Perpignan–Barcelona high-speed rail line

The Perpignan–Barcelona high-speed line is an international high-speed rail line between Perpignan in Roussillon, France and Barcelona, Spain. The line consists of a 175.5-kilometre (109.1 mi) railway, of which 24.6 km (15.3 mi) are in France and 150.8 km (93.7 mi) are in Spain. The line is sometimes referenced as an extension of the Madrid–Barcelona high-speed rail line. The Perpignan–Barcelona line is a part of the Mediterranean Corridor.^[3][4]

Perpignan–Barcelona high-speed rail line
Figueres–Vilafant railway station: first TGV arrival from Paris, December 2010
Overview
Status	Operational
Owner	SNCF Réseau (French side), Adif (Spanish side)
Locale	France (Languedoc-Roussillon), Spain (Catalonia)
Termini	Gare de Perpignan Barcelona Sants railway station
Service
Type	High-speed rail
System	TGV (in France) Alta Velocidad Española (in Spain)
Operator(s)	SNCF, Renfe Operadora
Rolling stock	SNCF TGV Duplex AVE Class 100 (from 2014) RENFE Class 252 (freight services)
History
Opened	2013
Technical
Line length	175.5 km (109.1 mi)
Number of tracks	Double track
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Electrification	25 kV 50 Hz
Operating speed	Perpignan - Figueres: 300 km/h (190 mph)[1] Figueres - Barcelona: 290 km/h (180 mph)[2]
Signalling	ERTMS level 2, ASFA
Route map Legend km0 length in m Madrid–Barcelona AVE to Zaragoza and Madrid 175.9 Barcelona Sants Provença-Mallorca tunnel Barcelona Sagrera Barcelona avoiding line Montmeló Llinars crossover Riells Viloví de Oñar 82.1 Girona Vilademuls crossover Barcelona–Cerbère railway 47.9 Figueres–Vilafant Figueres Tunnel 1,750 44.4 ↓ International Section Viaducte de la Muga 656 Viaducte del Ricardell 570 Viaducte del Bosquerós 90 Viaducte del Gou 270   Viaducte del Nr.2 630 Llobregat d’Empordà   Nr.1 108 25.5 Pirineus Tunnel 24.5 Spain France border 17.1 Perthus Tunnel 8,300 15.6 Tec River 14.3 Elna – Arles line 12.9 crossover 8.4 A 9 Motorway 267 D 612A road Rand River 180 0.00 ↑ International Section to Vilafranca de Conflent Narbonne–Portbou railway to Portbou Perpignan St-Charles Perpignan Narbonne– Portbou railway (1.5 kV) Montpellier Sud de France Contournement Nîmes – Montpellier to Marseille & Paris This diagram: view talk edit

Overview map of the high-speed connections from Barcelona towards France, with the year of opening.

During the mid 1990s, both France and Spain resolved to build a high speed crossing of the Pyrenees mountains that separate the two countries; such a line was forecast to secure a 30 per cent share of the land transport market, and be of particular importance to freight movements. On 17 February 2004, a concession was awarded to the TP Ferro consortium, which included the companies Eiffage (France) and ACS / Dragados (Spain), under which the consortium constructed the line at an estimated cost of around €1.1 billion, and was to operate it for 50 years. The most significant civil engineering work on the line was the 8.3-kilometre (5.2 mi) Perthus Tunnel under the Perthus Pass; the line crosses the French–Spanish border within this tunnel.^[5] The line uses standard gauge track and 25 kV AC railway electrification at 50 Hz, consistent with the French LGV and Spanish AVE high-speed rail networks.

The line was delivered on 17 February 2009, three months after its connection to the French railway network. However, the first train connection did not take place until 19 December 2010 due to delays in the delivery of the Figueres station. The first service to Barcelona was conducted on 9 January 2013 after the completion of the Figueres-Barcelona line.^[6] During 2014, the concessionaire's financial situation deteriorated the collected tolls being insufficient to repay its creditors the sum of €500 million; a liquidation order for TP Ferro was issued two years later. The line in now operated by France and Spain via the Railway infrastructure managers SNCF Réseau and Adif.

