The LGV Bretagne-Pays de la Loire (LGV BPL) is a French
high-speed rail
High-speed rail (HSR) is a type of rail system that runs significantly faster than traditional rail, using an integrated system of specialised rolling stock and dedicated tracks. While there is no single standard that applies worldwide, lines ...
line running between
Connerré,
Sarthe
Sarthe () is a department of the French region of Pays de la Loire, and the province of Maine, situated in the ''Grand-Ouest'' of the country. It is named after the river Sarthe, which flows from east of Le Mans to just north of Angers. It had ...
near
Le Mans
Le Mans (, ) is a city in northwestern France on the Sarthe River where it meets the Huisne. Traditionally the capital of the province of Maine, it is now the capital of the Sarthe department and the seat of the Roman Catholic diocese of Le Man ...
and
Cesson-Sévigné
Cesson-Sévigné () is a commune in the Ille-et-Vilaine department in Brittany in northwestern France.
It is a suburb directly to the east of Rennes, bordered on its west side by the University of Rennes and the Technopole Atalante. It is primar ...
,
Ille-et-Vilaine
Ille-et-Vilaine (; br, Il-ha-Gwilen) is a department of France, located in the region of Brittany in the northwest of the country. It is named after the two rivers of the Ille and the Vilaine. It had a population of 1,079,498 in 2019. near
Rennes
Rennes (; br, Roazhon ; Gallo: ''Resnn''; ) is a city in the east of Brittany in northwestern France at the confluence of the Ille and the Vilaine. Rennes is the prefecture of the region of Brittany, as well as the Ille-et-Vilaine department ...
.
Studied as early as 1996, processes towards LGV
Brittany
Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, Historical region, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known ...
-
Pays de la Loire
Pays de la Loire (; ; br, Broioù al Liger) is one of the 18 regions of France, in the west of the mainland. It was created in the 1950s to serve as a zone of influence for its capital, Nantes, one of a handful of "balancing metropolises" ().
...
commenced during 2005 with initial land acquisitions. Following agreements over its financing, an invitation to
tender was issued by French infrastructure manager
Réseau Ferré de France
Réseau ferré de France (RFF, french: French Rail Network) was a French company which owned and maintained the France, French national railway network from 1997 to 2014. The company was formed with the rail assets of SNCF in 1997. Afterwards, t ...
(RFF) during December 2008.
On 18 January 2011, an RFF spokesperson announced that
Eiffage
Eiffage S.A. is a French civil engineering construction company. it was the third largest company of its type in France, and the fifth largest in Europe.
History
The company was formed in 1992 through the merger of several long standing com ...
had been selected as the preferred bidder for the project. After the
LGV Sud Europe Atlantique
The LGV Sud Europe Atlantique (LGV SEA), also known as the LGV Sud-Ouest or LGV L'Océane, is a high-speed railway line between Tours and Bordeaux, in France. It is used by TGV trains operated by SNCF. It is an extension of the LGV Atlantique. ...
, it was only the second high-speed line to be developed through a
public private partnership
In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociological concept of the ''Öffentlichkei ...
(PPP) arrangement in France.
On 27 July 2012, construction of the LGV Bretagne-Pays de la Loire officially commenced. The completed line was opened on 2 July 2017 by
President
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
*President (education), a leader of a college or university
*President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Automobiles
* Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...
Emmanuel Macron
Emmanuel Macron (; born 21 December 1977) is a French politician who has served as President of France since 2017. ''Ex officio'', he is also one of the two Co-Princes of Andorra. Prior to his presidency, Macron served as Minister of Econ ...
; it is operated by
TGV
The TGV (french: Train à Grande Vitesse, "high-speed train"; previously french: TurboTrain à Grande Vitesse, label=none) is France's intercity high-speed rail service, operated by SNCF. SNCF worked on a high-speed rail network from 1966 to 19 ...
services provided by the
SNCF
The Société nationale des chemins de fer français (; abbreviated as SNCF ; French for "National society of French railroads") is France's national state-owned railway company. Founded in 1938, it operates the country's national rail traffi ...
