The French Train ~1 Grande Vitesse: Focusing on the TGV-Atlantique
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CaliforniaHigh Speed Rail Series The French Train ~1 Grande Vitesse: Focusing on the TGV-Atlantique Walter C. Streeter April 1992 Working Paper, No. 100 The University of California Transportation Center University of California Berkeley, CA94720 The University of California Transportation Center The University of California Center aclivilies. Researchers Transporlalion Center (UCTC) at other universities within is one of ten regional units the region also have opporlu- maudaled l)y Congress and nilies to collaborate on selec- established in Fall 1988 to led sludies. Currently facully supporl research, educalion, at California State University, and training in surface trans- Long Beach, and at Arizona portation. The l.IC Cenler State University, Tempe, are serves federal Region IX and active participants. is supported by matching grants from the U.S. Depart- UCTC’seducational and menl of Transportation, lhe research i)rograms are focused California State Department on strategic planning for of Transporlalion (Callrans). improving metropolitan and the University. accessibility, with emphasis on the special conditions in Based on the Berkeley Region IX. Parlicular attention Campus, UCTCdraws upon is directed to strategies for existing capabililies and using transportation as an resources of the Institutes of instrument of economic Transportation Studies at development, while also ac- Berkeley, Davis, and lrvine: commodating to the re- the Institute of Urban and gion’s persistent expansion Regional Development at and while maintaining and Berkeley; the Graduate enhancing lhe quality of School of Architecture and life there. Urban Planning at Los Angeles; and several aca- The Center distributes reports demic departments at the on its research in working Berkeley, Davis, Irvine, and papers, monographs, and in Los Angeles campuses. reprints of published arti- Facully and students on other cles. For a list of publications University of California in print, write to the address campuses may parlicipale in below. Universityof California TransportationCenter 108 NavalArchilecture Building Berkeley, California 94720 Tel: 4151643-7378 FAX:-115/643-5456 Authnrs of papers reporting on UCT(]-sponsaredresearch are .qolely responsible for their content. This research wassupported by Ihe U.S. Departmentof Transportation and the California State Deparlmentof Transportation.neither of whichassumes liability fur its content or use. The French Train h Grande Vitesse: Focusing on the TGV-Atlantique WalterC. Streeter Institute of Urban and Regional Development University of California at Berkeley CALIFORNIAHIGH SPEED RAIL SERIES WorkingPaper, No. 100 TheUniversity of California TransportationCenter Universityof California at Berkeley TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES ii PREFACE iv INTRODUCTION .,¢. 1. GENERAL BACKGROUND 1 2. ENGINEERING-TRACKS/ROUTE/STRUCTURES 8 3. ENGINEERING- TRAINS 16 4. TGV-A SERVICE 26 5. ECONOMICRESULTS 35 6. ENVIRONMENTALIMPACTS 47 7. SUMMARY 51 APPENDICES 57 A: TGV-ATrain Counts from Paris-Montparnasse B: One-wayTGV-A Fares from Paris-Montparnasse C: Summaryof TGV-ACharacteristics D: Average Speeds for Selected TGV.ARuns E: Sample Pages from the TGV-APublished Schedule F: Alignmentand Profile of the TGV-ADedicated Track Segments G: Financial History of the TGV-PSE BIBLIOGRAPHY 71 LIST OF FIGURES PAGE Figure 1: TGV-PSE Network 2 (SNCJr.Dtrectton de la Communication) Figure 2: TGV-AService Network 4 (SNCF.DlrectIon de la Commun!eatton,"Yb-qZ in a faw flguras.’) Figure 3: TGW-ADedicated Track Segments (Mtchel DVPUIS, "Le programme d’explottatton du TGVAtlanttque,"p. 741) Figure 4: Planned High Speed lanes in France 7 (lntemattonalRaitwayJournal, July 199I, p. 48) Figure 5: TGV-ATypical Track Cross-Section (Ettenna CHAMBRON,"Aa condutte du projet TGV Atlantktue et les Travaux de g~tectvtt," p. 664) Figure 6: "Twinning"of Existing TGV-ARight of Waywith Existing Infrastructure 11 (CHAMBRON,p. 665) Figure 7: TGV-AMajor Structures 13 (CHAMBRON,p. 673) Figure 8: Typical Cross-Section-ViLlejust Tunnel 15 (CHAMBRON,p. 676) Figure 9: Typical Cross-Section-Vouvray Tunnel 17 (C2tAMBRON,p. 676) Figure 10: Typical Cross-Sectton--Sceaux and Fontenay Tunnels 18 (C21AMBRON,p. 675) Figure 11: Typical Cross-Section-Cut & Cover Tunnel at Briis-sous-Forges 19 (CHAMBRON,p. 678) Figure 12: Typical Cut & Cover Assembly-Pre-Cast and Poured-in-Place Concrete Construction 2O (CHAMBRON,p. 678) Figure 13: TGV-ASynchronous Motor 21 (Andrd COSSIE, "La cha~ne de traction par moteurs syncbrones autoptloMs," p. 737) Figure 14: TGV-AStandard Trainset 23 (PhtlIppe HERISSE,"Atlanttque, le TGVde deu.