Lyon–Geneva railway

The Lyon–Geneva railway is an important route in the national rail network. It connects not only Geneva but also feeds the Maurienne railway and the Geneva to Valence via Grenoble line. It carries a variety of traffic: TGV Paris-Geneva, Geneva - South of France, TER Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, Léman Express and goods trains.

Lyon - Geneva
Z27894 passing by Fort de l'Ecluse
Overview
Owner	RFF
Locale	Switzerland (Canton of Geneva), France (Rhône-Alpes)
Termini	Gare de Lyon-Perrache Gare de Cornavin, Geneva
Service
Type	TGV, TER, RER and freight
System	SNCF
Operator(s)	SNCF
History
Opened	1858
Technical
Line length	167.6 km (104.1 mi)
Number of tracks	Double track
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Electrification	1.5 kV DC
Route map km elev (M) or length (m) in metres 510.914 Paris Paris–Marseille railway 0.000 Lyon-Perrache 174 M Saint-Étienne–Lyon railway to Saint-Étienne 0.304 A 7 motorway 30 m 0.431 The Rhône 217 m Lyon-Jean Macé 1.616 Lyon-Guillotière Paris–Marseille railway to Marseille 5.010 to Montalieu-Vercieu 5.010 Lyon-Part-Dieu 171 M 5.743 Lyon-Brotteaux 172 M 8.095 The Rhône 272 m 8.415 Lyon-Saint-Clair 176 M to Collonges-Fontaines and Paris to Bourg-en-Bresse and LGV Sud-Est 11.268 Crépieux-la-Pape 172 M 13.400 A 46 motorway Rhône Ain border 14.681 Neyron 174 M 16.616 Miribel 176 M 18.501 Saint-Maurice-de-Beynost 179 M 20.966 Beynost 181 M 22.000 LGV Rhône-Alpes 23.179 La Boisse 186 M 25.195 Montluel 198 M 27.256 A 42 motorway 27.545 Montluel substation (1.5kV) 30.464 La Valbonne 203 M 32.862 A 42 motorway 38.393 Meximieux—Pérouges 218 M 41.968 Villieux - Loyes 222 M 42.642 Ain River 173 m to Plaine de l'Ain Industrial Park 46.511 Leyment 231 M 49.639 50.663 Albarine River 28 m 51.2 to Lagnieu 51.453 Ambérieu 247 M 52.500 to Mâcon 50.903 Ambérieu substation (1.5kV) 57.199 Torcieu 267 M 57.906 Albarine River 32 m 62.677 Saint-Rambert-en-Bugey 289 M substation (1.5kV) 69.330 Tenay-Hauteville 325 M 76.254 La Burbanche 359 M 79.206 Furans 79.670 Furans 83.122 Rossillon 330 M 83.517 Furans 83.600 Rossillon substation (1.5kV) 86.552 Pugieu tunnel 662 m 89.817 to Belley 89.817 Virieu-le-Grand – Belley 267 M 93.377 Artemare – Saint-Martin 258 M 95.378 Séran River 22 m 101.355 Culoz 237 M 101.355 Culoz–Modane railway to Chambéry and Modane 101.900 Culoz chord substation (1.5kV) 110.400 Anglefort 249 M 116.197 Seyssel – Corbonod 258 M 122.937 Pyrimont – Chanay 291 M substation (1.5kV) 123.332 Surjoux tunnel 153 m 125.335 Bognes tunnel 518 m 123.703 Vézeronce 127.298 Génissiat 338 M 127.434 Génissiat tunnel 893 m 128.625 Paradis tunnel 1,060 m 134.300 Bellegarde (old) Ligne du Haut-Bugey to Bourg-en-Bresse Bellegarde (new) 372 M 134.692 Valserine River 138 m 135.291 Cret-d'Eau tunnel 4,008 m 139.802 Longeray – Léaz 385 M 139.802 to Évian-les-Bains substation (1.5kV) 141.505 la Folie tunnel 140 m 142.544 Collonges – Fort l'Écluse 356 M 142.628 to Divonne-les-Bains 147.814 Pougny—Chancy 356 M 152.345 France Switzerland ( Les Charmilles Creek ) 153.158 La Plaine 366 M 155.000 Russin 378 M 158.671 Satigny 415 M Bourdigny 160.900 Zimeysa 162.450 Meyrin 413 M 163.100 Vernier 429 M 165.200 to Geneva Airport 166.300 CEVA rail to Lancy-Pont-Rouge 167.620 0.000 Genève-Cornavin 392 M Lausanne–Geneva railway 60.260 Lausanne km elev (M) or length (m) in metres

The line is numbered 890 000 of the RFF national network.

Route

From Lyon-Perrache the line runs round Lyon city centre to Lyon-Part-Dieu. After running through the northeast suburbs of Lyon, the line runs in more or less straight sections across the plain to Ambérieu where it joins the line to Bourg-en Bresse and Macon, (formerly the Geneva Paris route). The rest of the line winds through the foothills of the Alpes and Jura. At Culoz is the junction with the Maurienne line to Turin via Modane. From Culoz the line runs close to the Rhône to Bellegarde-sur-Valerine where it meets the Ligne du Haut-Bugey. After Bellegarde trains plunge into the 4 km Cret d'Eau tunnel, emerging at the Longeray junction, where the line to Evian branches off via the spectacular Longeray viaduct clearly visible from the line. Thereafter, the line descends close to the Rhône, crossing the Swiss frontier between Challex and la Plaine. Between la Plaine and Geneva stations are much closer together, due to commuter traffic for Geneva. Entering the Geneva conurbation through the Meyrin-Vernier industrial estate, with many goods sidings, the railway crosses the Swiss A1 motorway over a high bridge, then reduces to a single track beside the double track Cornavin-Airport line. Inside a tunnel, a triangular junction connects to the la Praille goods yard and the CEVA connection to Annemasse and Evian. Still in the tunnel, the line crosses the Cornavin-Airport line by a diveunder. The line emerges in the St. Jean quarter of Geneva to terminate at platforms 5, 7 and 8 of Cornavin station.