, France's national railway company.
History
Background
![LGV Bretagne-Pays de la Loire map overwiew](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f4/LGV_Bretagne-Pays_de_la_Loire_map_overwiew.png)
Between 1996 and 2001, French infrastructure manager
Réseau Ferré de France
Réseau ferré de France (RFF, french: French Rail Network) was a French company which owned and maintained the France, French national railway network from 1997 to 2014. The company was formed with the rail assets of SNCF in 1997. Afterwards, t ...
(RFF) conducted preliminary studies into the potential construction of a 182 km (113 mi) extension of the
LGV Atlantique
The LGV Atlantique (French: ''Ligne à Grande Vitesse''; English: Atlantic high-speed line) is a high-speed rail line running from Paris (Gare Montparnasse) to Western France. It opened in 1989–1990 and comprises two stations: Massy TGV station ...
's western branch, later known as LGV Bretagne-Pays de la Loire.
["Brittany–Loire Valley High-Speed Line."](_blank)
''railway-technology.com'', Retrieved: 20 June 2018. During 2005, the process of acquiring land along the intended route was started. On 30 October 2007, it was announced that the proposed line had been granted a
Declaration of Public Utility, a sign of formal recognition by the French government and a necessary step for any major publicly funded construction programme in France; at the time, this envisioned line had a reported cost of around €2.5 billion and would achieve an estimated reduction in journey time of 37 minutes between
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
and
Brittany
Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, Historical region, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known ...
over the conventional route being used at that time. The proposal also become a recognised element of France's rail expansion strategy under the
Grenelle Environnement
The Grenelle de l'environnement was an open multi-party debate that took place in France in the summer and fall of 2007 to define key points of public policy on environmental and sustainable development over the following five-year period. Bringi ...
initiative.
On 29 July 2008, reports emerged that the broad financing for the line's construction had been agreed between the various bodies involved.
Under this arrangement, the French Government was reportedly set to contribute €990 million, which was to be matched by contributions from the regional government as well; the remaining €1.02 billion was to be provided out of RFF's own resources. By this point, it was being reported that the envisioned high speed line had an increased projected total cost of €3.4 billion, and that roughly 90 per cent of the land required for its construction had been already acquired.
The proposed LGV Bretagne-Pays de la Loire was personally highlighted by President
Nicolas Sarkozy
Nicolas Paul Stéphane Sarközy de Nagy-Bocsa (; ; born 28 January 1955) is a French politician who served as President of France from 2007 to 2012.
Born in Paris, he is of Hungarian, Greek Jewish, and French origin. Mayor of Neuilly-sur-Se ...
as one of four grand projects which were to be a recipient of funding under a national economic stimulus package that was issued by his government.
During December 2008, an invitation to
tender was issued for what was referred to as 'partnership contract' to construct LGV Bretagne-Pays de la Loire; the first round of bids were submitted by May 2009.
On 19 June 2009, RFF President Hubert du Mesniland announced that, following an assessment of the competing bids submitted, a total of three groups had been short-listed: a consortium led by
Bouygues TP,
Eiffage
Eiffage S.A. is a French civil engineering construction company. it was the third largest company of its type in France, and the fifth largest in Europe.
History
The company was formed in 1992 through the merger of several long standing com ...
, and a consortium led by
Vinci Concessions. By this point, RFF had provided the three selected groups with further technical documentation on the project, while the completion of the full consultation documents was still pending.
The final bids from the shortlisted firms were received in advance of 13 October 2009.
On 18 January 2011, an RFF spokesperson announced that Eiffage had been selected as the preferred bidder for the project.
