Lyon–Geneva railway

Lyon - Geneva

Z27894 passing by Fort de l'Ecluse
Overview
Type TGV, TER, RER and freight
System SNCF
Locale Switzerland (Canton of Geneva),
France (Rhône-Alpes)
Termini Gare de Lyon-Perrache
Gare de Cornavin, Geneva
Operation
Opened 1858
Owner RFF
Operator(s) SNCF
Technical
Line length 167.6 km (104.1 mi)
Number of tracks Double track
Track gauge 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 12 in) standard gauge
Electrification 1.5 kV DC
Route map
Legend
Line from Paris
000.0 Lyon-Perrache(174m)
Line to Saint-Étienne
000.0
0.3 Bridge over A7 motorway (30m)
0.4 Bridge over the Rhône (217m)
Lyon-Jean Macé
1.6 Lyon-Guillotière
Line to Marseille
5.0 from Montalieu-Vercieu
5.0 Lyon-Part-Dieu(171m)
000.0
5.7 Lyon-Brotteaux(172m)
8.1 River Rhône (272m)
8.4 Lyon-Saint-Clair(176m)
from Collonges-Fontaines and Paris
to Bourg-en-Bresse and LGV SE
000.0
11.3 Crépieux-la-Pape(172m)
13.4 under A46 motorway
Rhône
Ain

14.7 Neyron(174m)
16.6 Miribel(176m)
18.5 Saint-Maurice-de-Beynost(179m)
21.0 Beynost(181m)
22.0 LGV Rhône-Alpes
23.2 La Boisse(186m)
25.2 Montluel(198m)
27.3 under A42 motorway
30.5 La Valbonne(203m)
32.9 under A42 motorway
38.4 Meximieux - Pérouges(218m)
42.6 River Ain (173m)

49.6 from Plaine de l'Ain Industrial Park
46.5 Leyment(231m)
49.6
50.7 River Albarine (28m)
51.2 from Lagnieu
51.5 Ambérieu(247m)
52.5 to Mâcon
000.0
57.2 Torcieu(267m)
57.9 River Albarine (32m)
62.7 Saint-Rambert-en-Bugey(289m)
69.3 Tenay-Hauteville(325m)
76.3 La Burbanche(359m)
83.1 Rossillon(330m)
86.6 Pugieu tunnel (662m)
89.8 from Belley
89.8 Virieu-le-Grand - Belley(267m)
93.4 Artemare - Saint-Martin(258m)
95.4 River Séran (22m)
101.4 Culoz(237m)

101.4 Line to Chambéry and Modane
000.0
110.4 Anglefort(249m)
116.2 Seyssel - Corbonod(258m)
122.9 Pyrimont - Chanay(291m)
123.3 Surjoux tunnel (153m)
125.3 Bognes tunnel (518m)
127.3 Génissiat(338m)
127.4 Génissiat tunnel (893m)
128.6 Paradis tunnel (1060m)
134.3 Bellegarde (old)

Line to Bourg-en-Bresse
Bellegarde (new)(372m)
000.0
134.7 River Valserine (138m)
135.3 Cret-d'Eau tunnel (4 008m)
139.8 Longeray - Léaz(385m)
139.8 to Évian-les-Bains
000.0
141.5 la Folie tunnel (140m)
142.5 Collonges – Fort l'Écluse(356m)
142.6 to Divonne-les-Bains
147.8 Pougny - Chancy(356m)

152.3 Les Charmilles stream,
France
Switzerland

153.2 La Plaine(366m)
155.0 Russin(378m)
158.7 Satigny(415m)
Bourdigny
160.9 Zimeysa
162.5 Vernier - Meyrin(413m)
163.1 Cointrin(429m)

165.2 from Geneva airport

166.3 Line to Lancy-Pont-Rouge
167.6 Genève-Cornavin(392m)
Line to Lausanne

The Lyon - Geneva railway is an important route in the national rail network. It connects not only Geneva but also feeds the Maurienne railway and the Geneva to Valence via Grenoble line. It carries a variety of traffic: TGV Paris-Geneva, Geneva - South of France, TER Rhône-Alpes, Rhône Express Regional and goods trains.

