LGV Is European

LGV Is European , or new line 6 (LN6) , is a Ligne at French high speed , which must connect Vaires-sur-Marne in the long term, in the Seine-et-Marne, with Vendenheim in the the Low-Rhine. It belongs to the broader project of European Magistrale, having to connect in 2015 Paris with Budapest.

Intended to accelerate the relations between on the one hand Paris and the areas of north, the west and the south-west of France, and on the other hand the North-East of France, the Germany, the Swiss and the Luxembourg, the first section of 300 km was brought into service the June 10th 2007 between Vaires-sur-Marne and Baudrecourt (the Moselle).

Traversed with 320 km/h, it is the railway line having the block speed highest in the world with the line at high speed the Mediterranean.

History

Birth of the project

The LGV East is directly resulting from a project conceived starting from 1985 with the installation of an work group chaired by Claude Rattier, general engineer of the Highways Departments then by Philippe Essig, engineer general. The report/ratio of this work group was used as base with the studies of summary preliminary draft led in 1992 and 1993.

The preliminary draft of the Années 1980 envisaged a Franco-German axis of Paris to Munich. But the traffic awaited from beginning to end was rather weak, contrary to the connections Paris-Lyon or Paris-Brussels/London, and a direct layout crossed the “French desert” of the east of France, far from any agglomeration of importance.

Philippe Essig, former managing director of the RATP then president of the SNCF, present in 1989 the current layout and solves at the same time the other thorn-bush problem: financing.

New layout, carrying adhesion and financing

This new layout, at the price of an important inflecting towards north, serves Rheims and Strasbourg and places the city sits of the the European Parliament in the center of the line of European range. In order to not froisser the susceptibility of Nancy and Metz, towns of an old competition, and not to renew the problems of the highway A4 before twenty years, the layout slips by directly towards Strasbourg, being located halfway of the two agglomerations, with a station of interconnection envisaged with semi-course (for the relations province-province).

This layout which puts finally everyone of agreement makes it possible to use the local government agencies, a first in France for a line at high speed, as well as the Grand-Duché of Luxembourg, the line being regarded as a not very profitable financial transaction by the SNCF because of forecasts of insufficient frequentation, the served cities not reaching a sufficient threshold of population.

The complexity of the financial montage explains the important delay taken by the project: the State refusing to pour more than 25 billion francs under the government Pierre Bérégovoy, and thus limiting the layout to Baudrecourt, the area Alsace threat not to pour its share of the financing more.

After multiple tergiversations under the various governments which followed one another, all trying to limit the final invoice, the layout divided into two phases is finally accepted by all, provided commitments are undertaken so that the second phase of the project is quickly carried out.

Officialization and launching of the project

The 1 {{er}} April 1992, on opinion of the Council of State, the project is added to the Information system strategic plan of the lines at high speed, by classifying it among the priority projects.

Construction of the line

A construction divided into two phases

The construction of the new line was broken up into two phases, mainly for reasons of spreading out of the costs.

A first phase of 300 kilometers connects Vaires-sur-Marne (Seine-et-Marne), to 20 km in the east of Paris, with Baudrecourt (the Moselle), where it is connected to the traditional lines Metz - Saarbrucken and Metz - Strasbourg. This first section is brought into service the June 10th 2007, after 5 years of work and an inauguration the March 15th.

One second phase of 106 kilometers will go from Baudrecourt to Vendenheim (the Low-Rhine), close to Strasbourg, by crossing the Massif of the Vosges by a tunnel; the beginning of work is envisaged with the horizon 2010, with for objective a startup in 2014.

While waiting for the construction of this second phase, the trains bound for Strasbourg, of Mulhouse, of the Swiss , and the south of the Germany will circulate to the maximum to 160 km/h on the line Metz - Strasbourg starting from connection of Baudrecourt.

Work

Work, officially launched the January 28th 2002, initially consisted of a building site of Civil engineering to build the platform of 300 km length. This work, which required as with each construction of railway the creation of many Remblai S and Déblai S (64 million cubic meters only for spoil), moreover required the construction of 327 works of art, including five distinct glazes.

The first Rail was posed the October 19th 2004 with Saint-Hilaire-with-Temple (Marne) by the minister of transport, Gilles de Robien. On this date, excavation work was completed with 80 % and 290 works of art (of which 14 viaducts) were finished. The June 8th 2006, the millionth cross-piece of the LGV European, is coloured in green for the occasion, was posed; at this moment, there remained nothing any more but one about fifteen kilometers of ways to be posed at the two ends, five Vaires worms and ten towards Baudrecourt.