Reportedly, it had won on the basis of five criteria: cost, the financing package's assessed robustness, technical quality and environmental impact of the proposed work, the timetable for construction activity, and the opportunities available to third party small and medium-sized companies. At the time, it was stated that Eiffage and RFF were expected to sign a contract to finalised this arrangement during the first quarter of 2011.
On 28 July 2011, the 25-year
public–private partnership
A public–private partnership (PPP, 3P, or P3) is a long-term arrangement between a government and private sector institutions.Hodge, G. A and Greve, C. (2007), Public–Private Partnerships: An International Performance Review, Public Administ ...
(PPP) contract, valued at €3·3 billion, which covered the construction and maintenance of LGV Bretagne-Pays de la Loire was signed in Paris by RFF President Hubert du Mesniland and Pierre Berger, the Managing Director of Eiffage. The arrangement covered not only the 182 km high speed line that would be newly built between
Le Mans
Le Mans (, ) is a city in northwestern France on the Sarthe River where it meets the Huisne. Traditionally the capital of the province of Maine, it is now the capital of the Sarthe department and the seat of the Roman Catholic diocese of Le Man ...
and
Rennes
Rennes (; br, Roazhon ; Gallo: ''Resnn''; ) is a city in the east of Brittany in northwestern France at the confluence of the Ille and the Vilaine. Rennes is the prefecture of the region of Brittany, as well as the Ille-et-Vilaine department ...
, but also an additional 32 km of connecting track between the new line and the existing railway network.
One day later, an associated funding agreement for the programme was signed by the
Minister for Ecology, Energy, Sustainable Development & Planning Jean-Louis Borloo
Jean-Louis Marie Borloo (; born 7 April 1951) is a French politician who served as president of the Union of Democrats and Independents (UDI) from 2012 to 2014. He also was Minister of the Economy, Finance and Employment in 2007 and Minister of ...
. At this time, preliminary studies of the route were scheduled to take place between May 2011 and July 2012, while actual construction activity was intended to commence during the autumn of 2012. The line was projected to be completed sometime in late 2016.
Construction
On 27 July 2012, construction of LGV Bretagne-Pays de la Loire was officially commenced following a ceremony attended by RFF President Hubert du Mesnil and Eiffage Managing Director Pierre Berger, as well as other officials. Reportedly, it was expected that the construction phase of the project would generate around 10,000 jobs.
Some elements of LGV Bretagne-Pays de la Loire's construction were contracted out to other companies as well. Italian transport engineering company
Ansaldo STS
Hitachi Rail STS SpA (from ''Hitachi Rail Signalling and Transportation Systems'') or Hitachi Rail STS (previously Ansaldo STS) is a transportation company owned by Hitachi with a global presence in the field of railway signalling and integrated t ...
provided the line's signalling infrastructure under a contract valued at €62 million ($80.5 million) issued by Eiffage, while Indian metal fabricator
Tata Steel
Tata Steel Limited is an Indian multinational steel-making company, based in Jamshedpur, Jharkhand and headquartered in Mumbai, Maharashtra. It is a part of the Tata Group.
Formerly known as Tata Iron and Steel Company Limited (TISCO), Tata ...
was awarded a €50 million ($65 million) contract for the supply of roughly 50,000 tonnes of rails for the project.
An associated project, which was ultimately not realised, would have required the improvement of the conventional
Rennes
Rennes (; br, Roazhon ; Gallo: ''Resnn''; ) is a city in the east of Brittany in northwestern France at the confluence of the Ille and the Vilaine. Rennes is the prefecture of the region of Brittany, as well as the Ille-et-Vilaine department ...
–
Brest
Brest may refer to:
Places
*Brest, Belarus
**Brest Region
**Brest Airport
**Brest Fortress
* Brest, Kyustendil Province, Bulgaria
* Břest, Czech Republic
*Brest, France
** Arrondissement of Brest
**Brest Bretagne Airport
** Château de Brest
*Br ...
and
Rennes
Rennes (; br, Roazhon ; Gallo: ''Resnn''; ) is a city in the east of Brittany in northwestern France at the confluence of the Ille and the Vilaine. Rennes is the prefecture of the region of Brittany, as well as the Ille-et-Vilaine department ...
