French TGV Network Development

Feature 40 Years of High-speed Railways

Jean-Pierre Arduin and Jincheng Ni

This article discusses the high-speed railway network, and high-frequency Past TGV Developments railway in France with focus on past operations with short journey times. development of the TGV network, the These choices proved to be right and The 1981 opening of the French TGV Sud- present construction of the TGV Est, and made it possible to reduce the cost of Est linking Paris and Lyon was a milestone future prospects based on the French constructing new lines, achieve high in both the history of transportation and master plan for high-speed railways operating speeds of 240–270 km/h, the history of railways with similar adopted in December 2003. optimize capacity of new TGV lines, importance to the 1964 unveiling of the reduce operating and maintenance shinkansen in Japan. Since that first ‘bullet costs of the new lines and rolling stock, train,’ high-speed rail has continued to Operating French TGV Network and free-up freight capacities on enjoy great technical and commercial existing conventional lines. All these success in all countries that have adopted Technical choices factors contributed to traffic growth and the technology. Not only is high-speed French National Railways (SNCF) to the increased profitability of the rail fast, it has also proved to be a safe, started airing the first defining concepts high-speed railways. comfortable and efficient transport mode of high-speed railway in France in 1970 An especially unique feature of the for the general population. In short, it has with a proposal to construct a new line French TGV is its relatively low revitalized railway transport and has between Paris and Lyon based on three construction costs. The first TGV Sud- become a symbol of modern society. principles: dedicated line for passenger Est cost just $4 million per km, the lowest High-speed rail is a well-proven system traffic, compatibility with existing figure worldwide (Table 1). More recent that has become a landmark in world transport and railway history. The TGV Sud-Est was Europe’s first high-speed Figure 1 TGV High-speed Lines line and there is no doubt about the AAmsterdammsterdam UK TGV’s technical excellence after the NetherlandsNetherlands world wheel-on-rail speed record of London OOostendostend 515.3 km/h was set in 1990 on the Düsseldorf CalaisCalais Belgium south-western section of the TGV Brussels Cologne 1994 LilleLille Namur Atlantique. The 20 years from 1981 to 2001 Channel Tunnel Germany have seen the progressive opening of 1993 TGV Nord Europe the TGV Atlantique (1990), the TGV Airport CDG Paris Nord Europe (1993), and the TGV 1994–96 Méditerranée (2001), substantiating the 1989–90 TGV Paris interconnections TGV Atlantique MMarnearne lala ValleeVallee reliability of the TGV technologies in Rennes Bogneux St-Florentin actual operations. Le Mans 1981–83 Nantes TGV Sud-Est Switzerland Table 1 High-speed Lines Tours Construction Costs per km Geneva

France & Spain US$10 million Lyon 1992–94 Italy TGV Rhône-Alpes Belgium & Germany US$15 million BBordeauxordeaux Valence Italy US$25 million 2001 TGV Méditerranée Netherlands US$53 million Avignon Montpellier UK US$74 million Toulouse MMarseillearseille Taiwan US$37 million Spain Mediterranean Sea Korea US$35 million