The September 20th 2006, the Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin officially welded the last rail of the project with Chauconin-Neufmontiers in Seine-et-Marne. After the powering successive several sections of the line, the line is completely under tension since the January 30th 2007.

Work was in addition marked by many flights of Caténaire S, during one time marked by a tripling of the price of the Cuivre. During the winter 2005 - 2006, one thus did not count less than one to two shootings of overhead lines per day on the building site.

On the section concerning the base work of St Hilaire to the temple 11 stations of indications were carried out along the way. It is besides them which marked the railway beginning of work of equipment of the whole of the line. The first station with being built is that of " Cheppe" at the kilometric Item 155 which started with the beginning of the year 2004.

Manufacturers

Building the owner of the project is RF (Rail network of France), the owner of the French railway network. Work of Civil engineering was divided into eight batches allotted after invitation to tender at five companies: the SNCF, ISL, Tractebel, Scétauroute and Setec.

It is the first time that such a setting in competition is carried out for the construction of a line TGV since the reform of the railway system of 1997 and the installation of RF. Engineering the SNCF, in partnership with the company EEG Simecsol, obtained four batches (of which one in second phase), is 50% of the project in Civil engineering. It in addition controls the totality of the project for work of superstructure (way, indication, electrification) under the responsibility of Rail network of France.

An original financing

It is the first project TGV for which the local government agencies had to take part in the financing at the sides of the State and of the European Union.

The contribution was fixed following a round table of the communities, according to the time-saver for the users compared to the Île-de-France. The Alsace had to pay thus nearly 300 million euros. It is possible that this way of financing is renewed for the second phase.

Participation of the territorial collectivities and Europe

Financing of the project, whose cost was initially evaluated to 3,125 billion euros (20,5 billion francs in 1997) is distributed in the following way:

French State: : 1220 M€ (39%)
European Union: 320 M€ (10%)
Grand Duchy of Luxembourg: 117 M€ (3,75%)
RF (building owner): 682 M€ (21,8%)
the SNCF: 49 M€ (1,5%)
Areas, departments, urban communities and cities: 736 M€ (23,5%)

This participation of the communities is the consequence of the application of the decree of March 1997 which governs RF and which prohibits (article 4) this last from financing a project requested by a community if the receipts of Péage awaited do not guarantee a certain level of Return on investment, except if the applicant the Subvention from a level such as remaining depreciation are well covered by the trading incomes.

Costs with the rise, profitability brought up to date with the fall

Various risks involved a realignment of the budget of about 290 additional million (value 1997) which will be dealt with by the State and RF. At the time of the visit of the Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin for the installation of the last Rail, the real costs of investment was revealed, and is established to five billion euros (2006).

The press kit of the SNCF diffused for the startup of June 10th, 2007 in the railroads makes state that “the global budget of project TGV EAST European rise to 5,515 billion euros including 1,322 billion euros on equities for the SNCF corresponding to the acquisition and the restoration of rolling stock, the installations of maintenance and the construction of the 3 new stations. ”

These costs strongly diverge from the figures given higher (3,124 + 0,290 + 1,322 = 4,736 is lower of more than 14% to 5,515). This situation would not be new according to the Pébereau report/ratio on the national debt, the public investments in France systematically seeing their over-estimated profitability.

The Rate of profitability interns project for the SNCF as for him was re-examined with the fall: if it were estimated at 5,7% in 2000, an estimate of November 2005 in the railroads made it fall to 4,5%. The rate would reach even the 3,4% if the restoration of the stations and that of the oars, not envisaged in 2000, were taken into account.

In addition rolling stock is with the load of the owners, mainly the SNCF.

The line

Commonly named LGV Is or “Line of the TGV Is”, this line at high speed is an extension of the network TGV in France which makes it possible to connect Paris to Strasbourg (in 2:18 is 174 km/h of average since June 10th, 2007 in the railroads, and 1:50 is 222 km/h in the long term), but also with Rheims, Metz, Forbach, Nancy, Colmar, Mulhouse, Épinal, Remiremont, Saint-Dié, Thionville, Luxembourg, Karlsruhe, Stuttgart, Munich, Saarbrucken, Kaiserslautern, Mannheim and Frankfurt in Germany, like Basle and Swiss Zurich in .

