LGV Sud-Est

LGV Sud-Est
The LGV Sud-Est in Cruzilles-lès-Mépillat
Overview
StatusOperational
Owner
Locale
Termini
Service
SystemSNCF
Operator(s)SNCF
History
Opened
Technical
Line length409 km (254 mi)
Number of tracksDouble track
Track gauge1,435 mm (4 ft 8+12 in) standard gauge
Electrification25 kV 50 Hz[1]
Operating speed300 km/h (190 mph)
SignallingTVM-300 (current), ETCS Level 2 (future, in deployment)[2]
Maximum incline3.6%
Route map

Line from Paris-Gare de Lyon enlarge…
29.4
0.0
Line to Dijon enlarge…
17.1
LGV from Marne-la-Vallée enlarge…
42.7
River Seine (134 m)
44.0
MontereauFlamboin-Gouaix
117.2
Line ParisDijon enlarge…
Line from Sens enlarge…
162.1
Line to Montbard and Dijon enlarge…
273.8
Le Creusot TGV TGV inOui
274.6
NeversChagny
334.0
Mâcon Loché TGV TGV inOui
Line from Dijon enlarge…
336.0
Line to Lyon enlarge…
337.5
River Saône (340 m)
from Mâcon
337.7
to Bourg-en-Bresse
380.5
LGV Rhône-Alpes to Valence enlarge…
389.3
from Bourg-en-Bresse
to Lyon Part-Dieu

The LGV Sud-Est (French: Ligne à Grande Vitesse Sud-Est; English: South East high-speed line) is a French high-speed rail line which connects the Paris and Lyon areas. It was France's first high-speed rail line, it has also been the most widely used line in France as well as being the busiest high-speed line in Europe.[3]

Construction of LGV Sud-Est commended in 1976, although development of the associated technologies was underway for over a decade prior. Several key decisions, such as the use of overhead electrification instead of gas turbines, was influenced by geopolitical events as much as by innovations. On 22 September 1981, the inauguration of the first section between Saint-Florentin and Sathonay-Camp was attended by President François Mitterrand on 22 September 1981. It marked the beginning of the re-invigoration of French passenger rail service; ten million passengers travelled on LGV Sud-Est within its first ten months of operation while domestic flights between Paris and Lyon declined substantially due to the effectiveness of TGV services.

The high rate of return generated by LGV Sud-Est quickly motivated the construction of other LGVs. Several of these have extended the reach of the high-speed trains that use LGV Sud-Est, such as the LGV Rhône-Alpes and LGV Méditerranée to the south and the LGV Interconnexion Est to the north; these connecting lines shortened journey times between Paris and the southeast of France (Marseille, Montpellier and Nice), Switzerland and Italy, as well as between the southeast and the north and west of France, the United Kingdom and Belgium. The LGV Rhône-Alpes, Sud-Est and Méditerranée, taken as a whole, were also nicknamed the City To Coast (C2C) Highway ("Ville à la Mer").[citation needed]

  1. ^ "RFF - Map of electrified railway lines" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-05-16. Retrieved 2010-12-04.
  2. ^ "2024 : une année clé pour le projet LGV+ Paris-Lyon". SNCF Reseau. SNCF SA. Retrieved 5 November 2024.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference modernisation 2020 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).