LGV Méditerranée

LGV Méditerranée
Route number (SNCF) :	752 000
Course book route (SNCF) :	500
Route length:	New construction section: 251.42 km
Gauge :	1435 mm ( standard gauge )
Power system :	25 kV, 50 Hz  ~
Maximum slope :	35  ‰
Top speed:	320 km / h
Legend LGV Rhône-Alpes Junction Valence-Sillon Alpin Sud to Moirans 495.46 Valence TGV route Valence – Moirans 522.55 Tunnel d'Eurre (664 m) 524.53 Junction from Eurre (only for construction trains) 524.98 Livron – Aspres-sur-Buëch route Viaduc de la Drôme ( Drôme ; 229 m) 531.06 Viaduc de la Grenette (947 m) 531.62 Tunnel de Tartaiguille (2340 m) 542.68 Viaduc du Roubion (147 m) 570.21 Viaduc de la Garde-Adhémar ( Donzère Canal ; 340 m) Pierrelatte – Nyons route 578.41 Branch from Bollène-Nord 580.48 Paris – Marseille line 581.41 Branch from Bollène-Sud 588.38 Viaduc de Mondragon ( Rhone ; 637 m) 590.36 Viaduc de Mornas (Rhône; 887 m) 597.86 Viaduc de l'Aigues ( Eygues ; 186 m) 606.30 Viaduc de Roquemaure (Rhône; 680 m) 608.10 Givors Canal – Grezan route Viaduc de Saint-Geniès-de-Comolas (533 m) 608.64 Tunnel de Saint-Geniès-de-Comolas (256 m) 618.15 0.0 Junction Les Angles-Nord; to Nîmes Givors – Nîmes route 622.46 Viaducs d'Avignon (Rhône; 1573 m) 624.19 Junction Les Angles-Sud; from Nîmes 625.16 Avignon TGV 625.95 Overburden Avignon (1300 m) Paris – Marseille line 636.23 Viaduc sur le péage Avignon-Sud (180 m) 636.74 Viaduc de Bonpas (356 m) 636.94 Tunnel de Bonpas (303 m) 646.50 Viaduc de Cavaillon ( Durance ; 1500 m) 650.56 Viaduc de Cheval-Blanc (Durance; 994 m) Avignon – Miramas route 652.33 Junction from Cheval-Blanc (construction trains only) 653.61 Viaduc d'Orgon (Durance; 942 m) 668.11 Tranchée couverte de Vernègues (102 m) 668.92 Viaduc de Vernègues (1210 m) 670.44 Lambesc tunnel (440 m) 676.63 Viaduc sur la Touloubre (372 m) 688.23 Viaduc de Ventabren (1730 m) 692.40 Viaduc de l ' Arc (416 m) Rognac – Aix-en-Provence route 699.14 Aix-en-Provence TGV 702.28 Tunnel de Pennes-Mirabeau (1350 m) 703.81 Covering Bellepeire (400 m) 704.21 Tunnel de Marseille (5414 m) 709.62 Overburden Saint-André (490 m) 711.16 Junction of the Tuileries from Nîmes / Avignon from Aix-en-Provence from / to Ventimiglia Marseille-Saint-Charles
Branch to Nîmes
Legend Junction Les Angles-Sud; from Marseille Viaducs d'Avignon (Rhône; 1573 m) Givors – Nîmes route 0.00 Junction Les Angles-Nord; from Lyon 5.17 Les Angles-Ouest junction 10.98 Viaduc de la Roubine (Roubine; 270 m) 13.29 Givors – Nîmes route 15.10 Viaduc du Briançon (79 m) 18.38 Viaduc du Gardon ( Gardon ; 212 m) 25.06 0.00 Contournement de Nîmes and Montpellier 3.24 by Tarascon to Nîmes / Montpellier

The LGV Méditerranée , short for Ligne à grande vitesse Méditerranée , is a high-speed route in France . It was opened on June 7, 2001, is 251.4 km long and connects the regions Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur and Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes . The construction costs amounted to 3.8 billion euros . It connects Marseille with Paris via the LGV Rhône-Alpes and the LGV Sud-Est . The fastest TGV trains cover the distance of 751.4 km between the two metropolises non-stop in 3 hours and 5 minutes. This corresponds to a cruising speed of 243.7 km / h (as of March 2017). They have displaced two thirds of the previous air traffic on this route.