History

Background

Between the nations of France and Spain lies a natural barrier in the form of the Pyrenees mountain range, a geographic feature has been a historic challenge to cross-border traffic.^[7] By the 1990s, increasing cross-border activity was being constrained by congestion on the existing road and air links.^[8] Furthermore, officials recognised that the existing conventional cross-border line, which involved a break of gauge, was far slower than new infrastructure would have been. Railway planners proposed two different cross-border high speed rail lines traversing the Pyrenees; the Figueras-Perpignan route towards the Mediterranean being one while the other, between Dax and Vitoria, was closer to the Atlantic.^[9] During 1992, the governments of France and Spain began to discuss options for improving cross-border connectivity via the creation of a new international railway between the two countries to accommodate high volume of traffic that had been projected.^[7]

On 10 October 1995, both governments signed the Madrid agreement, formally declaring their intention to build a double tracked standard gauge high speed line through the Pyrenees between Perpignan (France) and Figueras (Spain).^[7] During the following year, the scheme became one of 20 priority projects highlighted under the wider Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) programme.^[8] Prior to the project's launch, extensive surveying efforts were conducted to support the line's future construction.^[10]

While the forecasted passenger figures on their own did not justify construction of the line, the need for effective freight movements via a modern fast line was apparent; while annual freight traffic between Spain and the rest of Europe had reached 144 million tonnes by 1998, rail freight across all of the four conventional lines then available comprised just three per cent of that total.^[8] It was anticipated that the rail link would promptly achieve a 30 per cent share of the land transport market across the Pyrenees; traffic in the first year of operations alone was expected to be around 3.5 million passengers and 4.2 million tonnes of freight.^[8]

Selection and construction

During 2002, following a competitive bidding process, it was announced that the Euroferro consortium, comprising Bouygues and Dragados, had been selected as the preferred bidder to construct the line.^[8] However, negotiations between the consortium and the two national governments ultimately broke down and the whole process was annulled in 2003. Furthermore, legal action had been threatened by one of the unsuccessful bidders against both governments and the consortium over alleged discrepancies in the bidding process.^[8] Shortly thereafter, the tendering process was relaunched with a tighter specification and a less flexible contract model along with additional stipulations pertaining to both negotiation and strict deadlines. While the second tender was more coldly received by the industry, attracting only three consortia, the negotiation process was relatively fast.^[8]

On 17 February 2004, a contract for the construction of the line was awarded to the TP Ferro consortium, a joint venture of Eiffage (France) and Dragados (Spain).^[5][8] The group constructed the line for an estimated cost of approximately €1.1 billion, and was to operate it for 53 years.^[11] It received a public subsidy of €540 million, split between the European Union, France and Spain. The European Union also provided 25 percent of the cost of the original construction works.^[12]

From the onset, the construction timeline was particularly stringent, although considerable planning had been completed beforehand; this hastiness was politically driven, partially due to the either nation being obligated to pay an indemnity to the concessionaire for failures that resulted in the project overrunning its established opening date.^[8] At the height of construction activity, in excess of 1,500 workers are employed in the project; work was performed in shifts across all hours of the day.^[7] The financing arrangements were particularly complex, incorporating a public–private partnership (PPP), the involvement of 18 banks, and a €540 million subsidy; however, there were no minimum usage or similar such guarantees imposed on either SNCF and RENFE or the two governments.^[7][8]

The most challenging single piece of civil engineering in the line's construction of the project was the twin bore Perthus Tunnel, which had a length of 8.3 kilometres (5.2 mi) under the Perthus Pass.^[13] Various other bridges, tunnels, and miscellaneous civil engineering works were also required, however their cost was dwarfed by that of the tunnel ($375 million) by a considerable margin.^[14] On 19 July 2005, construction of the tunnel was officially launched at a ceremony attended by both French and Spanish dignitaries. Much of the excavation was performed by a pair of tunnel boring machines (TBMs).^[14][15]

Testing and opening

During November 2008, test running commenced; the international section was officially opened on 17 February 2009. However, the running of services were delayed until December 2010 because the station at Figueres was not finished.^[16][17][18] Services in the section started on 19 December 2010 with a TGV service from Paris via Perpignan to Figueres–Vilafant and regular freight traffic started on 21 December 2010. Eventually the 44.5-kilometre (27.7 mi) international section was officially inaugurated on 27 January 2011.^[19]

However, the delay in the opening of the natural extension of the line between Figueres and Barcelona led to lower traffic than expected and therefore to lower revenues for the concessionaire, which was generated via a toll system. During early 2014, the concessionaire experienced a catastrophic financial situation as the collected tolls were insufficient to repay the €500 million which had been borrowed from various banks. In July 2015, the company announced that it was insolvent; on 15 September 2016, the court of Girona ordered the liquidation of TP Ferro. As a consiquence, France and Spain, through the Railway infrastructure managers SNCF Réseau and Adif, took over operations of the line, as well as the debt. This takeover took place on 21 December 2016, by the joint subsidiary "Línia Figueres-Perpinyà" (or "Línea Figueras Perpignan S.A."), created on 21 October 2016.