22 Japan Railway & Transport Review 40 • March 2005 Copyright © 2005 EJRCF. All rights reserved. projects cost about $10 million per km and the newest TGV Méditerranée with seven long viaducts (17.155 km) and one Figure 2 TGV Service Network long tunnel (12.768 km) still cost only to London $15 million per km. Calais DunkerqueDunkerque Brussels 1994 Boulogne Channel Tunnel French TGV lines Valenciennes The French TGV network today totals 1993 TGV Nord Europe 1520 operation-km (Fig. 1) as follows: LeLe HavreHavre Rouen • TGV Sud-Est (417 km): opened in 1994–96 TGV Paris interconnections 1989–90 PParisaris 1981 (St-Florentin–Lyon Sathonay); BBrestrest TGV Atlantique 142-km extension in 1983 (Combs la RennesRennes Ville (Paris)–St-Florentin) QQuimperuimper • TGV Atlantique (281 km): opened in Dijon BBesanconesancon Zürich 1989 (Bagneux (Paris)–Connerré 1981–83 LeLe CrosicCrosic NantesNantes Junction (Le Mans)); 101-km extension TGV Sud-Est BrigBrig in 1990 (Courtalain Junction–Monts LesLes SablesSables d'olonned'olonne GenevaGeneva LaLa RochelleRochelle 1992–94 Junction (Tours)) TGV Rhône-Alpes Lyon Milan • TGV Nord Europe (333 km): opened Stetienne in 1993 for Paris–Lille and Lille–Calais BBordeauxordeaux Valence Turin • TGV Paris interconnections (104 km): 2001 ArcachonArcachon TGV Méditerranée opened in 1994; 17-km extension link Avignon VentmicliaVentmiclia in 1996 connecting TVG Nord Montpellier Toulouse AixAix enen ProvenceProvence Europe, Sud-Est, and Atlantique Tarbes MarseilleMarseille • TGV Rhône-Alpes (121 km): opened Irun in 1992 (Montanay Junction–Satolas PerpignanPerpignan Airport); 84-km extension in 1994 (Satolas Airport–St Marcel les Valence) • TGV Méditerranée (251 km): opened in 2001 (Valence–Marseille/Nîmes) Figure 3 TGV Times from Paris

AmsterdamAmsterdam Paris–Lyon (427 km): 1:55 Currently, the 1070 km of unbroken London Paris–Marseilles (749 km): 3:00 TGV track running from the Channel Cologne Paris–Bordeaux (569 km): 2:59 Tunnel at Calais in the extreme north BrusselsBrussels Lille Paris–Tours (223 km): 0:58 of France to Marseille in the extreme Paris–Nantes (387 km): 1:59 south of France on the Mediterranean Paris–Lille (226 km): 0:59 Paris Sea can be traversed by a TGV train in Paris–Brussels (314 km): 1:25 a little more than 3 hours at 300 km/h. Paris–London (498 km): 2:40 It is also worth noting that all the French Tours Paris–Geneva (540 km): 3:30 Nantes TGV lines are interconnected. Paris–Amsterdam (494 km): 4:10 GenevaGeneva Paris–Cologne (541 km): 4:00 TGV Through operations on Lyon London–Brussels (360 km): 2:20 Brussels–Cologne (227 km): 2:20 conventional network Bordeaux Since the TGV system was designed from the start to be compatible with the existing conventional rail network, TGV trains can MMarseillearseille run on a much wider network than the dedicated high-speed lines (Fig. 2). The TGV Paris interconnections also enable

Table 2 TGV Train Sets

TGV Sud-Est TGV Atlantique Fleet: 110 Fleet: 105 First service: 1981 First service: 1989 Output: 6420 kW Output: 8800 kW Catenary design: 25 kV/50 Hz + 1500 Vdc + 15 kV/16.7 Hz Catenary design: 25 kV/50 Hz + 1500 Vdc Train protection systems: TVM 300/TVM 430 + KVB Train protection systems: TVM 300/TVM 430 + KVB *Renovations in 1996 and 1999

TGV Réseau TGV Duplex Fleet: 89 Fleet: 36 First service: 1993 First service: 1996 Output: 8800 kW Output: 8800 kW Catenary design: 25 kV/50 Hz + 1500 Vdc + 15 kV/16.7 Hz Catenary design: 25 kV/50 Hz + 1500 Vdc Train protection systems: TVM 430 + KVB + TBL + ATB + R54 Train protection systems: TVM 430 + KVB * Of which 10 PBA

Eurostar Thalys Fleet: 31 Fleet: 17 First service: 1994 First service: 1996 Output: 12,240 kW Output: 8800 kW Catenary design: 750 Vdc + 25 kV/50 Hz + 3000 Vdc Catenary design: 25 kV/50 Hz + 1500 Vdc + 15 kV/16.7 Hz + 3000 Vdc Train protection systems: AWS/TPWS + TVM 430 + KVB + TBL Train protection systems: TVM 430 + KVB + TBL + ATB + Indusi + LZB * 16 SNCF, 4 SNCB and 11 BR * 6 SNCF, 7 SNCB, 2 NS and 2 DB AG

