Rail transport in France

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The rail traffic in France is due to the alignment of the rail network in the Greater Paris , the Ile-de-France coined. Passenger traffic is more important than freight traffic , this is due to the use of the high-speed train Train à grande vitesse (TGV) since 1981. Passenger train traffic is operated almost exclusively by the state-owned Société nationale des chemins de fer français (SNCF). Third parties have achieved a market share of 20% in freight transport. In 2012, the French government announced that it would not open the passenger transport market before 2019, contrary to the intentions of the predecessor in office. Most of the route network has been owned by SNCF since 2015 through its subsidiary SNCF Réseau .

Railway network

Standard gauge railways

TGV route network
blue: new lines in France
red: new lines in neighboring countries
black: old lines with TGV traffic
dashed: planned line
Map of the railways in France
red: LGV, 25 kV
orange: 25 kV
green: 1.5 kV
yellow: other voltages
gray: not electrified
Two T3 trams in Paris

The standard gauge network is oriented towards Paris. This was decided by the law of June 11, 1842 , which is also known as "étoile de Legrand" (Eng. "Star of Legrand "). The law stipulated that, in addition to many routes from Paris, there should only be two transversal routes, one from the Rhine to the Mediterranean and the other from the Atlantic coast to the Mediterranean. This is still the case today, which is why the six terminal stations in Paris are the most used stations in France. These are:

  • Gare du Nord from there trains to Arras, Lille, Boulogne-sur-Mer, London and Brussels;
  • Gare de l'Est from there trains to Reims, Nancy, Metz, Strasbourg, Saarbrücken, Mannheim, Frankfurt, Stuttgart, Munich and Luxembourg;
  • Gare de Lyon from there trains to Dijon, Lyon, Marseille, Geneva, Zurich and Turin;
  • Gare d'Austerlitz from there trains to Orléans, Limoges, Clermont-Ferrand and Toulouse;
  • Gare Montparnasse from there trains to Nantes, Poitiers, Bordeaux, Rennes (Brittany) and Quimper;
  • Gare Saint-Lazare from there trains to Caen and Rouen (Normandy);

The stations are divided into five different categories, this depends on the number of passengers:

  • Type 1: 33 very large train stations (656 million passengers per year)
  • Type 2: 89 large train stations (325 million passengers per year)
  • Type 3: 244 medium-sized stations (690 million passengers per year)
  • Type 4: 968 smaller train stations (249 million passengers per year)
  • Type 5: 1717 stops (32 million passengers per year)

The French route network covers 29,273 km, of which 15,164 km are electrified, which is around 52%. The most frequently used train control system is the block automatique lumineux (BAL), the Transmission Voie-Machine (TVM) system is used on high-speed lines . Around 15,000 passenger and freight trains run on the SNCF Réseau network every day.

In France there are 2037 km of high-speed lines in operation, these are traveled by TGV at a maximum of 320 km / h . 567 km of new high-speed lines are under construction. On September 22, 1981, the first high-speed line in France went into operation, it was the LGV Sud-Est . On September 24, 1989 the LGV Atlantique was put into operation, the LGV Nord 1993, the LGV Interconnexion Est and the LGV Rhône-Alpes 1994, the LGV Méditerranée 2001 and the LGV Est européenne 2007. These routes were all aimed at Paris. Only with the LGV Rhin-Rhône , which opened in 2011, is there a route that is not aimed at Paris. The main difference between these new routes and old routes is that only TGV trains run on them. In addition, these routes have large radii, but gradients that can be up to 35 ‰ steep. The construction of 100 km of high-speed line in 2007 cost around 1.7 billion euros.

In France there are two different power systems , 25 kV 50 Hz alternating current and 1.5 kV direct current. In the south of France , most lines are electrified with 1.5 kV direct current. In the north and east mostly with 25 kV 50 Hz alternating current. The new lines (LGV) also have this electricity system. Furthermore, new electrifications apart from the LGVs are also being carried out in southern France with 25 kV 50 Hz.

In the greater Paris area there is a S-Bahn -like system, this is called Réseau express régional d'Île-de-France (RER). This has a length of 587 km and consists of five lines. Lines A and B are operated jointly by SNCF and RATP , lines C , D and E by SNCF alone. There is also a Transilien network, which is only operated by the SNCF and extends far beyond the city limits. These lines have their starting point at one of the major Paris terminus stations.