It also authorizes, via the interconnection (photo), the installation of fast relations between the east of France and the other areas already equipped with LGV (south-eastern, western and south-western, northern, with prolongations towards the Belgium).

It also fits in a long-term plan, called “European Magistrale”, aiming at connecting to Paris high speed and Budapest, through the North-East of France, the south of Germany, the Austria (where the Hauptbahnhof of Vienna should be open in 2010, allowing the crossing of the city) and the Hungary.

After the construction of the second phase of Baudrecourt with Vendenheim in the north of Strasbourg, the LGV Is will extend on 406 kilometers.

The first section

Layout of the first section

The line extends on 300 km from Vaires-sur-Marne, in the east of the Parisian suburbs, with Baudrecourt (the Moselle), or a line of only one way connects the LGV with the traditional line towards Forbach and Saarbruck between Aubécourt and Herny and a Saut-de-mouton reverse the normal direction of circulation of left inside France to the right-hand side used in Alsace and Lorraine, to continue on the traditional line by Sarrebourg towards Strasbourg. ICEs and TGVs traverse the 300 km of LGV in about an hour.

The crossed French areas are the Alsace, the Lorraine, the Champagne-Ardenne, the Picardy and the Île-de-France. The longest viaduct, the Viaduct of the Moselle (1500 m), is with the Champey-on-Moselle. A northern branch, starting from Lorraine, on which circulates from Paris ICE of the Deutsche Bahn moves towards Frankfurt

One of the characteristics of this line is to be organized in “fish-bones”, which is very adapted for a connection from or towards Paris, but much less easy for the service roads intercities.

As for the other open LGV until now, there remain left for account of the LGV Is, which in Lorraine is mainly the cities crossed by the current Paris-Nancy-Strasbourg line, namely Commercy and Toul, but also Longwy and Pont-à-Mousson, like all the cities of the south of the Champagne (Langres, Chaumont and Troyes).

Works of art

The LGV Is account along its 300 km not less than 338 works of art: Viaduct S, railway bridges and highway-bridges, eight flyovers, fifty-three crossings of river or five distinct glazes. Among the fourteen viaducts which the line adds up, three are particularly remarkable: the viaduct of the Meuse (602.50 m), the viaduct of Jaulny (480 m) and the viaduct of the the Moselle (1510 m). Important studies were implemented in order to support their landscape integration.

The long viaduct of the Meuse 602,50 meters and resting on eleven piles was drawn by the Architecte Alain Spielmann. It marks the entry of the line in the Regional natural park of Lorraine with important environmental constraints, this sector of the valley being classified special Protection zone (ZPS) and being registered with the Réseau Natura 2000. An important safety margin was applied compared to the centennial Crue of 1947, used in reference for the dimensioning of the work.

The viaduct of Jaulny length a 480 meters is the viaduct highest of the line reaching fifty meters height. It crosses the easily flooded valley of the Rupt de Mad, which feeds partially the town of Metz out of drinking water. Also located in the park of Lorraine, it crosses moreover one site registered like ZNIEFF. The viaduct has a special pile double conceived in order to absorb the efforts generated by a possible emergency braking of an oar.

The viaduct of the the Moselle a 1510 meters length and a height of twenty-three meters rests on twenty-seven piles of Béton in the shape of tulips, spaced of about fifty meters. Each one rests on foundations a twenty meters depth. It was also drawn by the Architecte Alain Spielmann. The work is equipped with a long acoustic baffle, in order to decreases the sound impact of circulations on the close village of the Champey-on-Moselle.

Equipment

This new line of 300 km is built for a nominal speed ( potential ) of 350 km/h. It is exploited initially in business service by TGV and ICE at the maximum speed of 320 km/h, is more commercial high-speed on rail in France, which is already reached on the section Avignon TGV - Aix-en-Provence TGV of the line the new Mediterranean.

Electrification

The line was electrified, like the other LGV, in alternative course 2 × 25 Kv, at a frequency of 50 Hz. It for that is equipped with five sub-stations making it possible to feed the Caténaire S starting from the principal electrical communication RTE with: 225,000 or 400,000 volts. Those are located at Penchard (Not Kilometric 22), Vézilly (km No 88), Cuperly (km No 151), the Three-Fields (km No 212) and Vandières (km No 270).

