Lyon – Genève railway line

Lyon-Perrache-Genève-Cornavin
Route of the Lyon – Genève railway line
Route number (SNCF) :	890,000
Course book route (SNCF) :	510 (Ambérieu – Genève) 594 (Lyon – Ambérieu)
Route length:	167.6 km
Gauge :	1435 mm ( standard gauge )
Power system :	until July 15, 2014: 1.5 kV = since August 24, 2014 Lyon – Bellegarde sur Valserine  =
Power system :	since August 24, 2014: 25 kV, 50 Hz Bellegarde – Geneva  ~
Dual track :	Lyon – La Châtelaine
Legend Paris – Marseille railway line from Paris 0.000 Lyon-Perrache ( wedge station ) 174  m Veneux-les-Sablons – Lyon railway line to Veneux 0.304 ( A 7 ; 30 m) 0.431 ( Rhone ; 217 m) Lyon- Jean Macé 1.616 Lyon-Guillotière Railway line Paris – Marseille to Marseille Chemin de fer de l'Est de Lyon from Montalieu-Vercieu 5.010 Lyon-Part-Dieu 171  m 5.743 Lyon-Brotteaux 172  m 8.095 (Rhône; 272 m) 8.120 Branch to Collonges-Fontaines and to Bourg-en-Bresse 8,415 Lyon-Saint-Clair (wedge station) 176  m Railway line Collonges-Fontaines – Lyon to Collonges u. Lyon-Saint-Clair – Bourg-en-Bresse n. Bourg railway line 11.268 Crépieux-la-Pape 172  m 13.400 A 46 Département border Rhône - Ain 14.681 Neyron 174  m 16.616 Miribel 176  m 18.501 Saint-Maurice-de-Beynost 179  m 20.966 Beynost 181  m 22,000 Viaduc de la Côtière ( LGV Rhône-Alpes ) 23.179 La Boisse 186  m 25.195 Montluel 198  m 27.256 A 42 30.464 La Valbonne 203  m 32,862 A 42 38.393 Meximieux - Pérouges 218  m 41.968 Villieux - Loyes 222  m 42.642 ( Ain ; 173 m) from ZI Plaine de l'Ain 46.511 Leyment 231  m 49.639 Branch from ZI Plaine d'Ain 50.663 ( Albarine ; 28 m) 51.227 Ambérieu – Montalieu-Vercieu v. Montalieu 51.453 Ambérieu 247  m 52.500 Railway Mâcon – Ambérieu to Mâcon 57.199 Torcieu 267  m 57.906 (Albarine; 32 m) 62.677 Saint-Rambert-en-Bugey 289  m 69.330 Tenay - Hauteville (325m) 76.254 La Burbanche 359  m 79.206 ( Furans ; 5 m) 79.670 (Furans; 7 m) 83.122 Rossillon 330  m 83.517 (Furans; 12 m) 86,552 Tunnel de Pugieu (662 m) Pressins – Virieu-le-Grand railway from Pressins 89.817 Virieu-le-Grand - Belley 267  m 93.377 Artemare - Saint-Martin 258  m 95.378 (Séran; 22 m) 101.845 Branch to Modane 101.355 Culoz 237  m Culoz – Modane railway to Modane 101,900 Racc. de Culoz 110,400 Anglefort 249  m 116.197 Seyssel - Corbonod 258  m 122.937 Pyrimont - Chanay (291m) 123.332 Tunnel de Surjoux (153 m) 125.335 Tunnel de Bognes (518 m) 123.703 (Vézeronce; 53 m) 127.298 Génissiat 338  m 127.434 Tunnel de Génissiat (893 m) 128.625 Tunnel du Paradis (1060 m) 134.252 Bellegarde (until 2010) Bourg-en-Bresse – Bellegarde railway from Bourg-en-Bresse 134.435 Bellegarde 372  m 134.633 Branch 134.692 ( Valserine ; 138 m) 135.291 Tunnel du Cret-d'Eau (4,008 m) 139.428 Branch to Evian-les-Bains 139,802 Longeray - Léaz (wedge station) 385  m Léaz – Saint-Gingolph line to Évian-les-Bains 141.505 Tunnel de la Folie (140 m) 142.544 Fort-l'Écluse - Collonges 356  m 142.628 Collonges – Divonne-les-Bains n. Divonne railway line 147.814 Pougny - Chancy 356  m 152.345 ( France - Switzerland border ) 153.158 La Plaine 366  m above sea level M. 155.000 Russian 378  m above sea level M. 158.671 Satigny 415  m above sea level M. 160.900 Zimeysa 162,450 Meyrin 413  m above sea level M. 163.100 Vernier 429  m above sea level M. 165.200 Railway line Lausanne – Geneva to Genève Aéroport La Châtelaine single-track SNCF line from here 166.300 Cornavin – Eaux-Vives – Annemasse line to Genève-La Praille 167.620 Genève-Cornavin 392  m above sea level M. Railway line Lausanne – Geneva to Lausanne