~rae gdn6ratton,"p. 12) Figure 15: TGV-APriority Marketing Targets 3O (Gg, rard HAIAUNBRFaVNF~"Ddmarcbe Marketing at TGVAtlanttqua," p. 755) Figure 16: Sample One-WayFares to Selected Cities 32 (SNCF.Gutde du Voyageur, 30 Sept 90-1June 91) Figure 17: TGV-AService Network 34 (SNCF.Dtrectton de la Communication, "TGWin a few figures.") Figure 18. Construction Costs--TGV-A 36 (Daniel I. ROTH,"The TGVSystem," p. 52) Figure 19" SNCFInvestment Trends, 1977-1994 37 (Ix, Vie du Rail, No. 2229,Jan 1990, p. I7) Figure 20: CIGGTCost Estimates--TGV In California, LISA 39 (aGGT, "Maglev Technology Assessraent, Task 9.2," 28July 1986, pp. 83-125) Figure 21: Trends in Air Traffic--Paris-Lyon Corridor 43 (Claude BERLIOZ,"Las r~ultats du TGVParls- Sud-Est," p. 764) Figure 22: Air-Rail Market Shares--Paris-Lyon Corridor 44 (BERLIOZ, p. 765) Figure 23: Fare Comparison-TGV-A(SNCF) and Air Inter 46 (La Vie du Rail, No. 2228,Jan 90, p. 18) Figure 24: Wildlife Protection Measures 49 (Etienne CHAMBRONandJ. ESCARON,"New Lines: TGV Atlantique and the envtronment," Ratl Internattonal, 0ct87, pp. 31, 32) Figure 25: Noise Barriers 50 (7obn G. WALKER,"Technology Tames the Noise Problem," Railway Gazette International, July 1989, p. 478) Figure 26: Noise Pattern Comparison 52 O~rmJw~p. 477) Figure 27: Train Noise as a Function of Distance and Adjacent Land Use 53 (CHAMBRON,p. 667) iii PREFACE This is one of a series of reports nowbeing producedas the first output of our study of the potential for a high-speedpassenger train service in California. Each report deals with a specific high- speed train technology; it attempts an evaluation, standardized as far as available data permit, of its technical and economicviability. Specifically, each report assesses the particular high-speed technology against a numberof criteria: 1. Technical Performance:configuration of roadbed in terms of gradients, curvature, and construction cost; powersources; capacity and speed; capacity to integrate with existing transportationfacilities. 2. Economicperformance: traffic levels; revenues; financial appraisal and overall cost- benefit analysis; level of public subsidy required, if any. 3. Resource consumption and environmental performance: type and amount of energy required; impact on non-renewableresources; environmental impact, including emissions, noise, visual intrusion and effect on local communities. The present series includes five studies. Twocompanion studies, on British Rail’s InterCity 125 and 225 services and on Tilting Trains (the Italian Pendolino and the SwedishX-2000 service), will follow shortly. Thereafter, a systematic comparativeanalysis will be published. The CalSpeedstudy will continue with preliminary route alignments, also to be produced shortly, followed by market assessments, to be completed in Fall 1992. These will bring to a close the present phase of work, which will be the subject of an overall report also to be completedin Fall 1992. Wegratefully acknowledgethe support provided by the U.S. Department of Transportation and the California State Departmentof Transportation (Caltrans) through the University of California Transportation Center. Of course, any errors of fact or interpretation should be assigned to us and not our sponsors. PETER HALL Principal Investigator REVIEW AND EVALUATEEXISTING SYSTEMS: TGV and TGV-ATLANTIQUE INTRODUCTION The purpose of evaluating the French Train ~ GrandeVitesse (TGV)system is to allow its com- parison with other systems and technologies for use in California. The TGVsystem in France is a speciallzed system that has undergone several technological transformations since its inception. For purposes of technical evaluation, this report concentrates on the latest incarnation of the growing family of TGVtrain technologies: the TGV-Atlantique. General information on the opera- tion of the high speed system within the established framework of the conventional network and the railway’s philosophies of marketing and operations pertain to the high speed system as a whole. This task involved collecting and evaluating information on: 1. Current technical development 2. Status of future use proposals both in Europe and worldwide The following major subject areas are examined in this report: 1. General Background 2. Engineering-Tracks/Route/Structures 3. Engineering-Trains 4. Services/Service Level 5. Economic Results 6. Environmental Impacts 7. Summary It should be noted that the TGV-Atlantiquesystem is fairly new; service began in late 1990. Where appropriate, particularly in measures of financial and operational performance, data and other information pertaining to the TGV-Paris-SudEst line will be offered. All data will be referenced accordingly. The following abbreviations are used in this report: TGV Train ~ Grande Vitesse (High Speed Train) TGV-A TGV.Atlantique TGV-PSE TGV-Paris-Sud Est TGV-N TGV-Nord SNCF Soci~t~ Nationale des Chemins de Fer (French National