System SNCF Line length 167.6 km (104.1 mi) Owner Réseau Ferré de France Locale Switzerland, France | Opened 1858 Number of tracks Double track Operator SNCF | |
 | ||
Type TGV, TER, RER and freight Track gauge 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 ⁄2 in) standard gauge Terminis Gare de Lyon-Perrache, Genève-Cornavin railway station | ||
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.
Contents
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.
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 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. 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