Meter gauge railways

Most of these routes were operated by private and regional rail companies. Due to the increasing competition from the road , many of these routes had to cease operations in the 1950s. Some routes are still preserved today as museum railways . The two most important networks that are still in regular operation are the Chemins de fer de Provence and the Chemins de fer de la Corse .

Trams and metro

In France there was a very extensive tram network in many cities up to the 1930s, this almost completely disappeared due to the increasing individual traffic , only one line each remained in operation in Lille , Marseille and Saint-Étienne .

It was not until the 1970s that there were renewed plans to build tram systems again. In 1985 the first new tram system was opened in Nantes after the war . Today trams are back in 23 agglomerations, including Paris , Lyon and Marseille . In addition, there are more and more connections between the tram network and the Réseau ferré de France , these are known as Tram-Train .

The Paris Métro is the most important and longest metro network in France. From 1900 to 1974 it was the only metro in France, in the same year the Métro Lyon opened, and three years later the Métro Marseille . The new networks are often used by Véhicule automatique léger , which operate automatically.

Railway companies

A TGV duplex from the SNCF in Karlsruhe

The SNCF has a largely monopoly position. The passenger transport (TGV, TER ) is operated entirely by the SNCF. Other railway companies are also active in freight transport, including Euro Cargo Rail and Veolia Transport . The Thello company , which has been operating night trains from Paris to Venice since December 2011, is the first of its kind in France.

history

The first railway line was opened as a 21 km long horse-drawn tram on June 30, 1827 and connected Saint-Étienne with Andrézieux . In 1831 a steam locomotive drove for the first time in France between Lyon and Saint-Étienne , and the same route was also used for public travel for the first time. From 1842 the route network grew considerably. In 1914 the network had already reached an extension of 40,000 km, the maximum length was 60,000 km. The originally large number of small companies merged into a few, "large companies": ( Est , État , Nord , PLM , PO ). These in turn were on 1 January 1938 national Société des chemins de fer français (SNCF) nationalized .

Timetable and tariff

Until 2010 there was no nationwide regular timetable . The trains mostly ran during rush hour , with few trains running during the day. The supply had been adjusted to the demand, so the operation of the TGV was economical. Since 2010, the SNCF and the then network operator Réseau ferré de France (RFF) took the initiative to set up a regular schedule. This had been implemented since 2007 for regional transport (TER) in the Rhône-Alpes region . This has since been extended to the entire network. In 2012, 20% of trains will run at regular intervals, compared to 8% in 2011.

Fares vary widely for long-distance trains, depending on the date and time the journey is to take place and the time of purchase. This means, for example, that a trip from Paris to Strasbourg in the early afternoon is significantly cheaper than in the morning. This should result in better utilization of the trains. Since April 2, 2013, the SNCF has been operating the low-cost TGV “ Ouigo ” with ticket prices starting at 10 euros for adults and 5 euros for children under the age of twelve. It connects the Marne-la-Vallée - Chessy train station east of Paris via Lyon with southern France. The end points are the TGV train stations in Marseille and Montpellier .

Industry

Regional train of the type SNCF Z 27500 manufactured by Bombardier

In 2006 the railway industry had a turnover of 3.3 billion euros.

The two main companies in France are Alstom and Bombardier Transportation . The traditional manufacturer was Alstom, who also makes the TGV. Bombardier has gained weight by ordering the Autorail à grande capacité from SNCF .

vehicles

The SNCF designates its locomotives according to the wheel arrangement and a serial number . This is started with a new 100 or 1000 digit for each series .

See also

Web links

Commons : Rail transport in France  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Fabrice Gliszczynski: Le monopole de la SNCF en France sera préservé jusqu'en 2019. In: La Tribune . October 31, 2012, accessed November 16, 2015 .
  2. ^ RFF website
  3. ^ Paul Schneeberger: How the clock timetable conquered France . In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung . January 28, 2010 ( How the Timetable Conquered France [accessed March 6, 2012]).
  4. ^ France: TGV Ouigo - low-cost airlines on rails eurailpress.de, February 20, 2013
  5. ^ L'industrie ferroviare sur les rails, Apec. ( Memento from January 29, 2008 in the Internet Archive )