–
Quimper
Quimper (, ; br, Kemper ; la, Civitas Aquilonia or ) is a commune and prefecture of the Finistère department of Brittany in northwestern France.
Administration
Quimper is the prefecture (capital) of the Finistère department.
Geography
The ...
lines via alterations such as the elimination of
level crossing
A level crossing is an intersection where a railway line crosses a road, Trail, path, or (in rare situations) airport runway, at the same level, as opposed to the railway line crossing over or under using an Overpass#Railway, overpass ...
s and the straightening of sharp curves so that these sections could be facilitate trains moving at the higher speed of 220 km/h. If this option had been exercised, the journey time for Paris to Brest and Quimper would have reportedly dropped down to 3 hours. On 2 July 2017, the LGV Bretagne-Pays de la Loire opened in a ceremony overseen by
French President
The president of France, officially the president of the French Republic (french: Président de la République française), is the executive head of state of France, and the commander-in-chief of the French Armed Forces. As the presidency is ...
Emmanuel Macron
Emmanuel Macron (; born 21 December 1977) is a French politician who has served as President of France since 2017. ''Ex officio'', he is also one of the two Co-Princes of Andorra. Prior to his presidency, Macron served as Minister of Econ ...
.
Route
![Noyal-sur-Vilaine - Chantier LGV](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c1/Noyal-sur-Vilaine_-_Chantier_LGV.JPG)
The line begins as an extension of the
LGV Atlantique
The LGV Atlantique (French: ''Ligne à Grande Vitesse''; English: Atlantic high-speed line) is a high-speed rail line running from Paris (Gare Montparnasse) to Western France. It opened in 1989–1990 and comprises two stations: Massy TGV station ...
western branch near Connerré (
Sarthe
Sarthe () is a department of the French region of Pays de la Loire, and the province of Maine, situated in the ''Grand-Ouest'' of the country. It is named after the river Sarthe, which flows from east of Le Mans to just north of Angers. It had ...
). After a connection north of
Le Mans
Le Mans (, ) is a city in northwestern France on the Sarthe River where it meets the Huisne. Traditionally the capital of the province of Maine, it is now the capital of the Sarthe department and the seat of the Roman Catholic diocese of Le Man ...
, the LGV dips towards the southwest with a connection to the regular
Le Mans-Angers line near
Sablé-sur-Sarthe
Sablé-sur-Sarthe (, literally ''Sablé on Sarthe''), commonly referred to as Sablé, is a commune in the Sarthe department, in the Pays de la Loire region, western France. It is about 50 km northeast of Angers.
Population
Geography
The Va ...
. The connection, at a length of 32 km, from Sablé-sur-Sarthe slightly speeds up the journey to Nantes. The line then rises to pass north of
Laval
Laval means ''The Valley'' in old French and is the name of:
People
* House of Laval, a French noble family originating from the town of Laval, Mayenne
* Laval (surname)
Places Belgium
* Laval, a village in the municipality of Sainte-Ode, Luxem ...
and re-join the regular ligne at
Cesson-Sévigné
Cesson-Sévigné () is a commune in the Ille-et-Vilaine department in Brittany in northwestern France.
It is a suburb directly to the east of Rennes, bordered on its west side by the University of Rennes and the Technopole Atalante. It is primar ...
, near
Rennes
Rennes (; br, Roazhon ; Gallo: ''Resnn''; ) is a city in the east of Brittany in northwestern France at the confluence of the Ille and the Vilaine. Rennes is the prefecture of the region of Brittany, as well as the Ille-et-Vilaine department ...
. The total length of the route is roughly 214 km of which 182 km being high speed.
