Tarascon – Sète-Ville railway line

Tarascon – Sète
2 TGV trains in Montpellier station
Location of the route
Route number (SNCF) :	810,000
Route length:	106 km
Gauge :	1435 mm ( standard gauge )
Power system :	1500 V  =
Dual track :	Yes
Legend from Paris Gare de Lyon from / to Marseille St-Charles 0.00 Tarascon after orgone Viaduct over the Rhone 0.839 Beaucaire Rhône-Sète Canal to Le Martinet 11.305 Jonquières-Saint-Vincent from Triangle des Angles 16.814 Manduel - Redessan from Givors-Canal / LGV Méditerranée from Valence / Avignon Cevennes from Saint-Germain-des-Fossés 27,150 Nîmes 30.919 Nîmes-Saint Césaire to Sommières after Le Grau-du-Roi 34.35 Milhaud 38.87 Uchaud 43.42 Vergèze - Codognan 45.94 Aigues-Vives 48.98 Gallargues from Sommières from Arles 53.48 Lunel 56.56 Lunel-Viel 59.42 Valergues - Lansargues 64.25 Saint-Brès - Mudaison 68.39 Saint-Aunès from Les Mas-des-Gardies 70.41 Les Mazes - Le Crès 76.06 Montpellier Saint-Roch to St Jean-de-Vedas 78.58 Montpellier-Les-Près-d'Arènes 84.31 Villeneuve-lès-Maguelone 90.63 Vic - Mireval 97.97 Frontignan from Montbazin 104.53 Sète wedge station 106,000 474,420 Mileage limit PLM / Midi to Bordeaux

The Tarascon-Sète railway is a main line in southern France and is part of the Lyon / Marseille - Narbonne - Port-Bou / Bordeaux main line, i.e. the west-east axis in southern France. In addition to long-distance trains of the types TGV , Intercités and Intercités de nuit ( night trains ), it is also served by TER local trains.

history

The route began in 1839 when the sections between Sète and Montpellier and between Nîmes and Beaucaire were opened. The Nîmes – Montpellier section followed in 1845. For the latter route, a second station was built in Montpellier , 300 meters east of that of the Sète company. This is where today's Montpellier-Saint Roch train station is located . In 1852, the two original stations were merged, because now, under the wing of the PLM railway company, the line was to become a continuous main line. The Tarascon – Beaucaire railway bridge followed in 1852 as the last section between Tarascon and Beaucaire. This made the entire route passable.

In 1980 the age of the high-speed train TGV began. Initially, only Nîmes and Montpellier were approached. Extensions to the south and west followed, which also connected Sète station to the high-speed network. Various construction measures were necessary for the high-speed trains. The Montpellier train station was built from scratch.

In 2001 the northern section Tarascon – Nîmes lost a large part of the long-distance traffic to it with the opening of the high-speed line LGV Méditerranée . In order to continue to guarantee the connection of Montpellier and Nîmes to the French high-speed network, a track triangle was created between the Valence TGV and Avignon TGV stations . The branch line then connects to the regional route from Givors in the agglomeration of Nîmes . The TGV trains then roll into Nîmes station to get to the main line.

business

The railway line serves both passenger and freight traffic.

International long-distance transport

TGV Réseau and Talgo III RD in Montpellier-Saint-Roch, 2009

In international long-distance traffic, the route is used by trains operated by Elipsos . These are Spanish and French high-speed trains operating under the name Renfe-SNCF en cooperación / en coopération . The trains stop in Nîmes and Montpellier :

• Marseille - Madrid
• Paris Gare de Lyon - Barcelona
• Lyon - Barcelona

Until the end of 2013 there was a daily international long-distance connection with Talgo trains from Montpellier Saint-Roch via Barcelona Sants to Cartagena. The only stop on the route was the starting station in Montpellier.

The Trenhotel and EuroNight trains operated by Elipsos from Paris / Milan / Zurich to Barcelona França ran the route without stopping until they were discontinued at the end of 2012 and 2013.

Long-distance transport within France

TGV

TGV train in Nîmes train station

In long-distance traffic, the TGV uses the route with various routes. Individual train runs will be extended to Brussels in Belgium .

• Montpellier - Paris Gare de Lyon / Geneva / Metz / Mulhouse / Strasbourg / Nantes: between Montpellier and Nîmes
• Perpignan / Béziers - Montpellier - Nîmes - Paris Gare de Lyon: between Sète and Nîmes
• Bruxelles - Lille - Montpellier - Perpignan / Toulouse: between Sète and Nîmes
• Toulouse - Montpellier - Nîmes - Marseille: between Sète and Nîmes
• Bordeaux - Montpellier - Nîmes - Dijon: between Sète and Nîmes

TGV stations are Nîmes, Montpellier and Sète. Only some of the above mentioned connections stop in Sète.

Intercités

In addition, there are Intercités trains made up of modernized Corail cars . You use the route with the following connection:

• Bordeaux - Montpellier - Marseille (- Nice): between Sète and Tarascon

The Clermont-Ferrand - Nîmes - Marseille line used the route between Nîmes and Tarascon. It now only runs between Nîmes and Clermont-Ferrand.

Night trains

Two night train connections Intercités de nuit also operate the route:

• Strasbourg - Montpellier - Port Bou : between Tarascon and Sète
• Luxembourg - Montpellier - Port Bou: between Tarascon and Sète

The Intercités and Intercités de nuit trains stop in Sète, Montpellier, Nîmes and Tarascon.

Regional traffic

Lunel station with local railcars of the Z 9600 series

In regional traffic , the route is served by TER trains on the TER Languedoc-Roussillon and TER Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur networks . Various lines enable direct connections to Avignon, Narbonne, Arles or Marseille, among others.

future

Since there are already high-speed lines on the western side (Perpignan – Figueres) and on the eastern side (Nîmes – Lyon / Avignon), the route suffers from heavy traffic. That is why there are efforts to establish a high-speed line between Perpignan and Montpellier, which would free the old line between Montpellier and Sète from both TGV and freight traffic. In contrast to the old route, the route would run inland, so that no connection is possible in Sète. The start of construction is not expected before 2020. A new train station would be planned in Perpignan. It is also planned to close the gap between LGV Méditerranée and LGV to Perpignan. This would bypass Montpellier and Nîmes to the south and result in new TGV stations in both cities. The connection to the line to Perpignan would be planned west of Montpellier. The opening is scheduled for 2016.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ - ( Memento of the original from November 24, 2006 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
2. ↑ http://www.nemausensis.com/Nimes/CdeFER.htm
3. ↑ http://www.railwaygazette.com/nc/news/single-view/view/southern-lgv-projects-make-progress.html
4. ↑ http://www.railwaygazette.com/nc/news/single-view/view/rff-to-launch-perpignan-montpellier-study.html
5. ↑ http://www.railwaygazette.com/nc/news/single-view/view/nimes-montpellier-bypass-moves-closer.html