LGV Perpignan–Figueres

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
LGV Perpignan–Figueres

Figueres-Vilafant: first TGV arrival from Paris,
December 2010
Overview
System SNCF
Status Operational
Locale France (Languedoc-Roussillon),
Spain (Catalonia)
Termini Gare de Perpignan
Figueres–Vilafant railway station
Operation
Opened 2010
Owner RFF
Operator(s) SNCF
Technical
Line length 44.4 km (27.6 mi)
No. of tracks Double track
Track gauge 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) Standard gauge
Electrification 25 kV 50 Hz
Route map
Continuation backward
from Narbonne
Station on track
Perpignan
Junction to left Continuation to left
to Cerbère
Continuation to right Junction to right
to Villefranche-de-Conflent
Straight track
Enter tunnel
Perthus Tunnel
Unknown BSicon "tGRENZE"
Border France - Spain
Exit tunnel
Straight track Continuation backward
from Cerbère
Unknown BSicon "vBS2r" Stop on track
Figueres
Unknown BSicon "exvBHF-KBHFa" + Unknown BSicon "vKBHFe-KBHFa"
 Straight track
Figueres–Vilafant
Unknown BSicon "evSTR-STRgl" Junction from right
Unknown BSicon "exvSTR-" Continuation forward
to Barcelona
Unknown BSicon "exvCONTf-"
future high-speed line to Barcelona
Overview map of the high-speed connections from Barcelona towards France, both under construction and recently finished.
Muga Viaducto in the Pont de Molins village, without noise protection screens

The LGV Perpignan–Figueres is an international high-speed rail line between France and Spain. The line connects two cities on opposite sides of the border, Perpignan in Roussillon, France, and Figueres in Catalonia, Spain. It consists of a 44.4-kilometre (27.6 mi) line which crosses the French–Spanish border via the 8.3-kilometre (5.2 mi) Perthus Tunnel bored under the Perthus Pass.[1] It opened on 19 December 2010 with a TGV service from Paris via Perpignan to Figueres–Vilafant, and regular freight traffic started on 21 December 2010.

The line was formally opened on 27 January 2011.[2]

Contents

[edit] History

The contract to build the line was awarded on 17 February 2004 to the TP Ferro consortium, a joint venture of Eiffage (France) and Dragados (Spain).[1] The group constructed the line for an estimated cost of approximately €1.1 billion, and will operate the line for 53 years.[3] It will receive a public subsidy of €540 million, split between the European Union, France and Spain. Test running started in November 2008, and the international section officially opened on 17 February 2009, but no services ran until December 2010 while a station at Figueres was constructed.[4][5][6]

[edit] Line

The track on the new line is standard gauge using 25 kV AC railway electrification at 50 Hz, consistent with the French LGV and Spanish AVE high-speed rail networks.[7] The line is to be open to both passenger and freight trains, the maximum grade being limited to 1.2%.[7] The design speed is 350 km/h.[8]

Traditional Spanish rail lines are broad gauge, so rail connections between France and Spain have involved a break-of-gauge. Passengers and cargo must either change trains, or the trains must pass through gauge-changing installations at the border. This line will be the first connection without a break-of-gauge[9] and the first international connection to the AVE network. Another connection to France near the Atlantic coast in the Basque country is planned, and a link via Huesca is under study.

Figueres-Vilafant railway station under construction in August 2010. Currently French TGVs from Paris terminate here, connecting with a Spanish train to Barcelona

[edit] Services

A TGV service from Paris via Perpignan started on 19 December 2010 to a temporary station at Figueres[10] and a connecting service on the classic line on to Barcelona.[11] The total journey time from Paris to Barcelona has been reduced by 1h 15m to 7h 25m. Of that, 5h 30m is spent on the Paris to Figueres segment.[12] Initially there is a service of two Paris-Figueres TGVs per day, together with three RENFE Alvia trains a day between Barcelona and Perpignan using the conventional line between Barcelona and Figueres and change of rail gauge on the fly at Figueres.[8][12]

RENFE started a standard-gauge freight service on 21 December 2010.[13] As of January 2011 there are four freight trains a week running over the line from Barcelona, with journey times reduced by 6 hours: one train each way to Lyon, and one each way to Milan.[13]

[edit] Future

The Madrid–Barcelona high-speed rail line is being extended from Barcelona to Figueres. Services are expected to run from Perpignan to Girona starting in 2012[11][14] and Paris to Barcelona.[12] Trains will be able to travel at high speed from Madrid to Perpignan, and services from Lyon to Barcelona in under four hours[15] are planned, probably in 2014,[8] using the classic line in France between Perpignan and Nîmes. A new company jointly owned by RENFE and SNCF is to be formed to run services between Paris and Madrid. Ten new trains are to be purchased at a cost of €300 million.[16]

In May 2010 it was announced that tendering had started for the Nîmes–Montpellier bypass route. This will be the first stage in the link between the Spanish high-speed network and LGV Méditerranée. The line will carry a mix of freight and high-speed trains. It is expected that the line will open in 2016.[17]