For the first time, the catenary installation of the posts was not carried out by train-work but by road vehicles respecting nevertheless a strict schedule of conditions in order not to damage the platform. The assembly of the overhead line remains traditional, but the mechanical tension was high to 2.6 T for the wire of contact and 2 T for the wire carrying in order to make it suited at the potential speed of the line 350 km/h. To note that the mechanical tension was carried up to 4 T on the basis of test of the Three-Fields for the walk of the oar of the record V 150. The cables are made up - just like on LGV the Mediterranean - of an alloy of 150 mm2 section for the wire of contact and 116 mm2 for the carrying wire.

Indication

The line is equipped with the high frequency track circuits and the Transmission way-machine, like the other French LGV. Last version (TVM 430) of this system is installed, as on Northern LGV.

It is moreover the first French line equipped with ETCS and GSM-R, components of the European Système of monitoring of the rail traffic (ERTMS).

The LGV Is European is thus the first line at high speed “interopérable”, i.e. allowing the circulation of European trains at high speed like the ICE 3.

Three new stations

Champagne-Ardenne - TGV

See also: Station of Champagne-Ardenne - TGV

The station is located at Bezannes, with five kilometers in the south of Rheims. Of steel and glass, the building also uses the Pierre de Courville

This station has as a characteristic to be, according to the will of the District council of Champagne-Ardenne, inter-connected with the network FOR THE THIRD TIME Champagne-Ardenne by the prolongation to the new station of certain connections having up to now their terminus in Rheims. It will in addition be served by the future Tramway of Rheims.

A Reach development concerted (ZAC) is under development around this station where: 650000 annual travellers are awaited in phase of launching.

Meuse - TGV

Environment

The circular known as “Bianco” of December 15th, 1992 imposes the realization of an environmental assessment, from three to five years after the startup of a major Infrastructure. Thus RF set up as of 2006 the systematic monitoring of about fifty sites considered as representative.

The LGV Is European tent to reconcile to the maximum the technical constraints which a line at high speed requires (traced relatively rectilinear, curves of important ray, slopes limited) and the environmental requirements: to be integrated into the landscape, to save as much as possible the inhabited areas, to avoid the significant natural environments, or to respect the cultural heritage. The line circumvents by north the natural park of the Montagne de Reims and saves to the maximum the wooded solid masses regional park of Lorraine which it crosses.

The adopted layout also crosses particularly significant zones like ZNIEFF, of ZICO, the wetlands notified with the Convention of Ramsar and of the sites of Community importance, classified or suggested with the Réseau Natura 2000. These sites required particular protection measures.

In accordance with the law on the water of January 3rd, 1992, the hydraulic flows all were restored, strictly controlled water quality surface and underground.

The protection of the small watery fauna was the measurement object such as the construction of a passage under the way and a barrier of protection of the batrachians to Vaires-sur-Marne (Natura zone 2000 of 94 ha); a wetland of the valley of the Lorraine Nied in , also classified Natura 2000, was carefully marked out so that work does not degrade certain particularly significant sectors; thus feet of maritime Troscart, protected space, were moved out of the layout of the platform.

The environmental assessment of the line was the subject of the more great attention as of the design of the infrastructure. Thus the totality of environmental measurements is at the origin of a overcost of 20%. The realization of twenty-four specific passages for large fauna (stags, Wild boar S, Roe-deer S,…) constitute the essence of this budget; the principal work of this type is in the crossing of the Argonne.

Archeology

Any realization of great infrastructure makes it possible to put at the day of many archaeological richnesses . Besides a law of July 1980 forces to devote a share of the budget to the safeguard of this inheritance.

A first bearing diagnosis on 240 km of the layout was carried out as of the autumn 2000 by nearly 150 preventive archeologists of the National research institute archaeological (INRAP). The 60 remaining km required to await the work of deforestation in many the Forêt S crossed before launching the excavations.

The archaeological research implemented along the 300 km of platform, but also on the storage sections of materials, made it possible to put at the day four hundred sites of which about thirty was the subject of thorough excavations.

The main part of the found objects date from the Paléolithique, the Mesolithic and especially from the Neolithic with the appearance of the Agriculture. The research task ended in July 2003 and cost on the whole 20 M€ financed by RF.

Complementary work

In addition to the construction of the new line by Rail network of France the project includes/understands:

the installation of the existing lines between Paris and Vaires-sur-Marne in particular and on Strasbourg Kehl, as well as a modernization of the stations of downtown area;
the electrification of the Vosgean lines (Nancy - Remiremont and Lunéville - Saint-Dié) to allow it the circulation of oars TGV without breaking bulk (in service since 2005).

