LGV Est européenne

LGV Est européenne
The course of the route
Route number (SNCF) :	005 000
Course book route (SNCF) :	100
Route length:	406 km
Gauge :	1435 mm ( standard gauge )
Power system :	25 kV 50 Hz  ~
Maximum slope :	35  ‰
Top speed:	320 km / h
Legend 0.0 Paris Est ( other operating locations ) 18.3 Chelles 21.5 Start of new line, direction Paris 22.5 Vaires -Torcy 22.7 0.0 Beginning of the new line, Baudrecourt direction track 0.8 Junction from Vaires-Torcy Route to Strasbourg A 104 4.2 Overburden Luzancy (160 m) Cover RD 404 9.5 Viaduc de Claye-Souilly (415 m), Beuvronne LGV Interconnexion Est 11.4 from LGV Interconnexion Est 12.7 from LGV Interconnexion Est 18.5 Chauconin (operating tracks south) 30.5 Viaduc de la Thérouanne (322 m), Thérouanne 36.8 Viaduc de l'Ourcq (450 m), Canal de l'Ourcq 38.8 Paris – Reims line Connecting curve from Paris Ocquerre overlap 45.0 Coulombs 53.5 A 4 71.6 Beuvardes (operating tracks north) 78.6 Covering Courmont, A 4 90.1 Villers-Agron-Aiguizy 99.0 Viaduc de l'Ardre (112 m), Ardre 104.6 Overburden Janvry (190 m) 113.7 Champagne-Ardenne TGV ( Reims ) 114.6 Racc. des Trois-Puits route to Reims Épernay – Reims line 119.0 Overburden Taissy (1700 m) 136.3 A 4 140.6 Livry-Louvercy 144.5 Racc. de Châlons-Nord to Saint-Hilaire-au-Temple 146.2 Racc. de Châlons-Sud from Saint-Hilaire-au-Temple Nancy – Reims route Saint-Hilaire-au-Temple – Verdun route 166.8 Tilloy et Bellay (service tracks north) 188.3 Villers-en-Argonne (future maintenance base) 213.6 Meuse TGV ( Verdun ) 230.9 Viaduc de la Meuse (603 m), Meuse Commercy – Verdun route 231.7 Viaduc du Canal de l'Est (309 m), Le Préle ruisseau 235.0 Lamorville (operating track south) 258.7 Viaduc de Jaulny (480 m), Rupt de Mad Commercy – Metz line 263.4 Prény 268.1 to the route to Metz to the route to Nancy Nancy – Metz route 270.9 Vandières TGV (planned) 272.5 Viaduc de la Moselle (1510 m), Moselle A 31 Metz – Château-Salins railway line 281.3 Lorraine TGV ( Nancy , Metz ) 299.3 Racc. de Baudrecourt (start of the second construction phase) 301.4 Racc. de Herny to the Forbacher Bahn Réding – Metz-Ville railway line Baudrecourt Racc. de Lucy 306.2 Réding – Metz-Ville railway line 307.5 Lesse Champigneulles – Sarralbe railway line 324.6 Viaduc de Lidrezing Nouvel-Avricourt – Bénestroff line 326.9 Viaduc de Bourgaltroff (200 m) 331.1 Domnon-lès-Dieuze 341.8 Viaduc sur le canal des Houillères de la Sarre 349.9 Viaduc du Landbach (500 m) 353.5 Viaduc de Sarralroff ( Sarre ; 370 m) Metz – Réding line 357.6 Vieux-Lixheim (operating tracks north) 361.4 Racc. de Réding by Réding 370.0 A4 (180 m) 371.3 Viaduc du Haspelbaechel (270 m) 374.5 Tunnel de Saverne (4019 m) 379.5 Steinbourg (operating track south) Steinbourg – Rastatt railway line 382.8 A4 (180 m) 387.3 Old line Sarrebourg – Vendenheim (370 m) Viaduc de la Zorn (470 m) Canal de la Marne au Rhin 393.2 Viaduc du Rohrbach 404.4 Viaduc sur le Canal de la Marne au Rhin 405.0 Line from Sarrebourg 405.5 Line from Wissembourg 406.0 Vendenheim ( other operating locations ) Strasbourg freight bypass Line from Lauterbourg 416.0 Strasbourg Ville Route to Basel Route to Appenweier

The LGV Est européenne [ ɛlʒeˌve ɛstøʀope'ɛn ] (short for Ligne à grande vitesse Est européenne , European high-speed line east) is a high-speed line in France . It connects Paris with eastern France (especially Strasbourg ) and also with southern Germany (including Frankfurt am Main or via Stuttgart in the direction of Munich ). It is part of the trans-European high-speed rail connection Paris – Eastern France – Southwest Germany (POS), which leads via Basel to Zurich , and part of the TEN rail line No. 17 from Paris to Budapest . The cornerstones of the Franco-German connection were defined on May 22, 1992 in the La Rochelle Agreement .

The inauguration of the first 301.4 kilometer section took place in March 2007, and regular operations began on June 10, 2007. An ICE 3MF from Paris, departing at 6:43 am, to Frankfurt was the first regular train on the route. The 106 kilometer long second construction phase went into operation on July 3, 2016.

With its commissioning, the distance between Paris and Strasbourg has been shortened from the original 502.0 kilometers to 438.7 kilometers. The fastest trains need an hour and 45 minutes for this, and the travel speed is then 250.7 km / h (as of February 2018).

The LGV Est européenne is used by both French TGVs and German ICEs at a top speed of 320 km / h . The TGV originally operated on the so-called south branch from Paris via Strasbourg to Stuttgart or Munich, the ICE was originally used accordingly on the north branch to Frankfurt am Main. In the meantime (2017), however, the TGV and ICE run mixed on both branches. The company that operates international traffic between France and Germany is the joint venture Alleo .

course

(Paris–) Vaires – Baudrecourt

Connection curve between LGV Est européenee and LGV Interconnexion Est

From Gare de l'Est , trains to LGV Est use the old Paris – Nancy – Strasbourg line for 22 kilometers . The four-track main line takes on long-distance traffic on its middle two tracks, while regional trains run on the outer two. After the train station in Vaires-sur-Marne, the new line branches off the existing main line without any intersections and then orientates itself in an east-northeast direction. To the east of Claye-Souilly, it crosses the LGV Interconnexion Est , the high-speed line that runs east of Paris. Two level-free connection routes allow coming from the LGV Est from the east to pivot to the north and south. The Champagne-Ardenne TGV station , which is to connect the area around Reims and Épernay , was built in Bezannes , a municipality neighboring Reims . The Reims city station is reached via a branch, the Raccordement des Trois-Puits , to the existing Épernay – Reims line. This junction is immediately east of the new TGV station.

