety, comfort and cost-efficiency. Once the general architecture of the trainset was adopted, it was necessary to define the bogie architecture and its main characteristics. (more…)
Issue 2 2007, Past issues / 3 April 2007 /
The Haut Bugey line project is one of several Franco-Suisse projects. Its aim is to improve train links between France and Switzerland, as per the agreement signed in 1999 by French and Swiss governments. Although the project is entirely located in France, the Swiss government provides close to one third of the financing for the €340 million project, in line with the expected benefits for Switzerland.
Before the opening of the first TGV line, Paris-Genève passengers travelled by way of Lausanne. This journey usually involved a change of train, and thus offered a rather poor service and an uncompetitive travel time of approximately 6 hours.
With the opening in 1981 of the Paris to Lyon TGV line (LN1), the journey time between Paris and Genève fell to 3 hours and 30 minutes. The route was changed, and trains began running at high-speed between Paris and Macon, then leaving the high-speed line at Macon and carrying on through Bourg-en-Bresse, Amberieu, Culoz, Bellegarde-sur-Valserine and on to Genève. This helped greatly in building up an efficient train service between Paris and Genève. Travel time was further reduced to 3 hours and 22 minutes when the maximum operational speed on the LN1 High-Speed line was increased from 270km/h to 300km/h in 2004. Such travel time however remained just above the 3 hour threshold where train takes advantage over planes for that type of journey. Journey times will not be expected to increase in the near future, neither on the high-speed line nor on the classical line between Macon and Bellegarde-sur-Valserine, due to the curvature and gradient of the line. Besides, the section between Macon and Amberieu also accommodates freight traffic, often conflicting with passenger traffic.
To gain a journey time below the 3 hour threshold, various options, involving boring long tunnels through the Jura Mountains, were studied but later abandoned because of high costs. One option, however, appeared to be cost-effective while meeting the target. This option was to modernize an existing line linking Bourg-en-Bresse and Bellegarde-sur-Valserine by way of Nantua. This route is 47km shorter than the current one (65km long via Nantua against 112km long via Amberieu) and it was expected that it will cut journey times by 20 minutes. Another advantage is to free, for freight traffic, train paths currently used by TGVs on the Bourg-en-Bresse – Amberieu section.
The Bourg-en-Bresse – Bellegarde-sur-Valserine line
The so-called ‘carpate’s line’, linking Bourg-en-Bresse and Bellegarde-sur-Valserine via Nantua, was in operation from the late 19th Century until 2005.
Operation of the section between Bourg-en-Bresse and the junction onto Oyonax (hereafter called first section) started in 1877 and was suspended in August 2005 until modernization works are completed.
Operation of the section between junction onto Oyonax and Bellegarde-sur-Valserine (hereafter called second section) started in 1882 and was stopped in 1990.
The 65km long railway runs through the mountainous region of the Haut Bugey, reaching an altitude of 600m by the Lake of Sylans. Sylans is known as a very cold area where, until not so long ago, ice was extracted from the lake and stored in deep wells to be sent to Paris or Marseilles almost all year round. From Nantua to Bellegarde-sur-Valserine, snow can be expected for at least three months a year, sometimes as late as April.
The line curves around peaks, travelling up and down steep gradients (often 2%). Many curves have radiuses of 300m or less. After modernisation, operation will start again on the whole of the line. The first section will accommodate both TGVs and regional traffic originating either from Lyon or Bourg-en-Bresse and carrying on onto Oyonax and Saint Claude while only TGVs will travel the second section.
The project
Preliminary studies started in the late 90s, at the time RFF was created to take over the French railways infrastructure from SNCF. Concertation procedures, both within the French administration and with the public were completed in early 2003 for the former and by the end of 2003 for the latter. The Swiss government confirmed its financing (€110 million) in September 2003. The project was approved and it was decided to go on with the next phase. The consulting engineer was chosen through a competitive bid process to perform detailed design and prepare tender documents for the works. That phase started in 2004 and was completed in early 2006 with regards to the detailed design and is still going on for railway equipment tenders.
Given the area that the project is going through, environment is a crucial issue. Although noise levels will be lower than the ones generated by the rolling stock operated up until 2005 on the jointed existing track, an approximate length of 4000m of noise protection walls will be erected.
Running through highly renowned sites such as Nantua and the Sylans lakes at the foot of cliffs, special measures have to be taken to ensure preservation while making sure safety is maintained and reinforced. Discreet safety nets will be installed in the slopes facing the lake so that in a few years time they will be hardly noticeable.
Although diesel trains are prohibited in these areas, the track will be made water-tight when passing close to water resources used for human consumption. Drastic safety measures are taken while the works are performed, such as closing down sensitive water resources and providing alternative ones for the duration of the works.