The second section

The building site of the second phase between Baudrecourt and Vendenheim, to 5 km in the north of Strasbourg, will last five years, because a tunnel of 4000 meters must be bored under the the Vosges as well as many works of art, which requires a time of three years construction. The estimated cost of this second phase, whose construction should begin in 2010 and who will place Strasbourg at 1 hour 50 of Paris, is approximately 1,7 billion euros.

A protocol of financing of 94 million euros was signed on January 24th, 2007 by the Minister for Transport Dominique Perben in order to finance work preliminary to the construction of the prolongation: this convention finances land acquisitions necessary, the displacement of the networks as well as the archaeological excavations.

However whereas the exploitation of the first section opened, the financing of the building work itself of the second section is dubious and always under discussion: the project thus awaits political decisions and budgetary.

Opening of the line

Inauguration of the first section

The LGV Is European was inaugurated with ostentation on March 15th, 2007 in the railroads, three months before its setting in business service. Rail network of France (RF), spent not less than one million euros for the inauguration of its first LGV, which caused a certain dissatisfaction on behalf of associations with users who would have preferred to see this amount used to improve of the defective railway lines.

The inaugural train left towards 16:00 of the Gare of the East carrying on its board the Minister for Transport, Dominique Perben, and the whole of the tests financing the line. The convoy arrived in station of Lorraine - TGV with Louvigny, with 17:40, with a stop on the course in station of Champagne-Ardenne - TGV at Bezannes.

Then the whole of the participants took the direction the abbey of Prémontrés with Pont-à-Mousson, where a ceremony gathered the twenty-two partners of the project (State, areas, territorial collectivities, the Grand-Duchy of Luxembourg, European Union, the SNCF) with various interventions and a concert of the national orchestra of Lorraine.

On this occasion, a fireworks of great scale was drawn with 20:00 by the Lacroix-Ruggieri bomb disposal expert. Trois-mille Bengal lights red were laid out every hundred meters along the line and ignited gradually, at the same time as another artifice traversed the integrality of line (300 km), Vaires-sur-Marne to Baudrecourt, in record time three minutes and 20 seconds at a speed of 540 km/h. In same time, a pyrotechnical spectacle was started on three works of the line: the viaduct of the Ourcq (Seine-et-Marne), the footbridge of the station Champagne- Ardenne (the Marne) and the viaduct of Jaulny (Meurthe-et-Moselle).

Tests practiced before the opening of the line

At the end of the building work of the line, tests were practiced in order to gradually increase the block speed of the future trains at high speed. The project “V 150” (for 150 meters/second, is 540 km/h) was launched.

These tests (the way, constraints, Acceleration S, Temperature S and electric quantities) contribute to make progress reliability, comfort (Bruit S, Vibration S) using 800 points of measurements which are safeguarded including approximately 500 by the laboratory of R8 (three times more than at the time of the record in May 1990). These tests were widely diffused by many media what contributes to improve the Exportation of the TGV.

New world speed records of the TGV

See also: World speed records of the TGV

The April 3rd 2007 with 13:15, the oar V150 Alstom of test of the TGV thus beat the world records speed on rail with 574,8 km/h. The preceding recorded official record was of 515,3 km/h in May 1990 in the railroads on Atlantic LGV.

To allow a power of traction of the TGV of V150 test of 19.5 MW, the Tension was increased to 31 Kv (instead of 25 Kv), in order to limit the intensity of the current of the overhead line to 630 A.

For safety reasons, the suspensions are doubled on the Bogie S. the aerodynamic load of resistance to advance grows with the square speed. The Carénage S close to the ground are prolonged because the TGV is raised because of larger wheels. Rubber flaps between the cars involve a reduction of 15% of aerodynamic resistance.

The way is made up of rails UIC 60 (60 kg/m), out of bars of 80 meters which are assembled to form long some 400 meters length welded rails. The Traverse S are fixed in 30 to 35 cm of ballast under their base. The presence of a curve of ray higher than 18000 m requires than the external rail between the kilometric items 190,3 and 196,8 is raised of 51 mm to 130 mm by an addition of ballast.

Startup

The startup of the first phase of the line, initially envisaged in 2006, was pushed back in June 2007 in the railroads. The date of implementation of the second phase remains dubious, although the preliminary operations (detailed studies, compartmental investigations, procedures of acquisition and Remembrement) are very advanced.