The tracks at route kilometer 217

At Saint-Hilaire-au-Temple there is an intersection-free junction to the route to Châlons-en-Champagne . This was electrified in the course of the LGV construction work. The nearest train station is Meuse TGV at Les Trois-Domaines . Its job is to serve the rural region of the Meuse département ; it is halfway between the cities of Verdun and Bar-le-Duc on the national road 35. At Vandières, the LGV Est européenne crosses the north-south route Metz- Nancy and receives a connecting curve in both directions, so that the trains you can go directly to Metz (and further to Luxembourg ) or to Nancy (and further into the Vosges ). From Nancy, the existing routes to Remiremont and Saint-Dié have been electrified so that TGV trains can also run there.

The Lorraine TGV station was built around ten kilometers east of the Moselle viaduct in the municipality of Louvigny . In the future, yet to be built station to Lorraine (Vandières) , with direct connection to the running here in north-south route Metz-Nancy, to about ten kilometers to the east lying along the highway 31 and near the Metz airport station Lorraine (Louvigny) replace. The opening should take place in 2018 at the earliest.

The second construction phase of the route (dotted) connects to the existing route (red line) in an easterly direction.

A little further east, the high-speed line temporarily ended at Baudrecourt until the second construction phase was completed and will be connected to the Réding – Metz-Ville line. The trains switch from the left-hand traffic generally practiced in the French network to the right-hand traffic common in Alsace and the Moselle department via a flyover . Shortly before that, a single-track connection for the northern branch of the POS branches off in the direction of Frankfurt, which joins the Metz - Forbach - Saarbrücken line near Rémilly between Aubécourt and Herny .

Train stations

The subway stations at LGV usually each have two external platform tracks for stopping trains and two internal tracks for trains passing through. Among the three new intermediate stations, Champagne-Ardenne TGV , Meuse TGV and Lorraine TGV , the first also has two separate tracks for regional traffic. To the east of the station they run parallel to the LGV and finally merge with the track that branches off at the Raccordement des Trois-Puits in the direction of Reims.

Meuse TGV is, so to speak, “on the green field”; it has no connection to existing railway lines and can only be reached by road. The advantage of this concept is that the route can follow an ideal line and the speed is not reduced by driving through urban areas. The disadvantage is that you have to change to shuttle buses to reach the city centers. Therefore, direct trains to and from Paris will continue to serve the previous stations, while the new station will mainly stop trains to northern, western and southern France that bypass Paris.

The construction of the Lorraine TGV station was very controversial. It originated in the commune of Louvigny near the regional airport of Metz-Nancy ; it should have been in operation for a maximum of five years. In the regional elections in March 2004, there was a change of power in the Lorraine region. The new regional president Jean-Pierre Masseret had promised in the election campaign to revive the project for a train station near Vandières (approx. 10 km west of it). This has the advantage that it is directly above the Metz – Nancy railway line . After the region secured the funding, the Minister of Transport gave the green light on March 23, 2005. The route was then prepared at the appropriate point so that a station can be added later without any problems. As of 2017, the project has been effectively discontinued after a referendum in 2015 was negative.

The concept of stations outside the cities is not new in France, but has also been implemented on existing high-speed lines. Examples are Le Creusot TGV on the LGV Sud-Est , Massy-TGV on the LGV Atlantique , TGV Haute-Picardie on the LGV Nord and Avignon TGV on the LGV Méditerranée . Such stations are popularly known as Gare de Betteraves (literally "Rübenbahnhof", analogously "Ackerbahnhof").

In preparation for the commissioning of the line, the Gare de l'Est was modernized and rebuilt. While the platform hall was previously arranged according to arriving trains (in the eastern part) and departing trains (in the western part), since the restart, the station has been divided into international trains and trains to and from Metz and Strasbourg in the western part, regional traffic in the middle and trains in and from the direction of Champagne-Ardenne and southern Lorraine (Nancy and Vosges) in the eastern part.

connections

Renovation work at Strasbourg train station in January 2007 for TGV traffic

From Baudrecourt it goes on modernized old routes on two branches in the direction of Saarbrücken and Strasbourg.

In Saarbrücken there is a connection to the upgraded Saarbrücken – Ludwigshafen am Rhein line , which leads in the direction of Mannheim and Frankfurt am Main.

East of Strasbourg, the Europabahn over the Rhine no longer runs on the single-track Rhine bridge , which has been in use since 1945 , but on a new double-track Rhine bridge that has been in operation since the timetable change in December 2010. In Appenweier it then meets the Rhine Valley Railway with connections to the north ( Karlsruhe –Stuttgart – Munich) and south ( Freiburg - Basel ).

Second construction phase

concept

TGV in Strasbourg station

The section between Vaires-sur-Marne and Baudrecourt was only the first part of the LGV Est européenne. Trains to Strasbourg ran after the end of the line in Baudrecourt via the existing line to Strasbourg , via Réding and Saverne . This allows driving speeds of up to 160 km / h. In order to accommodate the additional traffic of the LGV, a new signaling system was installed and additional crossing points were built.

On July 3, 2016, a second, approximately 106-kilometer section of the new line between Baudrecourt and Vendenheim (near Strasbourg) went into operation. The travel times between Paris and Strasbourg (and further via Kehl to Stuttgart and Munich) are reduced by a further 30 minutes to around an hour and 50 minutes.

financing

The construction costs of 2.01 billion euros are to be paid by the French state (33.8%), the regions of Ile-de-France, Champagne-Ardenne, Lorraine and Alsace (together 25.7%), the RFF (26.5% ), the EU (5.9%) and the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg (2%). The remaining 6.1% are to be financed from the remaining funds from the first construction phase.