(Photos: SNCF)

24 Japan Railway & Transport Review 40 • March 2005 Copyright © 2005 EJRCF. All rights reserved. the TGV to serve the French regions trains operating each day; yearly TGV negative impact of pollution, etc., on the without passing through Paris. traffic totals 90 million passengers. environment due to the environment Moreover, TGV trains can also directly By the end of 2003, the TGVs had carried friendly nature of the TGV. serve the UK, Belgium, the Netherlands, a total of more than 1 billion passengers, Germany, Switzerland and Italy. indicating their success as a fast, safe, Synergy between TGV frequent, comfortable and efficient means and Aeroplanes Trip times of transport accessible to all. As shown in Figure 3, the TGV network In term of passenger-km and commercial France has developed the synergy has dramatically changed the geography revenue, TGV traffic comprises about between the TGV and air services to a of France in terms of trip times from Paris. 75% of total SNCF main-line traffic. great degree. For example, two airports— Operation of TGV trains in France and in Roissy Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG) TGV Train sets neighbouring countries (including near Paris, and Lyon Saint Exupéry (LYS)— Concurrent with the high-speed line Eurostar and Thalys services) is a main have TGV stations in the airport itself. The advances, SNCF has undertaken profit centre for SNCF. TGV Air service from CDG combines comprehensive development of TGV train Experience shows an immediate reaction international flights operated by many set designs. The current fleet of 388 train by the public after a new TGV is opened. airlines and TGV journeys to form a sets contains five TGV generations, Sources of increased traffic are passengers unique trip on a single ticket to the including Eurostar and Thalys, distributed changing from air and road transport due following destinations: Aix-en-Provence as shown in Table 2. to the value added by the TGV in term of TGV, Angers, Avignon TGV, Bordeaux shorter trip times, frequent services, high Saint-Jean, Le Mans, Lille-Europe, Lyon comfort and competitive fares. Part-Dieu, Marseille Saint-Charles, TGV Success Story The impact of high-speed rail on air Montpellier, Nantes, Nîmes, Poitiers, travel is unquestionable; air routes in Rennes, Saint-Pierre-des-Corps Tours, Not only is the TGV a technical success, competition with the TGVs have all Valence TGV. TGV Air is not only it is also a commercial success. seen similar drops in volume, especially promoted by SNCF but also by travel Since the first commissioning of the on journeys with a trip time of less than agencies and world airlines. In 2004, Air TGV in 1981, the TGV traffic volume 3 hours. The impact on road transport France, Air Austral, American Airlines, has increased continuously as is also clear—indices for traffic show Continental Airlines, Delta Air Lines, KLM, different TGV lines have come into that motorways in competition with Lufthansa and United Airlines were all service in the 20 years from 1981 to TGVs experience a decrease in traffic TGV Air partners, and other airlines are 2001 (Figs. 4 and 5). About 250,000 growth. As an added benefit, the drop planning to join. passengers take one of the 600 TGV in air and road traffic decreases the

Figure 4 Annual Growth in TGV Traffic Figure 5 Cumulative TGV Passenger Totals

(million) (million) 120 1800

100 1600 1400 80 1200 1000 60 Passengers Passengers 800 40 600 400 20 200 0 0 1981 1984 1987 1990 1993 1996 1999 2002 2005 2008 2011 1981 1984 1987 1990 1993 1996 1999 2002 2005 2008 2011

View of TGV Station and terminals at CDG (SNCF) TGV Station in CDG (SNCF)

View of TGV station and terminals at LYS (SNCF) TGV Station in LYS (SNCF)

