Transalpine Rail link Lyon-Turin

The new rail link Lyon - Turin is a project of line with large mixed gauge freight and travellers through the the Alps, between the France and the Italy.

Three parts

This connection consists of three mixed sections, freight and travellers:

the French section enters the Lyons agglomeration and Saint-Jean-with-Maurienne, entrusted to Rail network of France (RF),
the Italian section between the valley of Suse and the agglomeration inhabitant of Turin in Italy, entrusted to Rete ferroviaria italiana (RFI)
the Franco-Italian common part between Saint-Jean-with-Maurienne in Savoy and the valley of Suse in Piedmont entrusted to Lyon Turin Ferroviaire LTF SAS, joint venture of RF and RFI.

French part

August 1st In the French part, flows travellers and freight should in the long term be separate between Lyon and Combe of Savoy. Indeed, the line traveller must make it possible to connect the south-eastern LGV (via a connection in the south of the station of Lyon Saint-Exupéry) and the stations of the center of Lyon, not only in Italy but also in Chambéry and to be connected to the lines towards Annecy via Aix the Baths and Bourg Saint-Maurice via Albertville. The time-saver from Paris towards Aix-the-Baths and Chambéry will be of almost 45 minutes and of almost one hour towards Annecy.

The line freight must it be connected to the future skirting freight of Lyon, while avoiding Chambéry. The scenario selected consists in following A43 then to sail round Chambéry by the south by a tunnel under the solid mass of Chartreuse, then to join Midsummer's Day de Maurienne via a tunnel under the solid mass of Belledonne. The line freight will make it possible to prevent that the convoys do not skirt the lake of Le Bourget where the position risks are important and Aix-the-Baths and Chambéry do not cross.

This line will make it possible to release from the furrows for THE THIRD TIME in the basin of Chambéry between Albens and Montmélian.

Italian part

August 1st

an alternative layout out of Right Bank of Dora involves a overcost of approximately a billion euros

Common part

The transborder part of the new Lyon-Turin connection will represent nearly 75 km between Saint-Jean-with-Maurienne in Savoy and the valley of Suse in Piedmont.

An international tunnel of more than 50 km will constitute the major work of the future line between Saint-Jean-of-Maurienne and the valley of Suse in Italy. This tunnel will be carried out at the base of the solid mass of Ambin. An underground station of service and help are envisaged almost with semi-course of the international tunnel, in the east of Modane. Within the framework of the dialog in progress in Italy in 2007, an alternative layout is under studies in low valley of Suse, with the outlet of the international tunnel. This layout would borrow Right Bank of the river Dora Maira (what would involve the abandonment of the project of Viaduc of Venaus and of the tunnel of Bussoleno).

Public debate

In France

Several questions about the Lyon-Turin connection currently arise in the area the Rhone-Alps:

possible office plurality of goods transport and that of the travellers between Grenay: Airport of Lyon Saint-Exupéry and Avressieux: entry of the tunnels travellers (2 X 7 km bidirectional) towards Chambéry and Fret (a tube of 20 km initially) towards Montmélian.
the crossing and treatment, by the building sites of the long tunnels up to 54 km, of zones being able to contain Asbestos, even of the Uranium, between France and Italy. The Swiss experiment of the tunnels of Lotschberg and Saint-Gothard will certainly be put at contribution so that the building site is held under the best conditions.
Also prolongation of this connection in the west, towards the Transverse the Alps Auvergne Atlantic.

According to certain association opposeds with the project of rail link (natural France environment, the CIPRA, Dauphine Coordination Ain Savoy etc), the public debate did not proceed under satisfactory conditions. According to these same organizations, only took place of the briefings during which the opponents with the project were not listened and did not obtain an answer to the questions that they posed.

These associations reproach the carrier of the project for over-estimating the passenger traffic. This thesis would be corroborated by a work of Francis Mer, which would affirm that there would not be more than 500.000 travellers per annum (that is to say the equivalent of a TGV return ticket per day) instead of the 3,5 million envisaged, and that the 80% of increase in the traffic freight envisaged in 15 years are completely illusory. Nevertheless the declarations of Francis Mer are contradictory since he also declared on June 24th, 2003: " One needs this type of program to start again confidence in Europe".

The partisans of the project estimate that a true policy of modal carryforward must be initiated at the time of Grenelle of the Environment and that the Lyon-Turin connection must, with the image of the Swiss projects of Lötschberg and Saint-Gothard, to allow a significant modal carryforward.

In Italy

A strong opposition to the project was installation at the Val of Suse, in particular the movement “NO TAV” ( TAV = Treno has Alta Velocità , translation in Italian of TGV).

See too

Internal bonds

TGV Network
NO TAV
Artésia
List of the tunnels

External bonds

Site of Railway Lyon Turin
Site of the Committee for Transalpine the

Lyon - Turin on the site of structurae

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