In January 2007, the French Ministry of Transport approved preparatory work in this section for 96 million euros. In July 2007, 1.7 billion euros were missing for the financing of the still missing section; a public private partnership was considered to close this gap.

On September 1, 2009, the financing agreement for the construction of the second section was signed. The regions involved are responsible for around a third of the construction costs of around two billion euros, the EU 118 million euros and Luxembourg 40 million euros. Commissioning is scheduled for March 2016.

Construction status

In March 2007, the French rail infrastructure authority Réseau ferré de France (RFF) announced that it would start the second construction phase in 2009. Completion was targeted for 2014. French President Nicolas Sarkozy said in September 2007 that work would start in 2010 and operations could start in 2014.

Preparatory earthworks began in April 2008. This included archaeological exploration work along the route of the second construction phase. These cost around 2.8 million euros and dragged on until 2009. The first work was awarded in March 2010 and began in August 2010. The first groundbreaking for the second construction phase finally took place on November 18, 2010 near Steinbourg . On June 19, 2012 the breakthrough of the first tube of the 4,020 m long de Saverne Tunnel took place, on February 25, 2013 the second tube was breached.

On March 31, 2015, the last rail of the section was welded. The opening was planned for April 3, 2016.

course

The second construction phase begins at about 300 km of the first construction phase. The Forbach – Paris line will be leveled over the continuation of the high-speed line. The dam required for this was built when the first section was built. The line runs in a south-easterly direction roughly parallel to the existing Metz – Sarrebourg line . Another connection is being built to this, which will allow trips on the Strasbourg-Metz route. The line crosses the former Bénestroff – Château-Salins railway line , the Saar-Kohlen Canal , the Landbach and the Saar . It crosses north of Sarrebourg on the Réding – Metz railway line . At kilometer 360 there is a link to the Drulingen – Réding railway line , which enables Nancy – Strasbourg journeys. After crossing the A4 motorway and the Haspelbaechel, the route crosses under the Vosges in the 4,020 meter long tunnel de Saverne . The route follows the A4 in an easterly direction for a few kilometers before it swings southeast at Dettwiller to cross the motorway, the Paris – Strasbourg railway , the Zorn and the Rhine-Marne Canal . She crosses the latter one more time at Eckwersheim . Finally, the high-speed line joins the Vendenheim – Wissembourg railway line a little later with a curve . The curve is designed so that a further construction section could optionally follow straight ahead. At the end of the curve, the transition from right - hand traffic, which is still common in Alsace (from the period 1871 to 1918, when the imperial railways in Alsace-Lorraine belonged to the German Empire ) to left-hand traffic in the rest of France is integrated.

Installation

After an accident during test drives , the start-up date originally planned for April 2016 was postponed in January 2016 to July 3, 2016. Initially, however, a 20-kilometer section could only be used on a single track, as the track on which the accident occurred still had to be examined and then rebuilt. Full commissioning took place with the timetable change on December 11, 2016.

Expansion lines in Germany

Framework planning

On the German side, the Saarbrücken – Ludwigshafen am Rhein ( POS North , 128 km) and the Kehl – ​​Appenweier section ( POS South , 14 km) are gradually being upgraded to speeds of 200 km / h.

In the investment framework plan for the federal transport infrastructure up to 2010 , investments of 502 million euros are planned for the expansion measures (price status: 2006). Up to 2005 a total of 191.2 million euros had been spent. Federal funding of 146.5 million euros is to be invested between 2006 and 2010. Beyond this period there is a financing requirement of 164.3 million euros (federal funds from 2011, own funds DB AG and contributions from third parties from 2006).

POS north

→ Main article : Mannheim – Saarbrücken railway line

The 128-kilometer route was upgraded in sections for a top speed of 200 km / h. Various extensive new and expansion variants were discarded.

POS south

→ Main article : Appenweier – Strasbourg railway line

The Appenweier – Strasbourg railway line is being upgraded for a maximum speed of 200 km / h. A new bridge over the Rhine was built in Kehl and went into operation when the timetable changed in December 2010. The total investment in the section New Rhine Bridge to Kehl Train Station was EUR 62.7 million.

A connection via the Rhine bridge in Wintersdorf would enable travel times to be shortened by up to one hour, bypassing Strasbourg, and the state of Baden-Württemberg has registered for inclusion in the 2015 Federal Transport Infrastructure Plan. However, the Wintersdorf Rhine Bridge is not included in the BVWP 2030.

Routing and technical equipment

The ballast superstructure of the LGV Est européenne

The 301.4 kilometer long route has gradients of up to 35 ‰. The minimum curve radius is 7143 meters (with an exception of 5556 meters). The design speed is 350 km / h, in commercial normal operation it is up to 320 km / h. A total of one million sleepers (1666 per km) were laid on a total of around three million tons of ballast to accommodate 1300 kilometers of rails. These have the UIC 60 profile (60 kg / m), were manufactured in pieces of 80 meters and welded in 400-meter pieces.

The line includes five transformer stations: Penchard (400 kV), Vézilly , Cuperly , Trois-Domaines and Le Rêle (each 225 kV); in addition 44 substations . 12,000 catenary masts were installed at intervals of 58 meters. GSM-R is used as the train radio system (65 transmitter masts). SEI , TVM 430 and ETCS Level 2 according to ERTMS are used as train protection systems. In Pagny-sur-Moselle , in the immediate vicinity of the branches towards Metz and Nancy, is the control center from which the entire route is monitored and the power supply is controlled. There are 15 phase separation points along the route . On May 14, 2004, DB and the French infrastructure operator RFF signed a letter of intent to equip the Paris - Frankfurt corridor, including LGV Est, with ERTMS and ETCS.