The Lyon – Genève railway is a cross-border rail link between France and Switzerland . The French route section is owned by the French infrastructure company Réseau ferré de France (RFF). The route is used by long-distance and regional trains. The section between Geneva and La Plaine on Swiss soil belongs to the SBB , which operates regional transport there. Until 2014, Geneva – La Plaine was the only direct current line on the SBB network. Today it is electrified with 25 kV, 50 Hz alternating voltage.

course

Lyon-Perrache train station

The line has a length of approximately 170 kilometers and is double-tracked and electrified over its entire length. It begins at the Lyon-Perrache train station , circles the city center to the southeast and heads east from Lyon-Saint-Clair. As far as Ambérieu-en-Bugey , the train runs through relatively flat terrain at a short distance from Autoroute 42 . Then it follows the feet of the Alpine and Jura hills to Culoz . The route continues upstream along the Rhone to the French-Swiss border at La Plaine. In the Geneva metropolitan area, the train turns away from the Rhône and finally ends at the main station ( Gare de Cornavin ).

history

Track opening

TER at Fort-l'Écluse

After an idea that had existed since 1830, Napoléon III approved . on June 10, 1853 the concession of a rail connection between Lyon and Geneva, including branch lines to Mâcon and Bourg-en-Bresse . The line from Ambérieu to Mâcon enabled a connection between Paris and Geneva with a large bypass of Lyons. In the same year, the Compagnie du chemin de fer de Lyon à Genève was founded for the purpose of the construction , which in 1855 made a study of possible train stations between Ambérieu and the Swiss border , and published a possible project on December 15, 1855. In 1854, construction began on the first section. On June 23, 1856, the first section between Lyon-Saint Clair and Ambérieu was opened to traffic. On October 10 of the same year, the Lyon-Guillotière-Lyon-Perrache section was put into operation as part of the opening of the Paris-Marseille railway line , even though the Perrache station was only inaugurated in 1857. On December 19, 1855, the Compagnie de Lyon-Genève merged with the Compagnie du chemin de fer de Lyon à Méditerranée . Until May 7, 1857, the line from Ambérieu was extended eastward to Seyssel . On July 19, 1857, the Compagnie de Lyon-Méditerranée merged with the Compagnie du chemin de fer de Paris à Lyon to form the Compagnie des chemins de fer de Paris à Lyon et à la Méditerranée (PLM), which officially took over the route from 1858. In the same year, on March 18, the section between Seyssel and Geneva went into operation. The gap was closed in 1859, initially on June 1 with the extension from Saint-Clair to Lyon-Brotteaux, and then on November 24 with the opening of the final section Lyon-Brotteaux-Lyon-Guillotière. In 1938 the PLM became part of the SNCF , which took over the route.