The LGV Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur is planned as the eastern continuation of the LGV Méditerranée , while the LGV Languedoc-Roussillon is to be built to the west of Nîmes as a link to the LGV Perpignan-Figueres .

course

Four departments are crossed; from north to south these are Drôme , Gard , Vaucluse and Bouches-du-Rhône . The route begins at Saint-Marcel-lès-Valence and immediately follows the LGV Rhône-Alpes . Immediately afterwards it crosses the old line Valence-Grenoble ; the Valence TGV tower station there enables a quick transition to trains to Valence, Grenoble and Romans-sur-Isère . At Crest there is an extension to the Briançon - Livron-sur-Drôme line , which is only used in emergencies.

The LGV then runs southwest and approaches the Rhone . At Montélimar it meets the A7 motorway and follows it for around 20 km. After crossing the Canal de Donzère-Mondragon , a side canal of the Rhône, at Pierrelatte there is another extension to the PLM line , which is also only used in emergencies. At Mornas , the Rhône is crossed twice in quick succession and a third time north of Roquemaure .

At Les Angles , the route branches into a south-western and a south-eastern branch, the latter also being connected to each other ("Triangle des Angles"). The southwest branch is generally considered to be the first section of a future LGV Languedoc-Roussillon ; it is 21 km long and meets the existing Tarascon-Nîmes line at Manduel . Originally the branch should have led to Lattes near Montpellier ; this section was postponed for the time being in September 1995 for cost reasons. Construction work on the extension to Montpellier began at the end of 2013 and commissioning is scheduled for the end of 2017.

The southeast branch crosses the Rhône. The connecting curve from Montpellier to Avignon crosses the Rhône at the same point - the viaducts of both routes run parallel. Then the new Avignon TGV station is reached. The route then follows the Durance river and crosses it between Cavaillon and Orgon . The route serves the Aix-en-Provence TGV station , crosses the 7,834 m long Tunnel de Marseille and reaches the classic route in the northern districts of Marseille .

In the urban area of ​​Marseille there are three stops for regional traffic on a 7.7 km long section.

The top speed of 320 km / h is reached in curve radii from 4,000 m. The junction "Les Angles" to Nîmes / Montpellier is passable at 220 km / h.

Engineering structures

Due to its routing in pre-alpine terrain, the LGV Méditerranée owns a large number of engineering structures. Some stand out for their size or design. The most important engineering structures from north to south are:

• Tunnel de la Galaure (2686 m)
• Tunnel de Tartaiguille (2340 m)
• Grenette Viaduct (947 m)
• Mornas Viaduct (887 m)
• Mondragon Viaduct (637 m)
• Roquemaure Viaduct (680 m)
• Double viaduct from Les Angles near Avignon (1573 m)
• Cavaillon Viaduct (1500 m)
• Cheval Blanc Viaduct (994 m)
• Orgon Viaduct (942 m)
• Vernègues Viaduct (1210 m)
• Ventabren Viaduct (1730 m); this viaduct begins in the south after crossing the Canal de Marseille and runs along the A8 motorway and the D10 departmental road ; the construction site served as the backdrop for the film Taxi
• Tunnel de Marseille (7834 m); the longest tunnel entirely in France

A total of 17,155 m of the route lies in the tunnel.