History

Creation

• 23 June 1856: Opening of the section from Lyon Saint-Clair to Ambérieu-en-Bugey.
• 7 May 1857: Ambérieu to Seyssel
• 18 March 1858: Seyssel to Geneva (Cornavin)
• 1 June 1859: Lyon Saint-Clair to Lyon Brotteaux
• 24 November 1859: link to Lyon Guillotière and Lyon Perrache

Electrification

The line was progressively electrified to 1500 V DC

• 14 December 1952: Lyon Perrache and Lyon St Clair.
• 22 September 1953: Lyon-Saint-Clair to Culoz.
• 16 December 1953: Culoz to Bellegarde.
• 20 September 1956: completion of the electrification with the section Bellegarde to Geneva. The inaugural train was hauled by CC 7121 (at the time the world rail speed record holder).

Evolution

In subsequent years the line has undergone various modifications, the most important of which are:

• 1980, opening of the cord line at Culoz allowing Genève - Grenoble - Valence traffic to pass through directly at 60 km/h avoiding the reversing movement in Culoz station.
• 27 September 1981 first commercial Paris - Geneva TGV service via Bellegarde, Culoz, Ambérieu et Bourg-en-Bresse.
• 12 June 1983 last day of operation of Lyon-Brotteaux station.
• 13 June 1983 first day of operation of Lyon-Part-Dieu station.
• May 1987: Opening of the branch to Geneva airport. Most of the traffic West from Cornavin became long distance Swiss trains terminating at the airport in place of the relatively sparse traffic to the SNCF network. Accordingly, the main lines were reelectrified to the Swiss standard of 15 kV 16.7 Hz while a third line dedicated to SNCF traffic used a new single track line running parallel through to Cornavin.
• 12 December 2010: reopening of the Ligne du Haut-Bugey for TGV traffic to Paris, diverting TGVs from the Bellegarde to Ambérieu section.

• 
  TER at Seyssel-Corbonod station, en route from Lyon to Geneva.
• 
  TER from Geneva to Valence reversing at Culoz station.

Geneva-Bellegarde Section

All the different types of traffic mentioned in the introduction run on this section. Direct passenger services from Bellegarde to Geneva are provided by French TGV or TER trains, while stopping services are provided by the Swiss Rhône Express Régional service. Because it was electrified and signalled to a French system but operated in part by the Swiss Railways there were several unusual hybrids on the line, illustrated in the photos, including

• Swiss EMUs running on 1500 V DC and using the French train control system
• French style signals built by the Swiss signal maker Integra

• 
  TGV in Cornavin station.
• 
  Bem550 emerging from St Jean tunnel on 1500 V single line section between Vernier and Cornavin
• 
  The single line 1500 V section toward Lyon on the left running alongside the 15 kV double track (on the right) toward the airport.
• 
  Vernier-Meyrin Station with French train control relay clearly visible in the foreground
• 
  Signal near Vernier-Meyrin station. This is a French Carré signal built by Integra to the French system. Note the Swiss style octagonal backplate.
• 
  Bourdigny Station (disused) with RABe 522 RER for la Plaine
• 
  Satigny Station with RABe 522 RER for Geneva Cornavin
• 
  La Plaine station in 2011. The old station building was demolished in early 2019. TGV 6576 en route from Geneva to Paris.
• 
  Gare de Fort l'Ecluse Collonges. The clock works, although it's on summer time in winter. In the left background, the Divonne line climbs away steeply
• 
  Longeray viaduct seen from Léaz-Longeray junction, with a Paris bound TGV coming from Evian
• 
  Léaz-Longeray junction seen from the road above
• 
  Grenoble bound TER emerging from the South portal of the Cret d'Eau tunnel

Upgrade Project Geneva Bellegarde 2014 25 kV

Suburban traffic on the Geneva- Bellegarde section is increasing steadily and the single track section is expected to become a serious bottleneck. The southern branch of the Geneva RER, the CEVA will be electrified to 25 kV 50 Hz, so the 1.5 kV DC electrification of the Geneva to Bellegarde section is a third voltage for regional trains. To alleviate these two problems, two engineering projects have been carried out, the first being to modify the double and single lines between Cornavin and the junction to the airport for bidirectional operation on all three tracks with either 25 or 15 kV, and the second to reelectrify the Bellegarde to Geneva section to 25 kV AC. The works were completed in August 2014, and the Bellegarde to Geneva section is entirely under 25 kV. Between la Plaine and Geneva, the signals are all Swiss, controlled from Geneva and allowing bidirectional operation. The Bem 550 and 'Flirt' 524 EMUs have been replaced by 'Flirt' 522s and 'Colibri' 562s

• 
  Upgrades to Geneva Bellegarde section
• 
  Masts in place for the future 25 kV overhead wires at Bourdigny looking toward Satigny. A Geneva bound FLIRT has just left Satigny
• 
  New 25 kV catenary at Bellegarde station
• 
  Voltage indicators on tracks 5, 6 and 7 westbound at Geneva station

Upgrade Project 2018 bigger platforms

All platforms will be lengthened to 160m to allow for longer trains. The project was supposed to be finished by end 2019, with an estimated cost of 56mio CHF, financed by the Canton of Geneva. As of December 2022, most of the stations are complete.

• 
  Gare Zimeysa temporary platforms Oct 2018
• 
  Demolition of la Plaine Station building January 2019

See also

• History of civil works between Cornavin and la Plaine, Geneva cantonal archive (in French)