The Geneva – La Plaine section was transferred to SBB on January 1, 1913, based on a Franco-Swiss agreement. Since then, SBB has been responsible for regional traffic there. Long-distance transport remained the responsibility of PLM and SNCF.

electrification

End of the line at Genève-Cornavin station with the SBB direct current railcar leaving , 2009

In 1945 the SBB planned to electrify the Swiss section of the route with their 15 kV and 16⅔  Hz power system  . After the liberation of France, the SNCF expressed their intention to run their section electrically. It was agreed to pull the French 1500-volt direct current system through to Geneva.

On December 14, 1952, electrical operation began on the first section, Lyon-Perrache-Lyon-Saint-Clair. On September 22, 1953, the overhead line to Culoz was energized before the section to Bellegarde was electrified by December 16, 1953 . The final section between Bellegarde and Geneva was electrified by September 20, 1956.

Further development

TER in Culoz

Bellegarde station, tourist facilities before 2010

New Bellegarde reception building

1980 was built a diversion curve at Culoz in order for the train runs Geneva- Valence via Grenoble a direct connection without a hairpin in Culoz to allow. Initially, this connection served as the main traffic axis, but recently traffic between Geneva and southern France is increasingly being handled by Lyon. On September 27, 1981, the route was served by TGV trains for the first time : Two daily train pairs ran between Paris and Geneva, which used the route between Geneva and Ambérieu and then on the branch line to Bourg-en-Bresse-Mâcon on the Paris route –Marseille arrived. On May 12, 1983, the Lyon-Brotteaux station was closed. One day later it was replaced by the new Lyon-Part Dieu station, which is slowly overtaking the previous Perrache station as the city's most important station. In May 1987, with the extension of the SBB AC line from Lausanne to Geneva Airport, the section between Cornavin and the new La Châtelaine service station was expanded to three tracks. The new line took over the old, above-ground line to Lyon, which is now led through a tunnel in one lane. Since the reactivation of the Bourg-en-Bresse – Bellegarde line in December 2010, the TGVs on the Geneva – Paris route have been traveling from Bellegarde via this to Bourg-en-Bresse, where they connect to the line to Mâcon. This means a reduction in travel time between Geneva and Paris by up to twenty minutes. Switzerland contributed 110 million euros to the reactivation and reconstruction measures.

The “Cointrin” stop was renamed “Vernier” with the timetable change on December 11, 2011, and the “Vernier-Meyrin” station west of it was renamed “Meyrin”. This renaming takes place at the request of the canton of Geneva, which also assumed the costs for it. This minimizes confusion with the nearby Geneva airport - whose old name is Aéroport de Genève-Cointrin - whose name is Genève Aéroport station .

Conversion of the power system to 25 kV, 50 Hz

On the Swiss side, new catenary masts with cantilevers were erected between the beginning of 2013 and September 2013. In Bellegarde, work on the catenary began in September 2013. A new substation was built near Verbois and supplies the entire line from Geneva to Longeray with electricity. Further work concerned the signaling system; On the Swiss side there is an automatic section block with lane change operation, on the French side the block automatique lumineux (BAL).

Between July 15 and August 24, 2014, the section from Longeray to Geneva-Cornavin was closed to train traffic. During this time, the line was rebuilt and since 25 August 2014 it has been operated with a catenary voltage of 25 kV and 50 Hz. The system limit to the direct voltage of 1500 V has since been behind the Bellegarde train station in the direction of Lyon at km 130.2. The system boundaries towards Haut-Bugey and Haute-Savoie have been removed.

In addition, since December 2015 trains to and from France have also been able to use the platform from the airport from the Châtelaine junction. For this purpose, three block sections that can be switched between 15 and 25 kV were set up. They allow trains to run on the same track with block spacing, even if they require different voltages. This is intended to increase schedule stability and capacity.

business

The operational management (infrastructure) on Swiss territory is the responsibility of the SBB, on French territory of the SNCF. The traffic is mainly carried out by the SNCF, SBB trains run to Bellegarde.