The transfer points and junctions are designed for high speeds (turnout inclination 1:46), at the junction to LGV Interconnexion Est to the south, turnouts with an inclination 1:65 were used. The transfer points Chauconin , Beuvardes and Tilloy et Bellay are equipped with operating tracks. A slab track was installed at the Chauconin transfer point, for the first time on a French high-speed line . At the Beuvardes and Villers-en-Argonne transfer points , about 20 years after commissioning, operating stations are to be built for the revision of the superstructure.

history

planning

In 1985 and 1986, a Franco-German working group developed six variants for the routing of the LGV Est européenne and the connecting routes from Germany. A total of six route variants of a new line between Paris and Eastern France were examined, which should be linked with new or upgraded lines on the German side in the area between Forbach and Saarbrücken or Kehl. Between Paris and Frankfurt or Stuttgart, depending on the variant, travel times were expected to be reduced from around seven to around three and a half hours. At the Franco-German summit in April 1989, the governments of both countries dealt with the results of the investigation.

In May 1992 at the Franco-German summit in La Rochelle, a declaration of intent to build the LGV was signed.

On February 10, 1993, the French Government Committee for Spatial Planning , chaired by Prime Minister Pierre Bérégovoy, decided not to run the planned route to Strasbourg for the time being, but to Baudrécourt ( Moselle department ). The reduction made it possible to comply with an upper cost limit set by the French government of 20 billion francs ; the total distance was estimated at around 25 billion francs. At that time it was planned to complete the line to Baudrecourt in 2000.

At its summit in Essen on December 9 and 10, 1994, the Council of Europe declared the LGV Est européenne to be an urgent project. On May 14, 1996, the project received the décret d'utilité publique (DUP), which roughly corresponds to the German planning approval decision .

At the end of 1998, investigations were in progress as to whether the first section of the line could be extended beyond Vandières to Baudrecourt.

On November 7, 2000, representatives of the State, RFF, SNCF and the 17 local authorities concerned signed a financing agreement for the construction of the first section between Vaires-sur-Marne and Baudrecourt.

financing

The LGV Est européenne is the first French high-speed line to be financed by a large number of donors and not by the state alone.

In November 1997 it was decided to realize the LGV Rhin-Rhône and the LGV Est in parallel. On February 4, 1998, the French government decided to provide eight million francs for the first section between Vaires and Vandières; At the LGV Rhin-Rhône, however, preliminary studies should initially be continued. The start of construction on LGV Est was planned for the end of 1999. On January 29, 1999, an agreement on the financing and routing of the LGV Est between Vaires-sur-Marne (near Paris) and Baudrecourt was concluded. The total cost was given as 20.8 billion francs. Of this, the French state took over eight billion and the local authorities involved two billion. Commissioning was planned for 2006.

The financial agreement was signed on November 7, 2000. The construction costs (price as of June 1997) amount to a total of 3,125.20 million euros . Of this, the French state accounted for 1,219.59 million euros, 682.82 million euros for the network operator Réseau ferré de France (RFF), 320.14 million euros for the European Union , 117.39 million euros for the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg and 48, 94 million euros to the SNCF.

736.32 million euros will be taken over by regions , departments , municipal associations and cities as follows :

• Region Ile-de-France : 76,220,000 euros
• Champagne-Ardenne total: 124.24 million euros
  • Champagne-Ardenne region: 42.08 million euros
  • City of Reims : 45.73 million euros
  • Reims Municipal Association: 3.96 million euros
  • Ardennes department : 7.62 million euros
  • Department Marne : 24,850,000 euros
• Lorraine total: 253.83 million euros
  • Lorraine region: 203.06 million euros
  • Meuse department : 4.12 million euros
  • Department Meurthe-et-Moselle : 15.7 million euros
  • Département Moselle : 22,410,000 euros
  • Vosges department : 8.54 million euros
• Alsace total: 282.03 million euros
  • Alsace region: 141.02 million euros
  • Department Bas-Rhin : 70,580,000 euros
  • Association of Municipalities of Strasbourg : EUR 35.37 million
  • Department Haut-Rhin : 24,390,000 euros
  • City of Colmar : 3.66 million euros
  • City of Mulhouse : 7.01 million euros

construction

The groundbreaking ceremony at Baudrecourt (Moselle) took place on January 28, 2002 in the presence of the then Transport Minister Jean-Claude Gayssot . On October 19, 2004, the then Minister of Transport, Gilles de Robien, laid the first track in Saint-Hilaire-au-Temple (Marne). On October 24, 2005, Minister of Transport Dominique Perben announced the completion of the alignment work. On June 8, 2006, the one millionth threshold was laid. On September 20, 2006, Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin symbolically welded the last track on the line in Chauconin-Neufmontiers (Seine-et-Marne). On December 18, 2006, Transport Minister Dominique Perben took part in a test drive. On this occasion, he announced a test program with very high speeds for the spring of 2007, in which the then world speed record for rail vehicles of 515.3 km / h was to be surpassed. On January 24, 2007, Transport Minister Dominique Perben released a total of 96 million euros, which were used for land purchases and archaeological work on the route of the second construction phase between Baudrecourt and Vendenhein.

The owner of the project was Réseau ferré de France (RFF), the owner of the French rail network. The route was divided into eight construction lots , which are being implemented by five different companies. SNCF , ISL (consortium of Ingérop, Sodéteg and LUXCONSULT), Scétauroute, Setec and Tractebel ( Suez Group). This is the first time since the rail transport reform in 1997 that several companies have been involved in a project together. The construction department of SNCF (in cooperation with EEG Simecsol ) was able to secure four construction lots (including one of the second stage), which corresponds to half of the project. The entire infrastructure in the area of ​​rails, signaling and electrification falls under the responsibility of RFF.

The old line to Strasbourg in the greater Paris area between Chelles-Gournay and the branch to LGV in Vaires was expanded to consist of four tracks through the construction of two new tracks; the stations Chelles and Vaires were newly built. The measures allow the high-speed trains to accelerate from 160 to 220 km / h in Chenay-Gagny.

Installation

The route was officially inaugurated on March 15, 2007. Fireworks were detonated one after the other along the 300-kilometer route within three minutes. According to the organizers, at a speed of 5400 km / h it is the fastest fireworks display in the world. On April 3, 2007, the modified TGV-POS unit 4402 set a new world speed record for rail vehicles with 574.8 km / h ( see below ).