Work on the Montpellier-Perpignan section is not expected to start until 2020.[18]

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b "Perpignan–Figueras High-speed Rail Line". Structurae. http://en.structurae.de/projects/data/index.cfm?id=p0000133. Retrieved 30 January 2009. 
  2. ^ "Perpignan – Figueres link inaugurated". Railway Gazatte International (London). 27 January 2011. http://www.railwaygazette.com/nc/news/single-view/view/perpignan-figueres-link-inaugurated.html. Retrieved 31 January 2011. 
  3. ^ "Perpignan–Figueres concession extended". Railway Gazette International (London). 24 November 2009. http://www.railwaygazette.com/nc/news/single-view/view/perpignan-figueres-concession-extended.html. Retrieved 1 December 2010. 
  4. ^ "La ligne TGV Perpignan–Figueres livrée dans 10 jours, pour rien" (in French). La Clau (Perpignan). 4 February 2008. http://www.la-clau.net/noticia/la-ligne-tgv-perpignan-figueres-livree-dans-10-jours-pour-rien-1781. Retrieved 8 February 2009. 
  5. ^ "Interrogations sur les tarifs du TGV Perpignan–Figueres" (in French). La Clau (Perpignan). 10 October 2008. http://www.la-clau.net/noticia/interrogations-sur-les-tarifs-du-tgv-perpignan-figueres-1094. Retrieved 30 January 2009. 
  6. ^ "Tunnel with no trains". Railway Gazette International (London). 15 April 2009. http://www.railwaygazette.com/news/single-view/view//tunnel-with-no-trains.html. Retrieved 20 May 2009. 
  7. ^ a b "Perpignan–Figueres Cross-Border Railway, France". Railway Technology. http://www.railway-technology.com/projects/perpignan/. Retrieved 30 January 2009. 
  8. ^ a b c Fox, Brendan (December 2010). "New timetables in Europe". Modern Railways (London): pp. 74–77. 
  9. ^ "La ligne TGV de Perpignan" (in French). Histoire du Roussillon. 2008. http://histoireduroussillon.free.fr/Thematiques/Batiments/Histoire/TGV.php. Retrieved 30 January 2009. 
  10. ^ "La gare TGV temporaire de Figueres sera prête en 2010" (in French). La Clau (Perpignan). 26 February 2009. http://www.la-clau.net/noticia/la-gare-tgv-temporaire-de-figueres-sera-prete-en-2010-1910. Retrieved 9 May 2009. 
  11. ^ a b "Le TGV Perpignan–Girona, promis pour fin 2012" (in French). La Clau (Perpignan). 26 March 2010. http://www.la-clau.net/info/4141/le-tgv-perpignan-girona-promis-pour-fin-2012-4141. Retrieved 14 July 2010. 
  12. ^ a b c "TGV Tickets to Figueres on sale". Railway Gazette International (London). 24 November 2010. http://www.railwaygazette.com/nc/news/single-view/view/tgv-tickets-to-figueres-on-sale.html. 
  13. ^ a b "Break of gauge no more". Railway Gazette International (London). 18 January 2011. http://www.railwaygazette.com/nc/news/single-view/view/break-of-gauge-no-more.html. Retrieved 2 February 2011. 
  14. ^ "A Perpignan, le TGV relance fortement le couloir méditerranéen" (in French). La Clau (Perpignan). 28 January 2011. http://www.la-clau.net/noticia/a-perpignan-le-tgv-relance-ardemment-le-couloir-mediterraneen-5898. Retrieved 31 January 2011. 
  15. ^ "A Lyon en AVE a partir de 2012" (in Spanish). El País (Madrid). 24 April 2009. http://www.elpais.com/articulo/espana/Sarkozy/Francia/tiene/discursos/ETA/elpepuesp/20090428elpepunac_5/Tes#despiece1. Retrieved 9 May 2009. 
  16. ^ "New Paris to Madrid high-speed service in 2012". Railway Herald (Scunthorpe) (205): p. 25. 14 December 2009. http://www.railwayherald.org/magazine/pdf/RHUK/Issue205.pdf. 
  17. ^ "Nîmes–Montpellier bids go in". Railway Gazette International (London). 6 May 2010. http://www.railwaygazette.com/news/single-view/view/10/nimes-montpellier-bids-go-in.html. 
  18. ^ "Southern LGV projects make progress". Railway Gazette International (London). 9 February 2011. http://www.railwaygazette.com/nc/news/single-view/view/southern-lgv-projects-make-progress.html. 

[edit] External links
Lines in service (map)
Lines under construction
Planned lines
Rolling stock
Services (map)
Lines in service
Planned lines
Rolling stock
International services
Associated high-speed lines
Export trainsets
Other
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=LGV_Perpignan%E2%80%93Figueres&oldid=476480322"
Personal tools
Namespaces

Variants
Actions
Navigation
Interaction
Toolbox
Print/export
Languages