Line

The track on the new line is standard gauge using 25 kV AC railway electrification at 50 Hz, consistent with the French LGV and Spanish AVE high-speed rail networks.^[20] The line is used by both passenger and freight trains, the maximum grade being limited to 12 ‰.^[20] The design speed is 350 kilometres per hour (220 mph).^[21] The line's design was heavily shaped by its need to accommodate freight trains; this can be seen in its use of gentler gradients than those typically found on the average LGV line.^[8]

This line was the first rail connection between Spain and the rest of Europe constructed without a break-of-gauge^[22] and the first international connection to the standard-gauge Spanish AVE network. Traditional Spanish rail lines are broad gauge based on the Spanish vara 1,668 mm (5 ft 5+21⁄32 in), so rail connections between France and Spain have traditionally involved a break-of-gauge, implying that passengers and cargo must either change trains, or the trains must pass through gauge-changing installations at the border. Another same-gauge connection to France is planned near the Atlantic coast in the Basque country, and a third link via Huesca crossing the central Pyrenees mountains through a 40 kilometres (25 mi) tunnel is under study.^[23]

France has left-hand traffic for trains and Spain right-hand one, so a flyover was built around 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) north of the border (42.55929°N 2.85120°E / 42.55929; 2.85120).^[24]

Perpignan - Figueres line

The line from Perpignan to Figueres is a mixed-traffic high-speed railway (that is allowing passenger trains and freight trains) of 44.4 km (27.6 mi), including 24.6 km (15.3 mi) on the French side and 19.8 km (12.3 mi) on the Spanish side, with UIC standard gauge. The design speed (or maximum nominal speed) of this line is 350 km/h (220 mph)^[25] but the maximal commercial speed is currently 300 km/h (190 mph).^[1] The railway crosses the French–Spanish border via the Perthus Tunnel, an 8.3 km (5.2 mi) tunnel bored under the Perthus Pass.^[26]

This line constitutes line no. 837 000 of the French national rail network, under the name "Ligne de Perpignan à Figueras (LGV)", although it is not legally part of it.

Figueres - Barcelona line

Maximum speed profile of the "Madrid-Barcelona-French Border" line, in 2015.

Figueres-Vilafant railway station under construction in August 2010. French TGVs from Paris terminated here between 2011 and 2013, connecting with a Spanish train to Barcelona

This 131 km (81.4 mi) line is part of the Spanish "Madrid-Barcelona-French Border" line.^[27][28] It is also a mixed-traffic high-speed railway, with an operating speed of up to 290 km/h (180 mph).^[2]

The Spanish 131-kilometre (81.4 mi) Barcelona–Figueres section was originally planned to open in 2009, however, delays were encountered during the building of a 4-kilometre tunnel in Girona, the first phase of which was finished in September 2010,^[29] as well as controversy over the route between Sants and Sagrera stations in Barcelona.^[30] The section was eventually completed in January 2013 at a cost of €3.7 billion and the entire line officially opened on 8 January 2013.^[31][32][33] This connected for the first time the Spanish AVE high-speed network with the French TGV high-speed network.^[34]

Muga Viaducto in the Pont de Molins village, without noise protection screens

Services

A TGV service from Paris via Perpignan started on 19 December 2010 to a temporary station at Figueres^[35] and a connecting service on the classic line on to Barcelona and Madrid.^[36] The total journey time from Paris to Barcelona has been reduced by 1h 15m to 7h 25m (current Paris-Barcelona travel time by train is 6h 41m). Of that,^[which?] 5h 30m was spent on the Paris to Figueres segment.^[37] Initially there was a service of two Paris-Figueres TGVs per day, which connected with two Renfe Alvia trains a day between Barcelona and Figueres via the conventional broad gauge line and a temporary double gauge track.^[21][37] From January 2013 there was a service of nine Renfe AVE trains a day between Figueres and Barcelona with eight services continuing on to Madrid.^[38]

Renfe started a standard-gauge freight service on 21 December 2010.^[39] As of January 2011 four freight trains a week run over the line from Barcelona, with journey times reduced by 6 hours: one train each way to Lyon, and one each way to Milan.^[39]