One of the main characteristics of the project is to use the existing platform. Besides the new viaduct in Bellegarde-sur-Valserine there is only one location where the project gets away from the existing platform. Leaving Bourg-en-Bresse the track was supposed to follow a large curve which would allow a maximum speed of 140km/h for a few kilometres. But during the design phase, a European-protected species was discovered in the area and, to ensure its preservation, the project had to be changed and the speed had to be brought down from 140 to 120km/h.
In early 2005, the project was declared as ‘urgent and in the public interest’. This allows expropriation should the need arise. Until now, all properties have been bought after negotiation based on market price. Tender procedures for the civil works were carried out in early 2005 and bids were received in October of the same year. Bid analysis and negotiations took place at the end of 2005 – early 2006.
Financing for the construction phase was eventually totally secured by mid-2006, and authorization to begin with the works was received in September 2006. Civil works contractors were notified in November 2006 and the final detailed design for civil works began while all safety measures related to the works, such as road traffic and water resources protection, were implemented.
Railway equipment tenders for track, catenary systems, telecommunications and GSM-R will be released during 2007.
The civil works are mainly modifications and adjustments to the electrification gauge of 80 bridges and 11 tunnels, totalling 7.4km in length. Some bridges will be totally rebuilt.
Tunnels will be made water tight, carefully avoiding disturbance to existing water paths that feed surroundings villages. They will also be made safer by installing lighting, water tanks and by keeping rail-road fire engines ready to intervene at specific locations along the line and through other safety measures.
Because of all the safety risks involved, each and every level crossing has been carefully studied and actions will be taken to cancel as many of them as possible. Altogether, 15 level crossings will be suppressed.Two level crossings will be replaced by special undertrack paths for cattle, while two others, classified as potentially dangerous, will be replaced by bridges.
Six passing loops shall be lengthened and renewed and a new TGV station shall be built in Nurieux to ease transportation to and from the French plastic valley of Oyonax.
Arriving in Bellegarde-sur-Valserine, a new bridge will allow trains to proceed on to Genève without reversing. Because of the rather steep slope (a gradient of about 2%), a shunting track with a buffer stop will take on any drifting train.
A multimodal platform with three new car parks will allow easy transfer between TGVs, regional trains and buses in Bellegarde-sur-Valserine. The ‘flying saucer’ shaped new station, besides being most functional, is also environmentally friendly, requiring very little energy to cool or heat.
Curves will be eased to allow for a slight increase in speed and a smoother ride. Maximum speeds will be 120km/h leaving Bourg-en-Bresse going to Ceyzeriat and in the Mornay tunnel until the train reaches Brion. For the remaining part of the line, the speed will be 80 to 100km/h depending on the curves and gradient. 65km of track (LWR) and ballast will be totally renewed. The line will be electrified at 2×25 KV 50 Hz with the construction of a 2×25 KV substation at Cise-Bolozon. A rigid catenary system shall be implemented in the longer tunnels and the line will be re-signalled with automatic block colour light signal and KVB beacons. Solid state pc-based interlockings will be installed at each passing loop and the line will be remote-controlled from Bellegarde-sur-Valserine where the same SSI equipment, with a human-machine interface, will be installed in a brand new cabin. A GSM-R telecommunication system will also be implemented to reinforce safety. Works completion date is set for the second half of 2009.
About the author
Jean-Damien Bierre is an ENSEEIHT graduate (electrotechnical engineer). He led important projects abroad for French firms (subways of Hong Kong and Athens) and was a manager of the Danish branch of Spie Enertrans from 1997-2004. He joined Réseau Ferré de France (RFF) in 2004 as Project Manager of the Haut Bugey mission.
Issue 1 2007, Past issues / 6 February 2007 /
In the last quarter of a century, high-speed rail links have revolutionised domestic and international traffic. On 3 July 2006, almost exactly 25 years after the first high-speed train was placed in service between Paris and Lyons, work began on the Eastern branch of the Rhine-Rhone high-speed line between Dijon in Burgundy and Mulhouse in Alsace. With this new 140km line, Réseau Ferré de France (RFF) is about to notch up a further milestone in the development of the French and European high-speed network.
A line right in the heart of Europe
With its three complementary branches, the Rhine-Rhone high-speed line will provide a vital link between the North and South of Europe. The Eastern branch (from Dijon to Mulhouse) is the first section that will be built. The Western branch (through the Dijon region) and Southern branch (connection with the Lyons area) are currently in the study phase. The project as a whole is masterminded and coordinated by Réseau Ferré de France, the owner and manager of the French railway network since 1997.
The route for the line has been chosen so that it will link Eastern France with major economic and population centres in the Rhine Basin and Benelux countries. It will also help connect these centres with urban and economic clusters on the Mediterranean Arc. It should therefore serve to further secure France’s position on a continent increasingly gravitating towards the East.