On May 25, 2007, the premiere trips for international traffic took place. An ICE 3 drove from Frankfurt to Paris and a TGV POS from Stuttgart to Paris. Invited guests were on board, including Hartmut Mehdorn , the DB AG CEO at the time , who signed the contract for the future operating company Alleo in Paris . On June 10, 2007, regular operations began on the LGV Est européenne.

World record run on April 3, 2007

→ Main article : V150

The train during the record run, traveling at around 574 km / h

On April 3, 2007 , a world record run took place on the northern track of the LGV Est européenne with the V150 between the Meuse TGV and Champagne-Ardenne TGV stations. The train, specially put together for the record run, reached a speed of 574.79 km / h.

business

links

High-speed lines between France, Luxembourg, Germany and Switzerland (2007)

18 pairs of trains run between Paris and Strasbourg every day, four of which continue to Colmar, two to Frankfurt, three to Stuttgart and another two via Stuttgart to Munich. Other train pairs connect Strasbourg with northern France, Brittany and Bordeaux.

Four pairs of ICE trains run daily between Paris Est and Frankfurt (Main) on the north branch via Forbach and Saarbrücken. High-speed trains have been running on the route since June 10, 2007 (10, from 2008 19, TGV POS and five ICE 3 MF ). 100 TGV trains will use the route every day. The planned maximum speed on the French section is 320 km / h.

The number of daily train pairs between Paris and Strasbourg rose from 13 to 16 when the LGV went into operation; three train pairs daily continue to Stuttgart . As of December 2007, this number was increased to four, with a couple traveling to Munich every day . Of the 16 Strasbourg TGVs, six continued to run to Mulhouse , four of them to Basel and three to Zurich .

When the line went into operation, a pair of ICE trains ran daily between Paris and Frankfurt am Main, and two more in shuttle traffic between Paris and Saarbrücken with direct connections to and from Frankfurt, mostly with trains that were not suitable for France. From December 9, 2007, five pairs of ICE trains were to run directly between Frankfurt and Paris.

ICE Frankfurt – Paris entering Saarbrücken main station in June 2008

The ICE is the first foreign high-speed train that runs to Paris on schedule. The not yet completed delivery of the multi-system TGV-POS units (up to June: six units) as well as the ongoing conversion of the six ICE 3 MFs for France precluded a more comprehensive train offer for the commissioning of the route. By the time operations began, seven Deutsche Bahn train drivers had acquired driving licenses for traffic in France.

TGV POS in Paris Gare de l'Est

In intra-French traffic, a distinction must be made between the relations “Paris – Province” and “Province – Province” or “intersecteur”. Trains traveling on the Paris – Province route start or end in Paris Est and mostly go directly to the existing train stations in the various cities. In contrast, trains in the relation Province – Province bypass the city of Paris and drive from the LGV Est européenne via a connecting curve to the TGV bypass east in the north, i.e. to Roissy airport and to Lille ( LGV Nord ) or south via the Massy-TGV station south of Paris in the direction of Rennes , Nantes and Bordeaux ( LGV Atlantique ). These trains serve the new intermediate stations Champagne-Ardenne TGV, Meuse TGV and Lorraine TGV on LGV Est européenne.

TGV and ICE in Paris Gare de l'Est

In German-French traffic, Paris Est is connected to Frankfurt am Main via Saarbrücken and Mannheim via the so-called Nordast. On the south branch, Stuttgart is connected via Strasbourg and Karlsruhe. Since December 2007, a pair of trains has continued to Munich every day. The international connections between France and Germany are planned by the Alleo consortium (formerly Rhealys ), a joint venture between Deutsche Bahn and SNCF. The trains are manned by Franco-German teams, whose members are dressed in the uniforms of the respective railway company (those of the DB adapt to their French colleagues with a uniform hat). Train driver on an ICE of the DB can be a conductor of the SNCF, just as the train driver of both railways can drive the trains of the other railroad company.

In accordance with the regulations in France, reservations are also required for ICE trains on French territory (from / to Saarbrücken). The at-the-seat service with coffee is carried out exclusively by German train attendants - following protests from French unions. The French train attendants cannot, however, check German online tickets for validity because they do not have the necessary device with them.

Further international connections led to Switzerland or to Luxembourg. TGVs run between Paris and Luxembourg and between Paris and Basel (-Zurich). The TGV connection Basel – Strasbourg – Paris had replaced the traditional (shorter, but only slower navigable) route via Belfort , Troyes and Vesoul . Since the timetable change in December 2011, the TGV to Mulhouse and Switzerland have been running on the LGV Rhin-Rhône ; this reduced the travel time by half an hour.

Travel times

Connections and travel times via the high-speed line (April 3, 2016)

0:00 Paris Gare de l'Est 0:39 Gare de Champagne-Ardenne TGV 0:46 Gare de Reims 1:03 Châlons-en-Champagne 1:10 Rethel 1:23 Vitry-le-François 1:40 Charleville-Mezieres 1:51 Bar-le-Duc 2:06 Sedan 0:59 Gare de Meuse TGV 1:14 Gare de Lorraine TGV 1:23 Metz 1:30 Nancy 1:39 Forbach 1:47 Thionville 1:47 Saarbrücken Central Station 2:00 Luneville 2:13 Luxembourg 2:12 Sarrebourg 2:16 Epinal 2:29 Saverne 1:46 Strasbourg train station 2:25 Kaiserslautern Hbf 2:31 Saint-Dié-des-Vosges 2:40 Remiremont 2:30 Karlsruhe main station 2:58 Mannheim Central Station 3:09 Stuttgart Central Station 3:38 Frankfurt am Main Hbf 4:12 Ulm central station 5:05 Augsburg central station 5:34 Munich central station