TGV Station at Roissy Charles de TGV station at Lyon-Saint In 2002, the TGV station at LYS handled Gaulle Airport Exupéry Airport 300,000 passengers, a 19% year-on- The TGV station in CDG Terminal 2 opened The TGV station at the heart of LYS opened year increase. This traffic will continue in 1994 to provide a quick and convenient in 1994. It was designed by the famous growing in the future with additional connection between the train and plane. Spanish architect M. Santiago Calatrava. TGV trains to the south and south-east The station has four floors, offering various The architecture is audacious, combining of France and the commercialization of services, including information points, an aesthetic landmark exterior with services like TGV Air, combining air ticket windows, a bar, a restaurant, money internal functionality. flights with TGV trips—a perfect changing, car rentals, children’s nursery, Since construction of the third airport for complement between train and plane. showers, washrooms, etc. the Paris region was cancelled, LYS has lived The TGV services from CDG operate over up to its ambition to become the second the Nord Europe, Sud-Est, Méditerranée, largest airport in France. Its trump card is TGV East under Construction and Atlantique TGV lines, as well as the its connection with the expanding European Thalys network. In 2002, the CDG TGV high-speed network. This advantage will After the TGV Méditerranée, the next TGV station handled about 2.5 million make LYS a unique multi-modal transport project to be opened (in 2007) will be the passengers and this volume is expected base for Europe. Currently, there are about TGV East from Paris to Strasbourg. The to increase as the airport traffic grows. 9 million people living within 90 minutes entire project comprises 406 km of new of LYS; by 2015, there will be 21 million lines reaching to Vendenheim near people (excluding Paris) living within 2 hours. Strasbourg. The first phase, which is

26 Japan Railway & Transport Review 40 • March 2005 Copyright © 2005 EJRCF. All rights reserved. already budgeted for, comprises 300 km, high-speed network serving northern, first infrastructure project of its kind to linking Vaires-sur-Marne near Paris to western and south-western France, giving be declared a public utility by the Baudrecourt in the Moselle as well as to birth to a new European network. Ministry of the Environment, the East the existing railway network, serving as France European HSR line is also the first many destinations directly without the Speed and travel times railways to be financed largely by the need to make a connection. The first 300 km linking Vaires-sur-Marne French regions and the European Union The project also includes improvements to Baudrecourt in Moselle will support (EU). The total cost is about €4 billion to terminal lines and facilities, especially speeds up to 350 km/h—commercial (€1 = US$1.20) apportioned as between the Gare de l’Est station in Paris operations will start at 320 km/h. Some follows: 61% public funds (French and Vaires-sur-Marne as well as on the typical journey times are shown in government, 17 local authorities, EU Strasbourg–Kehl main line. Furthermore, Figure 6. and Luxembourg); 17% RFF, and 22% the lines through the Vosges valleys will SNCF (including €800 million for be electrified ready for the new high- TGV Est financing TGV rolling stock). speed trains. Thanks to the East France This project was born after many studies European HSR, Paris will be linked to the to define a specific financing package Commercial network and traffic major cities of eastern France, and the and a route respecting the natural forecast eastern regions will be connected to the environment and surroundings. As the With a 300-km new high-speed line from

Figure 6 TGV Est Journey Times

3 h 45 min Frankfurt 6 h 00 min Luxembourg

2 h 15 min 1 h 50 min 0 h 45 min 3 h 35 min 3 h 45 min 1 h 25 min 3 h 05 min Saarbrücken Mannheim Reims 1 h 30 min 5 h 10 min 2 h 40 min

Metz 3 h 00 min Karlsruhe 5 h 00 min

Châlons-en- Champagne 0 h 55 min Nancy Strasbourg Stuttgart ParisParis 1 h 20 min 1 h 30 min 2 h 20 min 3 h 50 min Munich 2 h 38 min 3 h 53 min 5 h 54 min 6 h 00 min 8 h 18 min

Mulhouse 3 h 30 min with TGV Est 4 h 50 min without TGV Est 3 h 10 min Basle Zurich 4 h 16 min 3 h 30 min 4 h 30 min 4 h 50 min 5 h 55 min

Paris–Remiremont: 2:45 Meuse region–Lille: 1:45 Meuse–CDG: 55 min Lorraine–Rennes/Nantes: 3:50 Marne la Vallée (Disneyland Paris)–Champagne-Ardenne station: 0:35 Paris–Nancy/Metz: 1:30

