AT THE end of May France’s Ministry of Transport published the findings of a report into development of its transalpine links with Italy. Drawn up by transport experts Christian Brossier, Jean-Didier Blanchet and Michel Gérard at the behest of Transport Minister Jean-Claude Gayssot, French Policy for Land Transport through the Alps recommends that existing rail links between Lyon and Torino should be upgraded in preference to spending Fr90bn on a new line with a long transalpine tunnel.
Brossier notes that Switzerland plans to complete two base tunnels in the next 10 years, allowing it to transfer most north-south road traffic to rail. These would take some pressure off the French corridors, which include the Mont Blanc and Fréjus road tunnels and the Mont Cenis main line through Modane. The roads each carry about 12 million tonnes of freight a year, and 10 million tonnes move by rail.
The report recommends that rail capacity is increased to 16 million tonnes a year. This would require changes to the track layout at Modane, use of tri-current traction, enhancements to the loading gauge through to Torino, addition of a third track in the Chambéry area, and improvements between Culoz and Chambéry. A Franco-Italian agreement would guarantee a specific number of paths for freight trains.
There is little doubt that upgrading would be much more cost-effective than constructing the new line, which despite much publicity has never really moved beyond the point of studies with lines on maps.
Also in the report is a recommendation that the Paris - Sud-Est TGV line be extended from Lyon-Satolas to Saint-André-le-Gaz to cut 10min off the Paris - Grenoble journey time. A further extension to Lépin would permit nearly 20min to be shaved off timings to Chambéry. Work would include doubling the existing tunnel under the épine massif.
Finally, there is support for rebuilding the partly-closed direct route between Bourg-en-Bresse and Bellegarde, which enjoys backing in Switzerland as it would allow Paris - Genève timings to be cut by 30min. The Swiss would be expected to make a financial contribution to this project, which would also free capacity on the main line into Italy. o
