The new Léman Express railway line will be the biggest cross-border regional express network (RER) line in Europe. With its direct, comfortable and frequent trains, the new rail line will change the vision about mobility in an area with a population of over one million inhabitants.
Wether people are going to use the new cross-border railway for studying, going to work or just for leisure travelling, Léman Express expects to accomodate more than 50,000 passengers a day on its future 40 trains that will operate on the network.
The launch of the new rail line is expected in december 2019, once works on the new CEVA line are completed. The CEVA line is the rail link, missing until now, which will allow to eliminate the border stops when travelling between Geneva and Haute-Savoie and thus propose a passenger type regional rail service offer for the Grand Geneva and its neighboring regions called Léman Express. It represents 16 kilometers of line between Geneva and Annemasse, including 2 new rail kilometers in France and modernization operations throughout Haute-Savoie.
The Léman Express is a planned commuter rail network for the transborder agglomeration of Grand Genève in west Switzerland and the French Alps (Haute-Savoie province).
When the Léman Express will be opened, the cities of Evian, Thonon, Annemasse and Annecy as well as the population of the Arve valley up to St Gervais could be served with direct services from Cornavin, so the future Geneva RER might have up to five lines.
In parallel with the CEVA project, the agglomeration of Annemasse and the departmental council of Haute-Savoie carry out and finance the construction of a greenway linking Annemasse to Les Eaux-Vives. The transfer of the station of Annemasse in multimodal exchange center is also planned as part of the arrival of the Léman Express.
EUR 234 millions to bee invested
When it comes into service, scheduled for December 2019, a total of 230 km of lines and 45 stations will be connected within a radius of 60 km around Geneva , an area of nearly one million inhabitants spread over two Swiss cantons and one Department of the Rhône-Alpes Region, Haute-Savoie.
4 years of construction and EUR 234.2 million of
investment are required to build the CEVA line, or the Léman Express as it is called. The project, under the contracting authority of French National Railways (SNCF), is supported and financed by 13 partners: the Departmental Council of Haute-Savoie, the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Region, SNCF Reseau, the French State, the Federal Office of Transport in Switzeland (OFT), the Agglomeration of Annemasse, the Syndicat Intercommunal d’Aménagement du Chablais (SIAC), the European Union and local authorities (the communes of Cluses Arve and Montagnes, Mont Blanc, Faucigny Glières, Arve And Salève and Pays Rochois).
The realization of a new cross-border route between Geneva Cornavin and Annemasse will make it possible to offer an efficient, lasting and efficient response to the growing traveling needs in the Franco-Swiss space, and thus propose a competitive alternative to the use of personal cars.
The arrival of this new qualitative transport offer is also an advantage for Greater Geneva. On the one hand, the CEVA project eliminates the border effect between France and Switzerland and makes direct travel between Geneva and Haute-Savoie possible. Then, it responds to a sustainable development of the territory by proposing a public transport offer that favors the modal shift towards rail transport, the promotion of soft mobility and allows the replacement of road transport.
More than just a new rail link linking Annemasse to Geneva, the Léman Express project also symbolizes an effort to modernize the entire network in Haute-Savoie. In addition to the construction of 7 km of new lines on the 14 km of Swiss route, the Léman Express project also plans to create 5 new stations on the Swiss side.
SNCF and SBB signed operating contract for Léman Express
The national rail infrastructure managers of France and Switzerland, SNCF and SBB, have signed an agreement supporting the creation of the cross-border Léman Express network. The future Léman Express will be a great boost for mobility, whether it’s used for work, study or tourism.
The fleet of 23 Flirt France multiple units from Swiss manufacturer Stadler will be rounded off with 17 Régiolis EMUs from French rolling stock producer Alstom.
Thus, SBB and Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes are investing CHF 500 million (EUR 465 million) in a fleet of 40 EMUs comprising 17 multi-system Régiolis EMUs, which Alstom is supplying according to a EUR 160 million contract, supplemented by 23 Stadler Flirt EMUs. SBB says that approximately CHF billion (EUR 1.8 billion) is being invested in the infrastructure for this cross-border rail network.
The Léman Express network will allow Geneva (Switzerland) to connect Annemasse (France) in 20 minutes!
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