The line is numbered 890 000 of the RFF national network.

Route

From Lyon-Perrache the line runs round Lyon city centre to Lyon-Part-Dieu. After running through the northeast suburbs of Lyon, the line runs in more or less straight sections across the plain to Ambérieu where it joins the line to Bourg-en Bresse and Macon, (formerly the Geneva Paris route). The rest of the line winds through the foothills of the Alpes and Jura. At Culoz is the junction with the Maurienne line to Turin via Modane. From Culoz the line runs close to the Rhône to Bellegarde-sur-Valerine where it meets the Ligne du Haut-Bugey. After Bellegarde trains plunge into the 4 km Cret d'Eau tunnel, emerging at the Longeray junction, where the line to Evian branches off via the spectacular Longeray viaduct clearly visible from the line. Thereafter, the line descends close to the Rhône, crossing the Swiss frontier between Challex and la Plaine. Between la Plaine and Geneva stations are much closer together, due to commuter traffic for Geneva. Entering the Geneva conurbation through the Meyrin-Vernier industrial estate, with many goods sidings, the railway crosses the Swiss A1 motorway over a high bridge, then reduces to a single track beside the double track Cornavin-Airport line. Inside a tunnel, a triangular junction connects to the la Praille goods yard and future CEVA connection to Annemasse and Evian. Still in the tunnel, the line crosses the Cornavin-Airport line by a flyover. The line emerges in the St. Jean quarter of Geneva to terminate at platforms 7 and 8 of Cornavin station.

History

Creation

Electrification

The line was progressively electrified to 1500 V DC

Evolution

In subsequent years the line has undergone various modifications, the most important of which are:

Geneva-Bellegarde Section

All the different types of traffic mentioned in the introduction run on this section. Direct passenger services from Bellegarde to Geneva are provided by French TGV or TER trains, while stopping services are provided by the Swiss Rhône Express Régional service. Because it is electrified and signalled to a French system but operated in part by the Swiss Railways there are several unusual hybrids on the line, illustrated in the photos, including

Upgrade Project

Suburban traffic on the Geneva- Bellegarde section is increasing steadily[1] and the single track section is expected to become a serious bottleneck. The southern branch of the Geneva RER, the CEVA will be electrified to 25 kV 50 Hz, so the 1.5 kV DC electrification of the Geneva to Bellegarde section is a third voltage for regional trains. To alleviate these two problems, two engineering projects have started, the first being to modify the double and single lines between Cornavin and the junction to the airport for bidirectional operation on all three tracks with either 25 or 15 kV, and the second is to reelectrify the Bellegarde to Geneva section to 25 kV AC.[2] The works were completed in August 2014, and the Bellegarde to Geneva section is entirely under 25 kV. Between la Plaine and Geneva, the signals are all Swiss, controlled from Geneva and allowing bidirectional operation. The Bem 550 and 'Flirt' 524 have been replaced by 'Flirt' 522s dual voltage 'Colibri' 562 s

See also

Notes

  1. Canton of Geneva (8 November 2010). "TRANSPORTS PUBLICS : L'OFFRE S'ACCROÎT DE PLUS DE 9% DÈS LE 12 DÉCEMBRE 2010" [9% more public transport from 12 December 2010] (in French). Retrieved 2 February 2011.
  2. La Ligne du Haut Bugey. 63670 La Roche-Blanche, France: La Regordane. October 2010. p. 186. ISBN 978-2-906984-90-5.
  3. "Les chemins de fer du canton de Genève: Part 3 recensement des ouvrages ferroviaires" (PDF). Canton Geneva. Retrieved 21 October 2012.
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