The commissioning of the LGV Est européenne (together with the accompanying measures) significantly reduced travel times between Paris and eastern France or southwest Germany and Switzerland. The trains cover the 300-kilometer high-speed route in around an hour. Here are some examples (travel times from Paris):

route	Today's driving time	before the expansion travel time
Paris – Strasbourg	1:46 h	3:50 h
Paris – Nancy	1:30 h	2:40 h
Paris – Metz	1:23 h	2:40 h
Paris – Saarbrücken	1:47 h	4:00 h
Paris – Frankfurt	3:38 h	6:15 h
Paris – Karlsruhe	2:30 h	5:05 h
Paris – Stuttgart	3:09 h	6:10 h
Paris – Luxembourg	2:13 h	3:35 h
Paris – Zurich (until 2011)	4:32 h	5:55 h

Development of travel times between Paris and Frankfurt
1914	11 hours, 15 minutes
1938	9 hours, 27 minutes
1958	9 hours, 17 minutes
1970	5 hours, 54 minutes
2000	6 hours, 10 minutes
2007	4 hours, 11 minutes
Dec 2007	3 hours, 49 minutes
2016	3 hours, 38 minutes (via POS South)

Passenger volume and impact

In the first year of operation, over eleven million passengers used the route. According to the SNCF, the three-year target will probably be achieved after just two years of operation. More than 80 percent of the travelers moved within France. Of these, 20 percent went to the Champagne-Ardenne region and 40 percent each to Lorraine and Alsace . 1.8 million travelers (16 percent) were on the move in international traffic, including around one million with Germany, 426,000 with Switzerland and 380,000 with Luxembourg. In Franco-German traffic, 28 percent of travelers were on the Paris – Frankfurt route, 22 percent between Stuttgart and Paris and 17 percent between Paris and Mannheim.

At the beginning of 2007, the market share of air traffic in public passenger transport between Paris and Strasbourg was 65 percent, for rail 35 percent. The SNCF expected to achieve a market share of 60 percent within two years. The airline Air France announced to set the start of operations of the route their flights between Paris and Metz; the number of daily flights from Strasbourg to Paris is to be reduced from twelve to eight. In the first few days of operation, 36,000 passengers used the new route every day, with a load of almost one hundred percent. One week after the opening, the number of travelers was 20 percent above forecasts, according to the SNCF. On the Strasbourg – Paris route, the number of rail passengers has risen by 30 percent - according to the SNCF, the strongest increase to date immediately after a TGV route opened. From August 27, 2007, two additional trains are to be used and the trains running are to be reinforced. Between April and June, 1.3 million tickets were sold for the route. After almost a month of operation, almost a million travelers had used the new route.

Between Germany and France, 4100 passengers used the trains on the first day of operation; the occupancy rate was 80 percent. By April 2008, more than 800,000 passengers were on the two Franco-German connections. Around two thirds of the travelers are Germans. According to Deutsche Bahn, the number of passengers on the north branch rose by 50 percent by the beginning of 2008 compared to EuroCity traffic, and on the south branch by 25 percent. In May 2008, 117,000 people used the ICE and TGV connections between Germany and France. This corresponds to a utilization of 56 percent. Two thirds of all tickets in Franco-German high-speed traffic are sold through Deutsche Bahn, 65 percent of travelers use the route for business reasons. The TGV has a market share of 40 percent between Paris and Stuttgart , the ICE between Frankfurt and Paris 20 percent.

The utilization of Air France flights between Paris and Strasbourg was over 75 percent after the start of operations. As of 2017, however, there are no direct flight connections from Strasbourg to Paris. The operator of the A4 motorway, Sanef , reported a decrease in long-distance journeys with a simultaneous increase in journeys over medium distances. In 2008 the Lufthansa subsidiary Germanwings announced the discontinuation of flights between Stuttgart or Cologne and Paris due to the attractive rail offers. As of 2017, the Stuttgart-Paris flight connection will be served several times a day by Air France, but there are no direct connections between Cologne and Paris more. One year after opening the route, Lufthansa emphasized that neither the load factor nor the number of its twelve daily flights between Paris and Frankfurt am Main had changed significantly. A significant proportion of the travelers are traveling in feeder traffic to long-haul flights from Frankfurt or Paris.

On May 19, 2008, the one millionth passenger was welcomed in Franco-German traffic. 3,300 people use the ICE and TGV services between Germany and France every day. For the routes between Paris and Frankfurt or Stuttgart, the railway companies expect the number of passengers to triple by 2011, from (before commissioning) around 500,000 to 1.5 million travelers.

This forecast is confirmed by the development in the second year of operation, which brought an increase of 15 percent: In the first two years of operation, a total of around 2.2 million travelers used the cross-border high-speed traffic. 55 percent of the travelers were on the trains between Frankfurt and Paris, 45 percent on the trains between Munich, Stuttgart and Paris. According to Deutsche Bahn, the utilization of ICEs and TGVs between Germany and France on Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays was between 90 and 100 percent. An expansion of the offer is being examined. From June 2010, both the ICE and the TGV will also run in double traction. By January 2010, three million passengers used the Franco-German connections, by the middle of the year 3.6 million.

In the long term, the travel time between Frankfurt and Paris is to be reduced from today (2017) three hours and 50 minutes to three hours and 15 minutes.

Accidents and breakdowns

• On May 16, 2008, an ICE 3MF car caught fire near Annet-sur-Marne . The train, with around 300 passengers, had to be evacuated after a transformer caught fire. The cause is suspected to be a defective drive motor, parts of which had detached and damaged the transformer.
• 