On 28 November 2013, Renfe and SNCF announced the opening of direct long-distance services from 15 December 2013, with daily SNCF TGV Euroduplex trains between Paris – Barcelona, and AVE Renfe 100 series trains for the routes Toulouse – Barcelona, Lyon – Barcelona, Marseille – Madrid, based on a commercial agreement between the two companies in a cooperation called Elipsos.^[40][41] However, since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2019, only the trains linking Barcelona with Paris and Barcelona with Lyon were running with one daily train in each direction. In February 2022 SNCF announced the break up of the company Elipsos and since then the French operator relaunched its high-speed service between Paris and Barcelona on its own under the TGV inOui brand with the timetable change in December 2022. This Barcelona-Paris remained for a while the only high-speed service in operation between the two countries, until Renfe introduced its own new services on the routes Barcelona-Lyon from 13 July 2023 and Madrid-Marseille from 28 July 2023.^[42][43]

As of January 2013^[update] there are eight trains a day running from Madrid, connecting at Figueres Vilafant with two TGV services to Paris.^[44] Since December 2013, the journey time for the TGV Paris–Barcelona service has been 6 hours 25 minutes.^[45]

Expansion

Operating

Lyon to Barcelona is expected to take less than four hours^{[46][needs update]} using the standard line^{[clarification needed]} in France between Perpignan and Nîmes. A new company jointly owned by RENFE and SNCF is to be formed to run services between Paris and Madrid. Ten new trains are to be purchased at a cost of €300 million.^[47]

Tendering for the Nîmes–Montpellier bypass route started in May 2010. This is the first stage in the link between the Spanish high-speed network and LGV Méditerranée and the line will carry a mix of freight and high-speed trains.^[48] A 25-year Public–Private Partnership agreement was signed in June 2012, construction works completed in December 2017 and the first passenger services to Montpellier Sud de France station commenced on 7 July 2018.^[49][50][51]

Future

Work on the 150 kilometres (93 mi) LGV Montpellier–Perpignan is not expected to start before 2020, following public consultation beginning 2015.^[52] However, the preliminary high-speed route and station locations were approved by the French transport ministry in February 2016.^[53] Construction for the Montpellier-Béziers section is forecast to last 10 years, while another 10 years will be needed to construct the Béziers-Perpignan section.^[54]

