High-Speed Rail in France Network

High-Speed Rail in France Network

In June 2021 there were approximately 2,800 km (1,740 mi) of Lignes à Grande Vitesse (LGV), with four additional line sections under construction. The current lines and those under construction can be grouped into four routes radiating from Paris and one that currently only connects to Paris through a section of classical track:

• South-west: LGV Atlantique, LGV Sud Europe Atlantique and LGV Bretagne-Pays de la Loire to Bordeaux and Rennes.
• North: LGV Nord to Brussels, connecting to High Speed 1 to London and HSL 1 to Brussels.
• East: LGV Est to Strasbourg and Germany.
• South-east: LGV Sud-Est, LGV Rhône-Alpes and LGV Méditerranée to Marseille, plus LGV Rhin-Rhône and LGV Perpignan–Figueres.

LGV Interconnexion Est connects LGV Sud-Est to LGV Nord around Paris.

• East: LGV Rhin-Rhône connects Strasbourg and Lyon, still mostly on classical tracks, and Paris to Besançon and Mulhouse.

High-Speed Rail in France Existing Lines

• LGV Sud-Est (Paris Gare de Lyon to Lyon-Perrache), the first LGV (opened 1981)
• LGV Atlantique (Paris Gare Montparnasse to Tours and Le Mans) (opened 1990)
• LGV Rhône-Alpes (Lyon to Valence) (opened 1992)
• LGV Nord (Paris Gare du Nord to Calais) (opened 1993)
• LGV Interconnexion Est (LGV Sud-Est to LGV Nord Europe, east of Paris) (opened 1994)
• LGV Méditerranée (An extension of LGV Rhône-Alpes: Valence to Marseille-Saint-Charles) with a branch to Nîmes (opened 2001)
• LGV Est (Paris Gare de l'Est to Strasbourg) (first section opened 2007, 2nd section opened 3 July 2016)
• LGV Perpignan–Figueres (Spain to France) (construction finished 17 February 2009, TGV service from 19 December 2010)
• LGV Rhin-Rhône (Lyon–Dijon–Mulhouse), first phase opened 11 December 2011.
• LGV Sud Europe Atlantique (Tours–Bordeaux), extending the southern branch of the LGV Atlantique (also called LGV Sud-Ouest), opened on 2 July 2017.
• LGV Bretagne-Pays de la Loire (Le Mans–Rennes), extending the western branch of the LGV Atlantique, opened on 2 July 2017.
• Nîmes-Montpellier bypass extending the south-western stub of the LGV Méditerranée by 60 km towards the Spanish border, opened on 12 December 2017 for freight (July 2018 for passengers). It is however currently limited to a maximum speed of 220 km/h, since the installation of ETCS Level 2 allowing speeds up to 300 km/h is yet to be planned.

          Line           Connected Cities/Stations              Opened          Operating speed (max)       Type of trains

North Corridor

• LGV Nord Paris-Nord · Péronne · Arras · Lille-Europe · Calais 1993 300 km/h (190 mph) Duplex, e300, e320, PBA, PBKA, POS, Réseau
• LGV Interconnexion Est Aéroport Charles de Gaulle · Marne-la-Vallée–Chessy (at Disneyland Paris) 1994

South-West Corridor

• LGV Atlantique Paris-Montparnasse · Massy 1989 300 km/h (190 mph) Atlantique, Duplex
• Southern branch: Vendôme · Tours
• Western branch: Le Mans 1990 Atlantique, Duplex
• LGV Sud Europe Atlantique Poitiers · Angoulême · Bordeaux-Saint-Jean 2017 320 km/h (200 mph) Atlantique, Duplex
• LGV Bretagne-Pays de la Loire Sablé-sur-Sarthe · Laval · Rennes 2017 Atlantique

South-East Corridor

• LGV Sud-Est Paris-Lyon · Le Creusot · Mâcon · Lyon-Part-Dieu 1981 300 km/h (190 mph) Duplex, Euroduplex
• LGV Rhône-Alpes Lyon-Saint-Exupéry · Valence 1992 Duplex
• LGV Méditerranée Avignon · Aix-en-Provence · Marseille-Saint-Charles 2001 320 km/h (200 mph) Duplex
• LGV Rhin-Rhône Besançon · Belfort 2011 Duplex, POS, Réseau, Velaro D
• LGV Nîmes – Montpellier Nîmes · Montpellier 2018 220 km/h (140 mph) Duplex
• LGV Perpignan–Figueres Perpignan · Figueres–Vilafant 2010 320 km/h (200 mph) Duplex

East Corridor

• LGV Est Paris-Est · Bezannes · Les Trois-Domaines · Louvigny 2007 320 km/h (200 mph) Duplex, Euroduplex, POS, Réseau, Velaro D
• Vendenheim · Strasbourg-Ville 2016 Duplex, Euroduplex, POS, Réseau, Velaro D

High-Speed Rail in France Under Construction

• Lyon–Turin (Lyon–Chambéry–Turin), connecting to the Italian TAV network.

High-Speed Rail in France Planned Lines

In 2017 French President Emmanuel Macron announced a plan to "reassess" planned LGV construction, implying that many of the projects listed here will be delayed or not constructed at all. Contrary to this, the French government confirmed 5 new lines in late summer 2018.

• LGV Montpellier–Perpignan, the last gap in Europe's longest high-speed route between Paris and Málaga/Seville.
• LGV Bordeaux–Toulouse
• LGV Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur (Marseille–Nice), would reduce Paris–Nice travel times from 5h25 to 3h50.
• LGV Sud Europe Atlantique Phase 3 (Bordeaux to Spanish Border)
• LGV Rhin-Rhône (Lyon–Dijon–Mulhouse), second phase of the eastern branch construction initially planned to start in 2014, but funding is unclear for the western and southern branches.
• Extension to Narbonne of the LGV Bordeaux–Toulouse
• LGV Picardie (Paris–Amiens–Calais), cutting off the corner of the LGV Nord-Europe via Lille.
• LGV Normandie would run from Paris to Rouen, Le Havre, Caen and Cherbourg. The line would have a stop in La Défense where it would meet with a proposed link to LGV Nord and a proposed Eurostar service to terminate in La Défense.
• LGV Paris Orléans Clermont-Ferrand Lyon. On 30 July 2010, the government of then President Sarkozy announced that it expected to start work on a second LGV between Paris and Lyon between 2020 and 2030. The train line would run via Orléans and Clermont-Ferrand, at a length of 410 km, and is expected to cost €12bn. The route will be known as LGV POCL (Paris, Orléans, Clermont-Ferrand and Lyon). Four potential routes are being studied as of 2011, with consultations continuing into 2012. Work would not start before 2025.