France has officially decided on the ‘broad profile’ (grand gabarit in French) option for the access to the future Lyon-Turin rail link. This choice will entail the construction of new tunnels, the State Prefect for the Auvergne-Rhône Alpes region, Fabienne Buccio, announced earlier this week.
The development of rail freight is one of the key elements that is driving the Franco-Italian project whose origins date back more than 30 years. However, the new initiative is contested by environmental activists who claim it will have a detrimental impact on the Alps while also pointing to its “pharaonic” cost.
Three options were being considered for the 120-150 kilometres of track between Lyon and the entrance to the cross-border tunnel, which is currently being bored under Mont-Cenis in the Alps. The broad profile option involves transporting freight – up to 28 million tonnes a year – through tunnels under the Chartreuse and Belledonne mountain ranges, rather than through the valleys.
This option makes provision for “a mixed freight and passenger line between Grenay”, around 30 kilometres south-east of Lyon, and Avressieux, “followed by a single-track freight line” to Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne, according to a Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Prefecture statement.
New study will define the route
A Detailed Preliminary Design (DPD) study programme of the French section of the Lyon-Turin rail link will begin in early 2025 and define the route precisely. A financial package put together by the French State, local authorities and the European Union, totalling 164 million euros, will fund the study.
It will be undertaken by France’s rail network manager, SNCF Réseau. And include collecting technical and environmental data for the design of the new line, defining the construction principles, launching the preliminary administrative procedures, and conducting dialogue with stakeholders. It is expected to take three years to complete.
Costs keep rising
The cost of the global project has risen steadily since its launch and was estimated at more than 26 billion euros in 2012 by the French Court of Auditors, but no overall figure has been provided since. The cross-border section, which will include a 57.5 km tunnel (of which around 15 kilometres have already been bored), has a projected cost of 11.1 billion euros alone, according to the Franco-Italian public company, TELT, which is overseeing the project. Investment in the French tracks is estimated at between 10 and 15 billion euros. However, the new tracks of the French section will be delivered, at best,10 years after the commissioning of the tunnel under the Alps and the Italian access, in 2033.
Still waiting for the Frejus line to reopen
In the meantime, freight traffic flows will continue to be transported on the existing Dijon-Ambérieux-Modane line, whose modernisation work by 2033 was also detailed during the videoconference. The line has been closed since end-August 2023 following a major rockfall in the Maurienne French Alpine valley and is not expected to re-open before the first quarter of next year at the earliest.