  TGV with world record engine ( V150 ) as ICE replacement Paris – Frankfurt in Saarbrücken Hbf in June 2008 (with a German train driver)
  On June 12, 2008, during a " short turn " of an ICE coming from Paris, which was to return to Paris from St. Ingbert in Saarland , several passengers were slightly injured. All passengers should transfer to a replacement IC arriving from Frankfurt at this small station; its passengers, however, should switch to the turning ICE. As a result of several defective ICE units, some continuous ICE trips were canceled or replaced by TGV trains in the same week; on June 13, 2008, the DB then restricted the through traffic on the POS-Nordast from five to three connections until further notice. The remaining journeys were broken: TGV served Paris – Saarbrücken and back; IC Saarbrücken – Frankfurt and back. Only two of the six existing ICE multiple units were required for this. From June 19, 2008, the trains ran through again, but some routes were still served by TGV. These cannot turn around in Mannheim and have to drive via Käfertal, which leads to slight delays.
• On the afternoon of July 8, 2008, ICE 9555 Paris-Frankfurt collided with a truck in the area of ​​the Kennelgarten stop near Kaiserslautern, which had got stuck in the gravel while turning at a construction site. The 400 or so passengers on the ICE were unharmed, but six of the eight ICE cars were damaged. The train was later able to continue on its own to Kaiserslautern, where the passengers had to change to a replacement train.
• In the course of July 2008 there were again numerous ICE failures; From July 21 to August 23, 2008, TGV units regularly helped out with one round trip on the entire route. Nevertheless, travelers often had to change from or to TGV trains in Saarbrücken, Homburg / Saar or Forbach (F), suffer delays or, in individual cases, were not transported due to a lack of vehicles. The ICE disruptions continued in autumn and winter 2008/2009; there were repeated TGV replacement services and / or the connection in Saarbrücken Hbf.
• On November 14, 2015, the railway accident in Eckwersheim was the worst ever with a TGV. During a test drive, a train derailed in a curve due to excessive speed and partially fell into the Rhine-Marne Canal . 11 people died, 42 others were injured, 12 of them seriously.
• On March 5, 2020, a double-decker TGV partially derailed at around 7.45 a.m. near the Alsatian town of Ingenheim on the way from Strasbourg to Paris at a speed of 270 km / h. There were 348 passengers on board. 21 people were injured. The driver was able to prevent worse by braking the train quickly. The cause is a landslide around 10 meters long in a cut near Ingenheim, which occurred shortly before the train arrived.

See also

• Lyria - TGV between Paris and Geneva, Lausanne, Bern, Basel SBB and Zurich
• Alleo / Rhealys - TGV / ICE between Paris and Frankfurt, Luxembourg, Strasbourg and Stuttgart

literature

• High-speed train connection Paris - Eastern France - Southwest Germany. Report of the Franco-German working group. Bonn / Paris 1989.
• Sven Andersen: A European solution for linking the LGV Est-Européenne with Germany. In: Eisenbahn-Revue International , Issue 8–9 / 2004, ISSN  1421-2811 , pp. 379–383.

Web links

Commons : LGV Est européenne  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Official website of the LGV Est européenne (French, English, German and Spanish)
• Official website of the operating company Rhealys SA
• Website with many pictures of the construction of the LGV Est européenne
• LGV Est européenne. In: Structurae
• Route on OpenStreetMap

French:

• Réseau Ferré de France (Ed.): LGV Est européenne 2 ^e phase . Dossier de presse November 18, 2010. (French, PDF; 3.0 MB [accessed on November 28, 2010]).
• Timetable from June and from December 2007 POS North and South ( Memento from October 21, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF)
• Planned travel times on the route (PDF; 892 kB)
• Official website for the test drives on the LGV Est européenne
• Website for the inauguration of the route
• Route map of the LGV Est européenne