The line is opened with the traffic since the June 10th 2007 between Vaires-sur-Marne and Baudrecourt.

The TGV and ICE nevertheless started to circulate as from June 2006 between Paris and Is France, by preserving the schedules of the trains Corail which they replace, with a double aim of forming the drivers and the personnel on board and of accustoming the customers to the characteristics of the TGV, in particular the obligatory reservation.

The speed of exploitation of this LGV is of 320 km/h against 300 km/h on the current LGV (except notable for a base of tests located on the branch of Provence of LGV the Mediterranean, also allowing the speed of 320 km/h).

The increase the speed of circulation is due to the more rectilinear layout (curves with larger ray) and to the higher distance between centres of the ways (4.50 m instead of 4.20 m on the majority of the former lines).

The service road

The February 2nd 2005, in Metz, the follow-up committee of the project for the presentation of the project of the service roads of the TGV Is European bench by the SNCF to prepare the startup of the Line at summer 2007 met.

Time of way, frequencies, clocking

The best time of way Paris - Strasbourg passed from 4:00 to 2:17 with the first phase, then will fall to 1:50 after the second phase. Several other courses were also improved: Rheims is at 45 minutes of Paris instead of 1:35, Nancy and Metz with 1:30 and 1:23 instead of 2:45, Mulhouse with 3:10 instead of 4:25, Colmar with 2:50 instead of 4:40, Luxembourg with 2:06 instead of 3:55, and for Lyria: Basle with 3:20 instead of 5:00 and Zurich with 4:26 instead of 6:00).

Since the publication (August 2006) of the time screen of TGV, run times were slightly improved: Metz with 1:23 of Paris (against 1:30), Luxembourg with 2:06 (against 2:15) and Épinal with 2:14 (against 2:20).

With regard to the frequencies, they are in conformity with those announced in the declarations of public utility, except for the international relations and elements: as a lack of trains ICE-3 certified for France, in the summer time 2007 there has one return ticket Francfort-sur-le-Main - Paris and two A/R in shuttle between Paris and Saarbrucken with correspondences in Saarbrucken of or towards Frankfurt with trains nonsuited for the international service. The full program with five Frankfurt return tickets - Paris per day starts with the winter time 2007/08 on December 9th, 2007. In the same way for the southern branch or initially only three TGV per day go to Stuttgart, but four starting from the winter time 2007, including one with prolongation until Munich.

Only one daily return ticket respectively connects Strasbourg to Rennes, Nantes and Bordeaux. the SNCF known as to want to await the rise of the traffic to increase the frequency on these axes.

In addition, the clocking was retained on the majority of the lines, with different frequencies however. The connections AND elements (connecting Alsace, Lorraine and the Champagne-Ardenne in Lille, Bordeaux, Rennes or Nantes) do not profit for the moment from this clocking.

This “preview” however was largely criticized by consumers' associations, in particular because of the rise of the prices which it induced without reduction in run times.

International connections

One of the characteristics of this line comes indeed from what it serves not only France, but also Germany, Luxembourg and Switzerland.

Materials

The line is thus traversed by three types of rolling stock:

for the internal traffic, of the oars TGV bicourant Network renovated “Lacroix”
and for the international traffic with Germany:

of the oars TGV POS (Paris-Ostfrankreich-Süddeutschland) on Paris-Munich
of the oars ICE 3, on the Paris-Frankfurt connection.

Agreement the SNCF - DB

With the difference of the line new Brussels-Liege-Border German in Belgium, circulations on the LGV Est-européenne was the subject of an agreement between the Deutsche Bahn (DB) and the SNCF, so that one will not see concurrent circulations on the same service road.

Moreover, Franco-German mixed teams (SNCF-DB) work on the trains: the chief of a ICE of Deutsche Bahn can just as easily be provided by the SNCF, and reciprocally.

This agreement is however less elaborate than those which the SNCF had signed with other railway operators to exploit international services: Alleo, the joint undertaking Franco-German created for this purpose the May 25th 2007, is not a trade mark and does not have its own material: the transborder trains thus run under the marks TGV and ICE.

Moreover, each company kept its tariff range, and its traditions with regard to for example the reservation, the restoration or the use of the tobacco.

Tariffs

In France

The new tariff scales revealed by the SNCF quickly caused a wave of dissatisfaction within sight of the strong raising of prices with the tickets and subscriptions, particularly that of the Economic and Social Council of Lorraine elected of a study by the district council.

