Saverne Tunnel

Saverne Tunnel
Twin tunnel entrance in hillside. A short, grey arch bridge is in the upper right background.
Western portal in 2013, during construction.
Overview
Official nameTunnel de Saverne
LineLGV Est
LocationArrondissement of Saverne, Bas-Rhin, Grand Est, France
Coordinates48°46′49″N 7°21′59″E / 48.78028°N 7.36639°E / 48.78028; 7.36639
StatusCompleted
SystemTGV
StartEckartswiller[1]
EndErnolsheim-lès-Saverne[1]
Operation
Work begunOctober 2010
ConstructedFebruary 2011 – December 2013[3]
Opened3 July 2016[2]
OwnerSNCF[4]
OperatorSNCF
TrafficTrain
CharacterPassenger (High-speed rail)
Technical
Design engineerBG Consulting Engineers
Length4,000 metres (2.49 mi)[5]
Line length8,000 m (4.97 mi) (total of both lines, one per tunnel)
No. of trackssingle (one per tunnel)
Track gauge1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Electrified25 kV 50 Hz OHLE
Operating speed320 kilometres per hour (200 mph)
Width8.90 m (29.2 ft)[5]
Grade1.9% (average; 70 m difference between west and east portals)[5]
Route map
Map of LGV Est, with the Saverne Tunnel highlighted in grey.

The Saverne Tunnel (French: Tunnel de Saverne), also known as the Ernolsheim-lès-Saverne Tunnel (French: Tunnel d'Ernolsheim-lès-Saverne),[6] is a twin-bore 4-kilometre-long (2.5 mi), high-speed rail tunnel in western Bas-Rhin, France. It carries the LGV Est line of France's TGV high-speed rail network through the narrowest part of the Vosges mountain range, beneath Mont Saint-Michel and adjacent to the Saverne Pass. The tunnel consists of two bores, containing one rail track each, that are connected by passageways every 500 metres (1,600 ft). The LGV Est crosses the 270 m (890 ft) Haspelbaechel viaduct near the western end of the tunnel. The tunnel was excavated by a tunnel boring machine between November 2011 and February 2013. Civil engineering work on the tunnel ended in April 2014 and it opened with the rest of the second phase of the LGV Est on 3 July 2016.[2] The total cost of the tunnel was approximately €200 million.[7]

  1. ^ a b Géoportail (Map) (in French). Institut national de l’information géographique et forestière. "Croix de Langenthal, 67700 Saint-Jean-Saverne" with the "Parcelles cadastrales" layer activated and superimposed over the "Carte" layer. Archived from the original on 17 September 2016. Retrieved 23 June 2016.
  2. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference New opening date was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ "Le projet". LGV Est Lot 47 (in French). Archived from the original on 17 February 2015. Retrieved 5 June 2015.
  4. ^ "Quick Overview". SNCF Réseau. Retrieved 14 June 2015.
  5. ^ a b c "Le Tunnel de Saverne". LGV Est Lot 47 (in French). Archived from the original on 17 February 2015. Retrieved 5 June 2015.
  6. ^ "Inauguration Ligne LGV - Tunnel d'Ernolsheim-les-Saverne". Dernieres Nouvelles D'Alsace (in French). 2016. Retrieved 5 July 2016.
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference RL was invoked but never defined (see the help page).