SBB

In 1956/57 the SBB acquired two direct current commuter trains BDe 4/4 II - ABt for regional traffic. In 1994 these were replaced by five light railcars of the type Bem 550 , which are derived from the railcars of the line m1 of the Métro Lausanne . With the new rolling stock, the half-hourly service between Geneva and La Plaine was introduced under the name Rhône Express Régional , and since 2001 it has been partially extended to Bellegarde. Due to the timetable consolidation and expansion, the five railcars were no longer sufficient and vehicles were initially rented from SNCF, then three FLIRT RABe 524 multiple units from TILO were used.

Since switching to AC voltage, the SBB FLIRT France have been using RABe 522, as well as the two-frequency NPZ RBDe 562 .

SNCF

The SNCF uses the route in various regional and long-distance routes:

TGV

The route is served by the TGV routes Paris – Geneva (between Bellegarde and Geneva) and Marseille / Montpellier – Geneva (between Lyon-Part Dieu and Geneva). All trains also stop in Bellegarde. The TGV connection between Paris and Milan no longer uses the route, but runs on a connection between the Lyon-Saint-Exupéry TGV station and Chambéry.

TER

The TER Rhône-Alpes operates in various routes over the route. Regional express trains run between Lyon-Part Dieu and Geneva with stops in Bellegarde, Seyssel, Culoz, Virieu and Ambérieu. From Lyon, it still runs to Saint-Gervais-les-Bains and Évian-les-Bains . There are only a few through trains between Geneva and Lyon-Perrache, most of them have to be changed at Lyon-Part-Dieu station.

literature

• Jean Chaintreau, Jean Cuynat, Georges Mathieu: Les Chemins de fer du PLM . La Vie du Rail et La Régordanne, 1993.
• Bernard Collardey: Lyon – Genève, un ax très fréquenté . In: Rail Passion . No. 121, November 2007, p. 42 ff .
• Marc Gayda et al. a .: Histoire du réseau ferroviaire français . Ormet, Valignat 1996.

Web links

Commons : Lyon – Genève railway line  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c} Christophe Keseljevic: Farewell to the 1500 V direct current system in Geneva . In: Swiss Railway Review . No. 12/2013 . Minirex, ISSN  1022-7113 , p. 648-653 .
2. ↑ histoire du musee. In: musee.cheminot.free.fr. Retrieved January 3, 2015 . 
3. ^ France: Bulletin des lois de la République franc̜aise. Imprimerie nationale, 1853, p. 1131. limited preview in Google book search
4. ^ France, Bulletin des lois de la République française, Volume 1, imprimerie nationale, 1853. Page 1131
5. ^ Ain (01) Pyrimont-Chanay (Culoz à Bellegarde). In: chemin-de-fer.fr. Archived from the original on July 1, 2013 ; Retrieved January 3, 2015 . 
6. ^ DETEC - Switzerland and France open the Haut-Bugey railway line. In: uvek.admin.ch. December 12, 2010, accessed January 3, 2015 . 
7. ^ BAV - Bellegarde - Bourg-en-Bresse. (No longer available online.) In: bav.admin.ch. January 29, 2008, archived from the original on November 29, 2014 ; Retrieved January 3, 2015 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
8. ↑ SER 1/2012 page 8
9. ↑ ^{a b} Christophe Keseljevic: The conversion from direct to alternating current in the Geneva area from a French perspective . In: Eisenbahn-Revue International Issue 1, year 2014, ISSN  1421-2811 , pp. 20-23.
10. ↑ Olivier Carmelle: La ligne du Haut-Bugey . La Régordane, 2006, ISBN 2-906984-66-3 .
11. ^ Daniel Ammann: The BDe 4/4 shuttle trains on the SBB route Genève – La Plaine. In: semaphor. Classic of the railways. Spring 2015 issue, 11th volume, ISSN  1661-576X
12. ^ In the "tram" across the French border
13. ↑ Timetable: Bellegarde (Ain) - La Plaine - Genève from 2011
14. ↑ SNCF online timetable , accessed on 7 February 2014