The project has the backing of the Swiss Federation, which will enjoy the benefits of the new and improved link. The line has also been classified as a “priority corridor” by the European Union in relation to its European transport networks. These two factors alone speak volumes for the community interest of the project.
Injecting new life into the regions
This first-ever province-to-province high-speed rail link will give an enormous boost to inter-regional services. With the first section of the Eastern branch alone, journey times will be slashed on many routes between Eastern and Western France (from the Paris region to Switzerland) and with regions in the South of France.
Territorial ambitions
The high-speed line project, which was first launched in 1993, has attracted the support of all the local political players, who have been greatly instrumental in bringing it to fruition.
Unlike all the other such lines currently in existence or under construction, which all transit via Paris or its suburbs, the Rhine-Rhone high-speed line will be the first to link two provincial towns. This is one of the project’s most unusual facets.
The unfailing support of those with regional decision-making authority throughout the design phase has been a vital factor, directly or indirectly, in the project’s success. This support even extends to substantial regional participation in the total €2.3 billion bill for completing the line.
Priority for dialogue and local outreach
To cater to the regional dimension of this project, Réseau Ferré de France has made a conscious decision to foster dialogue and exchange. From the outset, the designers of the project were primed to adapt line concepts to the different sites along its length and to choose a route that would have the least possible effect on the local habitat, on the environment and local farming community.
Given the novelty of the new line as the first province-to-province link of its kind in the French rail transport organisation, RFF also had to find suitably adapted management structures for the project. For the past 10 years and more, project studies have been coordinated and supervised at local level. By opting for teams familiar with the region and in close contact with people in the field, it has been easier to explain RFF’s proposals to the local population. A project team has been working on the spot for several years and is in direct contact with the local residents, mayors and community associations affected by the project. Its goal is to maintain communications channels open at all times.
Throughout the project, Réseau Ferré de France has sought to maintain and develop its network of contacts. Today it is using the same approach in its dealings with the companies carrying out construction work. In the last five years in particular, more than 100 public hearings have been staged in the many localities affected by the line.
In addition, by working closely with the government departments concerned it has been possible to ensure full compliance with the regulations and procedures for projects of this scale: consultations, environmental considerations, land acquisitions, etc.
A 5-year site, 6,000 jobs per year
Civil engineering work officially began in July 2006. From 2007, the site will be in full operation and will be the biggest of its kind in France. The high-speed line will create a total of some 6,000 jobs per year. At the moment, more than 1,000 people are already working in connection with the site.
Earthworks activities have been divided into some 15 tranches for a maximum of local control, in line with the approach adopted by RFF since project inception. Since the worksite opened in July it has been extended over more than half the ultimate length. The last contracts will be awarded in the first half of 2007 and the line itself should be commissioned at the end of 2011.
Social innovation
For maximum impact, Réseau Ferré de France has decided to opt for an innovative approach to the task of staffing its worksites. Agreements have been signed with the companies awarded the public works contracts whereby 7% of all hours worked are to be earmarked for the chronically unemployed. The first results are already noticeable. Several agreements have been signed and some 80 jobseekers have found employment related to the project.
Expected benefits
Not only will the new line slash journey times and improve travel within France and the rest of Europe, but its biggest impact will be on passenger traffic. An estimated 1.1 million passengers per year are expected to pass through each of the two new stations to be built. This is a net increase over current traffic figures and is certain to bring a welcome boost to economic development.
Rail, the environment-friendly mode
In terms of sustainable development, the railway is without a doubt the mode of the future. Every day thousands of vehicles pass through our regions, in particular on the roads. Railways offer a viable alternative to the growing problem of road traffic congestion.
‘La Savoureuse’ viaduct: an integral part of the landscape
The ‘La Savoureuse’ viaduct will be the longest on the future Rhine-Rhone high-speed line. It will cross the Savoureuse Valley between Montbéliard and Belfort, spanning the A36 motorway, an A road, a B road, a river and a canal. Particular care has been given to its design to make it a feature of the valley. An international team made up of Jean Muller International, Wilkinson Eyre and Alfred Peter was commissioned to this end.
The project concerns a 1,300 metre length of line comprising not only the 816 metre long viaduct itself, but also the mouth of the cutting carved into the flanks of the valley to the West. Despite route alignment constraints imposed by the choice of 350 km/h running speeds and the need for a structure capable of coping with railway loads, it was important that the new infrastructure should fit smoothly into the already dense fabric of the valley.
The challenge consisted of designing a railway viaduct that, although not rising very high above the ground, would not look too ungainly, would have a deck in proportion to its piers and would not appear to form a concrete wall slicing through the landscape when viewed from an oblique angle.
