Ligne du Haut-Bugey

The Haut-Bugey line is a railway line in France connecting Bourg-en-Bresse and Bellegarde-sur-Valserine through the Jura massif. Currently it is closed for complete reconstruction and electrification. The project will restore the entire 65km length of the line. Upon completion in June 2009, the line will be an important link between the French TGV network and Geneva. Travel time between Paris and Geneva will be reduced by 20 minutes to about 3 hours.

History

The Bourg-en-Bresse to la Cluse was opened on March 29 1877 by the " Compagnie de la ligne des Dombes" later integrated into the PLM (Paris-Lyon-Méditerranée). In 1886, the Andelot - Cluse line connected it to the Dijon - Lausanne artery. This line has slopes of 28 per thousand and tight radius curves (down to 300m), which made its operation difficult. After the Cluse - Bellegarde section was closed to passenger traffic in 1990, the station of la Cluse became a cul-de-sac, causing the trains from Lyon and Bourg-en-Bresse to Oyonnax and Saint-Claude to have to reverse.

A chord line was therefore laid avoiding la Cluse station, which was not served any more. A new station, Brion-Montreal-la Cluse was created.

In 2006 the Bourg-en-Bresse - Brion-Montreal-la Cluse section was closed for the “The Haut-Bugey Project”

The section La Cluse - Bellegarde is also known as "ligne des Carpates".

“The Haut-Bugey Project”

Although the ‘’’Projet du Haut-Bugey’’’ is not an LGV but a traditional line ‘’ligne classique’’, it will still be an important element in the TGV network, linking the LGV Sud-Est to Geneva. The reopened line will bring Paris closer to Geneva. The distance will be shortened by 47km and reduce the Paris - Geneva journey time by about 20 minutes, to 3 hours. In addition the rail link between Mâcon and Geneva via Bourg-en-Bresse and Bellegarde-sur-Valserine will be improved. The project will also release significant freight capacity on the Bourg-en-Bresse - Ambérieu - Culoz line. A new station will be created at Nurieux-Volognat, near the industrial basin of Oyonnax. The existing line will be electrified at 25 kV AC. The permanent way will be rebuilt, the infrastructure renovated and many level crossings level will be removed or replaced. A particular effort will be made for environment protection (particularly the lakes of Nantua and Sylans) and noise screening.

Interestingly, although the project is entirely in France, one third of the budget is provided by Swiss confederation, due to the benefit for Geneva.

The project budget of 341 million euros (317,5 excluding the works at Bellegarde is financed by the French state (127,45 million financed via AFITF (Transport Infrastructure Finance Agency of France) and the Swiss government (110 million euros), the RFF (Réseau Ferré de France), as well as the local communities (17,45 million euros distributed between the ‘’région’’ Rhone-Alpes, the departments of Ain and of Haute-Savoie and the town of Bellegarde) and the SNCF [ " Rail Passion " n°109 (November 2006), p.10.] . Work began in November 2006.

Sources

External Links (in French)

* [http://www.ligneduhautbugey.fr website dedicated to the "Ligne du Haut-Bugey"] "in french": includes plans and a comprehensive photo gallery of construction work updated weekly
* [http://www.rff.fr/pages/projets/fiche_projet.asp?lg=fr&code=33&codeRegion=21 official link to RFF] (out of date)
* [http://fr.structurae.de/projects/data/index.cfm?ID=p00387 Structurae site]
* [http://alp-rail.net/fr/projets.php ALP-Rail association site]
* [http://fr.youtube.com/watch?v=X9DhwiVUoAM photo gallery]