Elisabeth Borne launches the study program to create the French accesses of the future Lyon-Turin line

This project consists of both the creation of a cross-border section - which is the subject of a bilateral treaty ratified in 2017 and benefits from European funding of up to 40% - and French access routes to the tunnel cross-border.

The achievement of these accesses is included in the investment program presented

in the draft investment orientation law under consideration by Parliament. In line with the priority given to improving daily transport, these accesses, like all major projects, must be part of a progressive implementation process, starting with the necessary optimizations of the existing network before the construction of new lines.

In accordance with this programming and the commitments made by the Government, Elisabeth BORNE has just signed the ministerial decision asking SNCF Réseau to start immediately the study program aimed at specifying the investments necessary for the realization of access roads, be it the modernization of the existing network or the construction of new lines.

This ministerial decision is an important step in preparing France for the completion of the new international route between Lyon and Turin. It allows the launch of a study program structured around two themes:

• SNCF Réseau will prepare the realization of new access routes to the international tunnel, by studying the programming and phasing in time of the different sections. These will provide additional access capacities to the base tunnel, to cope with the increase in traffic expected following the entry into service of the international tunnel.
• Pending the creation of new lines, SNCF Réseau will establish a master plan for the Dijon-Modane line, in order to identify the necessary investments and their timetable, and to cope with increases in rail freight traffic before the implementation new link service. This master plan will also make it possible to respond to the increase in passenger traffic, in particular for daily trains, in a context of saturation of some of the road routes, and to pay particular attention to the necessary integration measures.

A steering committee, under the authority of the regional prefect and associating the communities concerned, will monitor the implementation of this study program. This work will in particular be an opportunity to examine the proposals made by local elected representatives, and more generally, will have to endeavor to seek all avenues for optimizing costs and phasing in order to guarantee the financial sustainability of the program. A next meeting will be held before the summer.

As she had committed herself to, the Minister also decided to set up a permanent observatory of railway saturation on the current access routes and the Mont-Cenis tunnel. Its mission will be to better understand the traffic as well as the available capacities allowed by the current infrastructures and the operating rules.

At the end of this process, the conclusions of these studies as well as the opinion of the steering committee, will allow the Minister to decide on the one hand the master plan of the classic Dijon-Modane line and on the other hand a precise programming for the construction of the new access sections to the base tunnel.

A first progress report on this study program and its timetable for completion will be given in the summer of 2019.

For Elisabeth BORNE, “The launch of this study program is an important step in the concretization of the commitments made by the Government for the realization of access to the Lyon-Turin cross-border tunnel. These studies will both respond to the ambition that we share with the elected representatives of the territory to support the growth of traffic and to acquire an appropriate programming of investments ”.