See also

• High-speed rail in Spain
• TGV
• AVE- Spanish high-speed train service

References

1. Document de référence du réseau 2021, Línea Figueras Perpignan SA.
2. "Un millar de viajeros estrenan el AVE de Girona", El periodico, 9 January 2013.
3. "The Mediterranean Rail Corridor will be a reality in 2020". Catalan News. 17 March 2011. Retrieved 30 November 2015.
4. "European Parliament's final approval of the Mediterranean Railway Corridor". Catalan News. 19 November 2013. Retrieved 30 November 2015.
5. "Perpignan–Figueras High-speed Rail Line". Structurae. Retrieved 30 January 2009.
6. "La ligne à grande vitesse Barcelone-Figueras entre en service", article published on 9 January 2013.
7. "The Figueras-Perpignan High-Speed Line". globalrailwayreview.com. 15 September 2006.
8. "Figueras–Perpignan high speed rail link". ijglobal.com. 24 June 2005.
9. "Continuous growth of the Spanish high speed network". globalrailwayreview.com. 23 August 2005.
10. A. Bocabarteille; A. González; B. Celada; J.M. Galera (19 November 2000). "Geotechnical Site Characterisation Of The Perthus Tunnel". ISRM International Symposium.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
11. "Perpignan–Figueres concession extended". Railway Gazette International. London, UK. 24 November 2009. Retrieved 1 December 2010.
12. "First interoperable rail link opens between Iberian peninsula and France". globalrailwayreview.com. 27 January 2011.
13. "Spanish French Border". dragados.co.uk. Retrieved 12 May 2021.
14. "Perthus launched across Pyrenees". tunnelsonline.info. 12 September 2005.
15. Celada B. and Galera J. M. (1997). "Rock Mass characterisation of the weak zones at the Perthus Tunnel". geotechpedia.com.
16. "La ligne TGV Perpignan–Figueres livrée dans 10 jours, pour rien". La Clau (in French). Perpignan, France. 4 February 2008. Archived from the original on 23 July 2011. Retrieved 8 February 2009.
17. "Interrogations sur les tarifs du TGV Perpignan–Figueres". La Clau (in French). Perpignan, France. 10 October 2008. Archived from the original on 1 December 2017. Retrieved 30 January 2009.
18. "Tunnel with no trains". Railway Gazette International. London. 15 April 2009. Retrieved 20 May 2009.
19. "Perpignan – Figueres link inaugurated". Railway Gazette International. London, UK. 27 January 2011. Retrieved 31 January 2011.
20. "Perpignan–Figueres Cross-Border Railway, France". Railway Technology. Retrieved 30 January 2009.
21. Fox, Brendan (December 2010). "New timetables in Europe". Modern Railways. London, UK. pp. 74–77.
22. "La ligne TGV de Perpignan" (in French). Histoire du Roussillon. 2008. Retrieved 30 January 2009.
23. Vleugel, Jaap (October 2006). "Natural cross-border barriers to the development of Trans-European Transport Networks" (Press release). Brussels: EUROPEAN UNION Committee of the Regions. Delft University of Technology. Retrieved 7 October 2019.
24. "Inventaire des tunnels ferroviaires de France" (PDF). Galerie de Tresserre LGV. Retrieved 11 April 2017.
25. "Vitesse maximale nominale sur ligne, "Ligne de Perpignan à Figueras (LGV)"". SNCF Open Data. April 2017. Retrieved 4 June 2017..
26. "Perpignan-Figueras High-speed Rail Line". Structurae. Retrieved 30 January 2009.
27. "Madrid - Barcelona - French border line. Barcelona - Figueres section", on the ADIF website.
28. Madrid-Barcelona-French Border line on the ADIF website.
29. "Girona tunnelling makes progress". London, UK: Railway Gazette International. Retrieved 2 November 2015.
30. "Perpignan-Barcelona AVE to open in 2012 or .... 2020?". Today's railways Europe, Issue 140. August 2007. p. 10.
31. Barrow, Keith (8 January 2013). "Spain completes Iberia's high-speed link to Europe". International Railway Journal. Retrieved 16 November 2015.
32. "High speed line opens between Barcelona and Figueres". London, UK: Railway Gazette International. 8 January 2013. Retrieved 16 November 2015.
33. Puente, Fernando (10 December 2012). "Barcelona-Figueres HS line to open January 7". International Railway Journal. Retrieved 16 November 2015.
34. "Spain completes Iberia's high-speed link to Europe". International Railway Journal. 8 January 2013. Retrieved 30 December 2015.
35. "La gare TGV temporaire de Figueres sera prête en 2010". 26 February 2009. Archived from the original on 9 April 2016. Retrieved 9 May 2009.
36. "Le TGV Perpignan–Girona, promis pour fin 2012". La Clau (in French). Perpignan. 26 March 2010. Archived from the original on 9 April 2016. Retrieved 14 July 2010.
37. "TGV Tickets to Figueres on sale". Railway Gazette International. London. 24 November 2010.
38. "High speed line opens between Barcelona and Figueres". Railway Gazette International. 8 January 2013.
39. "Break of gauge no more". Railway Gazette International. London. 18 January 2011. Retrieved 2 February 2011.
40. Communiqué de presse Paris - Barcelone
41. "AVE rail connection between Barcelona and Paris to open in December". thinkspain.com.
42. "Renfe plans to run new trains to France before summer following end of SNCF cooperation". railtech.com. 11 January 2023.
43. Catà Figuls, Josep (19 June 2023). "Renfe irrumpe en el mercado francés con billetes de AVE desde nueve euros hasta Lyon y Marsella". elpais.com (in Spanish).
44. "Barcelona - Figueres high speed rail line to open on January 7". International Rail Journal. 10 December 2012. Retrieved 18 January 2012.
45. "Paris-Barcelona TGVs set for December 15 launch". International Railway Journal. 18 November 2013. Retrieved 17 November 2015.
46. "A Lyon en AVE a partir de 2012". El País (in Spanish). Madrid. 24 April 2009. Retrieved 9 May 2009.
47. "New Paris to Madrid high-speed service in 2012" (PDF). Railway Herald. No. 205. Scunthorpe. 14 December 2009. p. 25. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 July 2011.
48. "Nîmes–Montpellier bids go in". Railway Gazette International. London. 6 May 2010.
49. "Nîmes – Montpellier contract signed". Railway Gazette International. London. 29 June 2012. Retrieved 14 November 2013.
50. "Nîmes – Montpellier bypass carries first freight". Railway Gazette International. 13 December 2017.
51. "Gare TGV de Montpellier: quatre premiers trains sans inauguration" (in French). 7 July 2018. Archived from the original on 13 August 2018. Retrieved 15 October 2019.
52. "Southern LGV projects make progress". Railway Gazette International. London. 9 February 2011.
53. "Route approved for Montpellier – Perpignan HSL". International Railway Journal. 3 February 2016.
54. "ACTUALITÉS : TGV MONTPELLIER – BÉZIERS – PERPIGNAN : L'état doit respecter sa parole !". herault-tribune.com (in French). 28 November 2018.

External links

• LGV Map on Google Maps
• A photo of the end of the line
• Perpignan–Barcelona in 50 mins
• Entry on Ferrocarriles wiki (in Spanish)