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d e} LGV Est inaugurated. In: Today's Railways Europe. No. 140, August 2007, ISSN  1354-2753 , p. 7.
2. ^ LGV Est phase 2 opening completes Paris – Strasbourg high speed line. In: Railway Gazette International
3. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g h} LGV Est. services begin. In: Today's Railways Europe. No. 138, June 2007, ISSN  1354-2753 , pp. 32-40.
4. ↑ see also fr: Élections régionales françaises de 2004 # Lorraine
5. ↑ Gare TGV-TER de Vandières: pas avant 2018 , on lorraine.france3.fr, October 18, 2013, accessed on December 7, 2013
6. ↑ The continuation of the LGV Est is created . In: Eisenbahn-Revue International . No. 6 , 2014, ISSN  1421-2811 , p. 297 .
7. ↑ Financing agreement signed for 2nd phase of LGV Est. ( Memento of the original from November 17, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) 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. Report on Eurailpress dated September 3, 2009 
8. ↑ Right of way for the TGV. In: Stuttgarter Nachrichten. March 21, 2007
9. ↑ AFP: Sarkozy annonce le début des travaux de la 2ème phase du TGV Est pour 2010 ( Memento of July 1, 2012 in the web archive archive.today ), message of September 13, 2007
10. ↑ RFF press release of April 29, 2008: LGV Est européenne phase 2: démarrage des diagnostics archéologiques ( Memento of December 7, 2008 in the Internet Archive )
11. ↑ TGV Est: 1st marché attribué. In: lefigaro.fr . March 22, 2010
12. ↑ Le chantier du TGV Est passe à la vitesse supérieure. Announcement on latribune.fr of August 10, 2010
13. ^ LGV Est: les travaux de la 2ème phase inaugurés ( Memento of November 22, 2010 in the Internet Archive ), notification of November 19, 2010
14. ↑ 19/06/12 charlotte voit le bout du tunnel  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
15. ↑ LGV Est Phase 2 completed . In: Railway Gazette International . tape 171 , no. 5 , 2015, ISSN  0373-5346 , p. 13 ( online ).
16. ↑ Pictorial representation of the future connection 1st construction phase and 2nd construction phase
17. ↑ Schematic representation of the link
18. ↑ Sketch of the route in the Bas Rhin department (PDF; 0.8 MB).
19. ↑ Sketch of the route in the Moselle department (PDF; 1.0 MB).
20. ↑ "(4) The contracting parties are also taking precautions within the scope of their powers for the later feasibility of a new high-speed line north of Strasbourg." From the La Rochelle agreement.
21. ^ Gernot Zielonka: Stuttgart - Paris 3 hours by TGV. ( Memento of the original from January 27, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) 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. Dmm Travel announcement from January 21, 2016. 
22. ↑ Federal Ministry of Transport, Building and Urban Development (Ed.): Investment framework plan until 2010 for the federal transport infrastructure. (PDF) (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on July 3, 2007 ; Retrieved December 7, 2013 . 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.  
23. ↑ New Rhine bridge near Kehl completed on schedule. In: VBR-Online: Bahnaktuell, Current News, October 8, 2010.
24. ^ Sven Andersen: A European solution for linking the LGV Est-Européenne with Germany. Eisenbahn-Revue International , Luzern 8–9 / 2004, p. 378 ff.
25. ↑ [1]  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 47 kB)  
26. ↑ BVWP 2030, from p. 156. Accessed June 22, 2017 . 
27. ↑ Deutsche Bahn AG (Ed.): Deutsche Bahn: Moving People - Connecting Worlds. ( Memento of May 24, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Berlin 2008, p. 60 (PDF, 9.2 MB).
28. ↑ New ETCS projects in Europe. In: Eisenbahn-Revue International , issue 7/2004, ISSN  1421-2811 , p. 311.
29. ↑ Jürgen Grübmeier, Georg Fischer: rapid train connection Paris – Eastern France – Southwest Germany. In: The Federal Railroad. Vol. 65, No. 5, 1989, ISSN  0007-5876 , pp. 383-388.
30. ↑ Paris is worth a (day) trip. In: Die Bahn informs. No. 3, 1989, pp. 12-14.
31. ^ German-French ministerial agreement of La Rochelle, see Federal Law Gazette II 1992 p. 1101, entered into force on May 22, 1992, can be found online at wedebruch.de , accessed on July 24, 2015.
32. ↑ TGV-Est initially not to Strasbourg. In: Deutsche Bahn. No. 4, 1993, p. 342.
33. ↑ Expansion of the POS. In: Eisenbahn-Revue International . No. 11, 1998, ISSN  1421-2811 , p. 451.
34. ^ "Green light" for TGV Est. In: Eisenbahn-Revue International. No. 3, 1998, ISSN  1421-2811 , p. 105.
35. ^ La deuxième phase du TGV Est lancée. In: Le Figaro . January 25, 2007.
36. ↑ Fireworks for the TGV. In: Manager Magazin. March 16, 2007.
37. ↑ Inauguration de la ligne à grande vitesse (LGV) Est-européenne. ( Memento of the original from September 30, 2007 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. In: government.lu. March 15, 2007 (French, press release from the Luxembourg government). 
38. ^ For the record ... In: Today's railways Europe . Issue 140, August 2007, ISSN  1354-2753 , p. 7 .
39. ↑ SNCF: Grilles Horaires. Retrieved June 21, 2016 (French). 
40. ^ French Silver Arrow soon on German routes. In: DB World . May 2007, p. 14.
41. ↑ From 13 to 20 May 2007 Paris welcomes the record-breaking train! In: alstom.com. May 3, 2007 (English).
42. ↑ It's something special. In: Frankfurter Rundschau. June 11, 2007.
43. ↑ ^{a b c} SNCF: L'Européenne Grilles Horaires Á Partir Du 03/04/2016
44. ↑ Today trains run on the LGV Rhin-Rhône , the journey time is approximately 4:03
45. ^ Deutsche Bahn AG: Couple skating to Paris. In: The Railway in Europe. Special release, June 2007.
46. ↑ Ligne Est de TGV: Promesses tenues. In: TGV magazine: No. 105, June 2008, p. 15 (interview with Mireille Faugère).
47. ↑ TGV connection Paris-Eastern route with 11 million customers. In: bazonline.ch . June 6, 2008.
48. ^ Deutsche Bahn AG: One year Franco-German high speed. June 10, 2008 (press release).
49. ↑ ^{a b} TGV express train ignites price war. In: Der Tagesspiegel. April 11, 2007.
50. ↑ Express trains detach planes. In: Welt Online. April 22, 2007.
51. ↑ ^{a b} Super express train TGV Ost is almost fully booked. In: Spiegel Online. June 21, 2007.
52. ↑ One million TGV passengers. In: oe24.at. July 6, 2007.
53. ↑ record of the month. In: DB World. July / August 2007, p. 4.
54. ↑ Thomas Sponticcia: Mickey Mouse gets a visit from Saarbrücken.  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. In: Saarbrücker Zeitung. April 17, 2008  
55. ↑ Message record of the month. In: DB World. May 2008, p. 14.
56. ↑ Brian Melican: "Book me a train to Paris." In: Handelsblatt.com. July 28, 2008.
57. ↑ Research at fluege.de, SXB according to PAR, 2016-06-22 .
58. ^ LGV Est: Victims of their own success. In: Swiss Railway Review. No. 8/9, 2007, ISSN  1022-7113 , p. 378 f.
59. ↑ ICE and TGV are speeding up against the planes. In: Handelsblatt.com. March 18, 2008.
60. ^ After a year of normalcy: to the Seine in four hours. In: Main-Echo June 10, 2008.
61. ^ Deutsche Bahn AG: One million passengers in high-speed traffic between Germany and France. May 19, 2008 (press release).
62. ↑ Long pregnancy, difficult birth in FAZ. No. 74, March 28, 2007, p. 16.
63. ^ Deutsche Bahn AG: DB and SNCF draw a successful balance sheet from two years of Franco-German high-speed traffic. June 10, 2009 (press release).
64. ^ Bahn wants to go to Paris more often. In: Saarbrücker Zeitung . March 18, 2009.
65. ↑ TGV in double traction on the German network
66. ↑ Deutsche Bahn AG: For just 69 euros for two on Valentine's Day to Paris. January 29, 2010 (press release).
67. ↑ DB Mobility Logistics AG (Ed.): Saarland Rail Summit: Deutsche Bahn invests 370 million euros - Saarland is the first federal state to run local rail passenger transport entirely with green electricity. July 14, 2010 (press release).
68. ↑ Deutsche Bahn AG: Moving the future - the DB Group 2008. (PDF, 4 MB), p. 29  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )
69. ↑ Hundreds of travelers had to leave the ICE on the open route. In: Spiegel Online. May 16, 2008.
70. ↑ Saarbrücker Zeitung of June 13, 2008, page B1
71. ↑ Express train derailed near Strasbourg - driver seriously injured . general-anzeiger-bonn.de, March 5, 2020
72. ↑ TGV derailed near Strasbourg due to landslide . In: Eisenbahn-Revue International . No. 4 , April 2020, ISSN  1421-2811 , p. 188 .

This version was added to the list of articles worth reading on July 1, 2008 .