According to a study of the general advice of the the Moselle of March 2nd, 2007, the rise in the tariffs of the TGV compared to the traditional trains currently in service “varies between 20% and 60% according to the origin of the station borrowed native of the Moselle region and the time beach”. The general advice indicates that “TGV-Is (being) moreover the only line in France to be financed by the local government agencies to a total value of 23%, the departmental assembly of the Moselle urges the SNCF to re-examine his tariff policy”. The Moselle threatens not to take part in the financing of the second section to Strasbourg.

Socio-economic impact of the line, first assessment

The startup of the LGV East makes it possible to divide by two on average railway run times between Paris and Is France, which causes much hope in areas of France having lived important economic transfers with disindustrialization and a rather negative brand image.

Impact on the cities

With Rheims no true real boom took place before the opening of the line, “effect TGV” which had been however noted for example with the Mans or Tours, with the opening of Atlantic TGV.

But the TGV Is which places the most important agglomeration of the Champagne at 50 minutes of Paris caused a wave of modernization of the city (arrived of the tram envisaged in 2011), the creation of: 2,000 employment in three years as well as an important wave of real construction. Not less than 470,000 m2 of offices were programmed over the twenty next years in Rheims and Bezannes, commune of the agglomeration where the station of interconnection is located. The G7 taxis, Direct ING or the 118.008 already moved there their centers of calls, allured by the railway proximity of the capital and the price of the square meter definitely less low.

Metz also proceeded to important renovation works of the downtown area, and a new district - that of the Amphitheater - left ground, not offering less than 72,000 m2 of offices, residences and trade to the site of an old railway waste land. The construction of the Center Pompidou - Metz began in November 2006. A shopping mall and a city of the congresses are also programmed.

Nancy and Strasbourg did not know either a blaze of the prices of the real estate, and did not put in building site great projects. A center of congress and a district of businesses nevertheless are programmed in the district of the Gare of Nancy, but the two agglomerations still await the arrival of “effect TGV”.

Impact envisaged on the air sector

As with each opening of line at high speed, the startup of the LGV Is European should involve a fall of the air traffic on the connections concerned.

According to Jean-Cyril Spinetta, president of Air France, “it is obvious that will destroy employment in the air one”, reason for which the airline company anticipated a social plan in the area. “We take care as of now that there is no overmanning in Strasbourg.

It in addition became difficult to find a place on the principal relations between Paris, Rheims, Nancy, Metz and Strasbourg, the TGV Is being taken by storm by the travellers with a spectacular and brutal increase in the traffic which had not been envisaged on this level (“of never considering” according to the SNCF) and because of the deficit of capacity of oars TGV compared to the oars Corail that they replace.

Thus, the rate of filling of the oars has curly the 100% with: 500,000 passengers transported in only sixteen days of exploitation. The under-capacity is explained by the number limited of places in the oars TGV Network to only one level (377 seats), value lower than traditional a Corail train, and by the number of oars TGV in service, 46 trains, six still missing oars at the summer 2007 being delivered only at a rate of one per month.

This deficit of capacity caused difficult situations, where the completely overflowed controllers have to call upon the railway police to prevent customers from going up on board failing to have been able to buy a ticket, to even block the access to the counters. This situation was particularly visible with the Gare of the East to Paris where work of the station, always unfinished during the summer 2007, still increased the difficulties. The comfort of the trains also made him the object of criticism: the seats are considered hard and of a comfort Spartan in second class. The oars do not comprise space children, nor of toilets accessible to the handicapped travellers.

In addition, Air France which had envisaged a reduction of 50% of the air traffic towards Strasbourg and Mulhouse observed a filling of its apparatuses superior to 75% since June 10th, “effect TGV” being probably limited because of the not very obvious difference of the tariffs between the railway one and the air one and of the lack in places.

The highway A4 (Paris-Metz-Strasbourg) did not record of fall of traffic, but a tendency to the modification of the behaviors, in particular an increase in the ways of average outdistances (a hundred kilometers), which could find its origin in the reduction of the railway offer of the trains Corail Intercités. This transfer to the road contradicts the environmental speeches of the SNCF.

One month only after the opening of the business service, the SNCF announced by the means of a Press release to have transported the millionth passenger of the line and to have sold more than 1,5 million tickets. The occupancy rate of the TGV was on average of 88% in second class and 75% in 1st class and the rate of regularity announced were on average of 86%.

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