Simplicity, symmetry and harmony were therefore the essential ingredients of a structure reflecting the pattern of forces at work. The resulting viaduct will consist of a series of relatively short steel spans seamlessly supporting a track of long welded rails. Resting on one box girder each side, the deck will form a smooth, unbroken and elegant line. It will stand on distinctive tetrapod piles whose profiles will be sculptured across and along its length and which will have larger or smaller concrete pads at their base to cater to differences in the natural height of the ground.
The design approach to the project targeted areas such as:
- A functional viaduct of robust construction, giving the impression of lightness through the relatively low elevation of a deck blending harmoniously into the natural beauty of the site
- A clear and simple concept based on sharply geometric piers of varying heights to allow for the differences in ground and railway track altitude
- A easily recognisable shape consisting of double ‘V’ shaped piers and a long slender elegant silhouette brought into sharp focus at night by the upwards beam of the lights nestling at the centre of the tetrapod piles
- A spectacular modern viaduct of contemporary design making a bold statement against the valley backdrop
The result will be an architectural masterpiece with proportions to match those of the valley itself and using technology to ensure visual integration into the site. The structure will also respect the principles of architectural design, namely elegant lines, extraordinary attention to detail and intrinsic ‘technological beauty’.
About the author
Marc Svetchine spent most of his career working for the French Ministry of Public Works before joining Réseau Ferré de France (RFF) in February 2002 as Regional Director for Burgundy and Franche-Comté based in Besançon. It is in this capacity that he is responsible for the Rhine-Rhone high-speed line project.
Issue 6 2006, Past issues / 28 November 2006 /
During a visit on 22 May 2006 to the largest RFF track regeneration project near Orleans, Dominique Perben, Minister of Transport, Public Works, Tourism and Maritime Affairs unveiled the French rail network regeneration plan for the 2007-2010 period.
In September 2005, Professor Rivier of Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale in Lausanne, presented to the RFF Chairman and SNCF Chairman an audit report on the state of the French rail network which had been commissioned from him. The report itself, compiled by a group of independent experts and containing some key recommendations, was passed on to the Transport Minister straightaway and subsequently made public.
A key conclusion of this report concerns the imbalance existing between the resources available for regeneration and those for running maintenance. The report findings are highly critical of the current state of the French rail network and of the management methods used. Several recommendations are made to boost efficiency, improve productivity and so maintain the network at a high level of technical excellence.
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Issue 5 2006, Past issues / 15 September 2006 /
Historically, the Pyrenees have acted as a natural barrier for the communications between France and Spain, concentrating them at both extremes of the mountain range, through the coastal plains. The increasing cross-border traffic flow has produced consequent traffic congestion.
In 1992, the governments of France and Spain started detailed discussions in order to create a competitive rail link connection between both countries. Encouraged by the projected growth in traffic the governments signed an accord (‘The Madrid Agreement’) on 10 October 1995, with the intention of developing a double tracked, standard gauge, High-Speed Link through the Pyrenees linking Perpignan (France) with Figueras (Spain).
The rail link known as the ‘International Section’ will cover a distance of approximately 44.4km, including the 8.2km double-bore Perthus tunnel through the Pyrenees. The link forms and will became part of the ‘Ligne à Grande Vitesse sud-Européenne’, which features in the list of priority projects adopted by the European Council at the Essen and Corfu summits. The new high-speed line will be constructed under the European standard gauge, with twin tracks that will carry passengers and freight.
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Issue 4 2005, Past issues / 3 November 2005 /
Réseau Ferré de France (RFF), the owner and manager of the railway infrastructure in France, is a publicly-owned entity, responsible for the management and development of the rail network and prime contractor for new lines, especially new high-speed rail links.
The major rail projects promoted by RFF meet the need to achieve sustainable development while re-establishing a balance between the various means of transport. They are long-term projects, requiring some considerable time between the initial studies and completion of the construction work. The design, study and pre-project stage lasts for four to seven years and a project then takes between two and six years to complete. In addition to the studies specific to each stage, these major projects include periods of public debate and discussion. There are also administrative procedures to be completed before the Government can take the necessary decisions. (more…)
Issue 3 2005, Past issues / 23 August 2005 /
The eyes of the railway world are on France as it builds the latest addition to its successful high speed network – the TGV Est line that will link Paris with eastern France and beyond. The €3 billion first phase of the programme, which commenced in spring 2002, is placing heavy demands on civil engineers and railway infrastructure suppliers working to tight schedules to ensure the network opens in 2007.
The entire rail for the project is being supplied by Corus. In this article, three of the company’s senior executives explain how Corus is meeting the technical and logistic challenges posed by TGV Est.
During the summer of 2005, rail production for the high profile TGV Est project in France is reaching its peak. In the month of June alone, the Corus rail mill at Hayange in the Fensch Valley rolled 11,000 tonnes of rail for the first phase of the programme. By early next year, Corus will have supplied more than 86,000 tonnes of new rail to its customer, Société Nationale des Chemins de fer Français (SNCF).
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