Figure 7 Long-term Planned TGV Network Vaires to Baudrecourt and connections to conventional lines and the rest of the AmsterdamAmsterdam TGV network, the TGV Est will form a Rotterdam London commercial network including 26 OostendeOostende Antewerpen Düsseldorf CalaisCalais French and 11 European cities. Ashford DunkerqueDunkerque Brussels Lille-e Cologne For the commercial international high- BBoulogneoulogne Lille-fLille-f Liege Lens Namur Valenclnnes speed services, RHEALYS has been Arras Doual to Frankfurt Charleville Luxembourg established as a joint venture by CFL TGV haute CCherbourgherbourg LeLe HavreHavre picardie Rouen (Luxembourg), SNCF (France), DB AG Aéroport Paris cdg TGV Reims Metz Saarbrücken Munich (Germany) and SBB (Switzerland). Caen ChampagneChampagne Lorraine St Malo arocnnesarocnnes Meuse Marne The project will increase traffic volumes Brest La vallée chessy Bar NNancyancy St dié Strasbourg St brieuc Rennes Melun le duc by 66% from 6.9 million passengers to Quimper Le mans Sens Upinal Colmar Remremont Mulhouse Laval Laroche 11.5 million. Lorient Vendóme migennes Belfort Basel VannesVannes StSt nazairenNazaireazaire Anglrs Tours TGV Le Crosic DDijonijon Besançon Zürich LaLa BauleBaule TGV Nantes St Pierre des Le Creusot Bern LLaa RRocheoche ssurur yonyon ChChálonlon Futuroscope corps TGV sursur ssaaônene Lausanne Future TGV Developments LLeses SSablesables d'olonned'olonne Nort Poitiers Geneva Macon Brig LaLa RochelleRochelle TGV LyonLyon stst exuperyexupery Annecy TGVTGV The Inter-ministerial Committee on Angouléme Lyon CChambhambéryry Milan MMontmelianMontmellanontmellan Territorial Planning and Development Stetienne Grenoble Valence Mogane Turin (CIADT) was held on 18 December 2003. BordeauxBordeaux Valence TGV One of the subjects was an ambitious ArcachonArcachon Agen Avignon long-term (2025) transport plan allowing Montauban Avignon Nimes TGV Nice Aix Antibes VVentmicliaentmiclia better participation of the French regions Dax Toulouse Montpellier en provence BayonneBayonne CannesCannes HHendayeendaye Pau Béziers MMarseillearseille TGV in Europe and the world economy. The IIrunrun Tarbes PlainePlaine dede l'audel'aude ToulonToulon plan has about 50 big projects including Lourdes Carcassonne NarbonneNarbonne PerpignanPerpignan eight TGVs (Fig. 7): Rhine–Rhone LLee PPerthuserthus (Dijon–Mulhouse); Sud Europe Atlantique High-speed line (Tours–Bordeaux–Spain); Bretagne–Pays- Conventional line de-la-Loire; Est (second phase with Barcelona connection to ICE network); Catalonia– Italy (Perpignan–Figueras, bypass around Nîmes and Montpellier, TGV to Nice); adopted technical specifications for Lyon–Turin; Bordeaux–Toulouse; and interoperability (TSIs) for the high-speed Interconnection south of Paris. network that are mandatory for new EU By 2010, the French high-speed high-speed lines. Their implementation network will total 2117 km. In the will allow the EU to establish a high- longer term, the network will total speed network, totalling more than about 3500 km. The TGV lines will 12,000 km, integrating the European also extend into neighbouring countries and revitalizing railway countries; the EU has recently passenger transport. I

Jean-Pierre Arduin Jincheng Ni

Mr Arduin is Director Expert Consultant at SYSTRA, the engineering Mr Ni is an economist at SYSTRA. After graduating from the University arm of SNCF and RATP. He joined SNCF in 1975 after graduating of Toulouse in 1987 and the Ecole Nationale de la Statitique et de from the Ecole Nationale des Mines and the Ecole Nationale de la l’Administration Economique in 1990, he joined SNCF and was Statistique et de l’Administration Economique. After working mainly assigned to the New Infrastructures and High-Speed Department. in corporate planning and business administration, he was assigned He is studying urban railways and high-speed corridors worldwide. to the New Infrastructures and High-Speed Department where he participated in studies of high-speed corridors worldwide.