Train stations

There are three train stations at LGV Méditerranée:

• Valence TGV ; 9 km northeast of Valence and 8 km southwest of Romans-sur-Isère near Saint-Marcel-lès-Valence
• Avignon TGV ; 3 km south of Avignon city ​​center
• Aix-en-Provence TGV ; 15 km southwest of Aix-en-Provence and 8 km east of Vitrolles

history

Installation

On October 3, 2000, test runs began with the TGV Réseau multiple unit 531, which was equipped with measuring equipment for the runs. In order to achieve the necessary acceptance speeds, the drive control software was modified to increase the output of each drive motor from 1100 to 1400 kW. The route was approved by the AEF . For this purpose, the tracks were driven gradually at speeds of 100, 220, 260, 300 and 350 km / h. During the final inspection run on April 20, 2001, 330 km / h were reached in the presence of representatives from SNCF and RFF.

During a demonstration run for invited guests (including SNCF President Louis Gallois and RFF General Director Francois Bernard ), a TGV Réseau (unit 531) drove from Aix-en-Provence TGV to Valence TGV at an average speed of 350 km / h.

On May 26, 2001, the long-distance world record known as Opération Sardine led over the route. South of Valence, the top speed of the record run was reached at 366.6 km / h.

On June 7, 2001, the route was officially opened by President Jacques Chirac .

On June 10, 2001, operations began on the most demanding and expensive French high-speed line to date. Travel times between Lyon and Marseille have been reduced from 160 to 100 minutes, between Paris and Marseille (751 km) from 260 to 180 minutes and between Marseille and Geneva from 270 to 210 minutes. In addition to the LGV Méditerranée, a 22 km long high-speed section from the Les Angles junction (west of Avignon) into the Nîmes area went into operation. With the commissioning of the line, the total length of the French high-speed network increased to 1,520 kilometers. Among other things, the route shortened the travel time between London and Marseille to seven hours.

The commissioning was marked by various infrastructure problems. Among other things, the route control center in Marseille failed.

business

In the second year of operation, the number of passengers on the route fell short of the forecasts. Instead of the expected 20 million passengers, only 18.5 million travelers were counted.

technology

The track's superstructure consists of UIC-60 rails, which lie on around 850,000 concrete sleepers and around 2.4 million tons of ballast. The longest of the 126 points have a length of 211 m (tongues: 41 m) and can be driven at 230 km / h in the branching position.

In the course of measurement drives in 2001, the influence of the cross wind in the Rhone Valley was also examined, which can reach up to 200 km / h on the up to 53 m high engineering structures. This made it necessary to reduce the maximum permissible speed as a function of the wind speed; From a wind speed of 190 km / h, the maximum speed is reduced to 80 km / h.

literature

• Brian Perren: Timetable for the TGV Méditerranée . In: Eisenbahn-Revue International , issue 6/2001, ISSN  1421-2811 , p. 262 f.

Web links

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

• LGV Méditerranée. In: Structurae
• Track plan of the LGV Méditerranée
• French side via the south-western connection Ligne Nouvelle Montpellier Perpignan

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g h} TGV Méditerranée before the opening . In: Eisenbahn-Revue International , Issue 2/2001, ISSN  1421-2811 , p. 64 f.
2. ↑ Le déroulement du chantier on ocvia.fr
3. ^ ^{A b c} Sven Andersen: Traffic stops on the TGV route Paris - Marseille . In: Eisenbahn-Revue International , Issue 12/2001, ISSN  1421-2811 , pp. 557-561.
4. ↑ ^{a b c d} From the North Sea to the Mediterranean: 1067.2 km in three and a half hours . In: Eisenbahn-Revue International , Issue 7/2001, ISSN  1421-2811 , pp. 310-312.
5. ^ Message TGV Méditerranée . In: Eisenbahn-Revue International , issue 3/2001, ISSN  1421-2811 , p. 128.
6. ↑ News Good results for Eurostar . In: Eisenbahn-Revue International , issue 4/2002, ISSN  1421-2811 , p. 193.
7. ↑ Message TGV continues on a successful journey . In: Eisenbahn-Revue International , issue 3/2002, ISSN  1421-2811 , p. 148.
8. ↑ Report TGV Med with decrease in passengers . In: Eisenbahn-Revue International , Issue 8–9 / 2003, ISSN  1421-2811 , p. 368.