The high-speed line featured a total of seven covered
trench
A trench is a type of excavation or in the ground that is generally deeper than it is wide (as opposed to a wider gully, or ditch), and narrow compared with its length (as opposed to a simple hole or pit).
In geology, trenches result from eros ...
es and ten
viaduct
A viaduct is a specific type of bridge that consists of a series of arches, piers or columns supporting a long elevated railway or road. Typically a viaduct connects two points of roughly equal elevation, allowing direct overpass across a wide v ...
s.
The track consisted of rails on top of concrete sleepers, which were laid on a bed of
ballast
Ballast is material that is used to provide stability to a vehicle or structure. Ballast, other than cargo, may be placed in a vehicle, often a ship or the gondola of a balloon or airship, to provide stability. A compartment within a boat, ship, ...
; reportedly, a 900,000 tonnes of ballast, 820 km of rails and 680,000 sleepers were used during the line's construction.
Overhead line
An overhead line or overhead wire is an electrical cable that is used to transmit electrical energy to electric locomotives, trolleybuses or trams. It is known variously as:
* Overhead catenary
* Overhead contact system (OCS)
* Overhead equipmen ...
s are provided for electric traction, the majority of trains running the line are intended to be powered in this manner.
Electricity is supplied by the French electrical transmission company
Réseau de Transport d'Électricité
Réseau de Transport d'Électricité ("Electricity Transmission Network"), usually known as RTE, is the electricity transmission system operator of France. It is responsible for the operation, maintenance and development of the French high-voltage ...
(RTE) and is redistributed along the line via a series of
substations, this electrical infrastructure reportedly allows for a maximum speed of 350 km/h to be achieved.
The signalling system of the 182 km new high-speed line conforms with the requirements of
European Rail Traffic Management System
The European Rail Traffic Management System (ERTMS) is the system of standards for management and interoperation of signalling for railways by the European Union (EU). It is conducted by the European Union Agency for Railways (ERA) and is the o ...
(ERTMS) Level 2, while the 32 km of conventional connections are equipped with ERTMS Level 1-standard signalling instead.
As such, LGV Bretagne-Pays de la Loire does not feature any conventional visual line-side signals, this information being communicated to drivers using in-cab screens instead. A combination of
Radio Block Centres (RBC) and
Eurobalise
A Eurobalise is a specific variant of a balise being a transponder placed between the rails of a railway. These balises constitute an integral part of the European Train Control System, where they serve as "beacons" giving the exact location of a t ...
s are installed at intervals throughout the length of the line to allow for the continuous delivery of this information to trains, which is wirelessly transmitted using the
Global System for Mobile Communications – Railway (GSM-R) communication standard.
Under normal conditions, all of the line's signalling is centrally controlled via a switching centre located at
Rennes
Rennes (; br, Roazhon ; Gallo: ''Resnn''; ) is a city in the east of Brittany in northwestern France at the confluence of the Ille and the Vilaine. Rennes is the prefecture of the region of Brittany, as well as the Ille-et-Vilaine department ...
.
Journey times
*
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
–
Rennes
Rennes (; br, Roazhon ; Gallo: ''Resnn''; ) is a city in the east of Brittany in northwestern France at the confluence of the Ille and the Vilaine. Rennes is the prefecture of the region of Brittany, as well as the Ille-et-Vilaine department ...
: 1 hours 26 minutes (a reduction of 37 minutes)
*
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
–
Nantes
Nantes (, , ; Gallo: or ; ) is a city in Loire-Atlantique on the Loire, from the Atlantic coast. The city is the sixth largest in France, with a population of 314,138 in Nantes proper and a metropolitan area of nearly 1 million inhabita ...
: 1 hours 52 minutes (a reduction of 8 minutes)
*
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
–
Saint-Malo
Saint-Malo (, , ; Gallo: ; ) is a historic French port in Ille-et-Vilaine, Brittany, on the English Channel coast.
The walled city had a long history of piracy, earning much wealth from local extortion and overseas adventures. In 1944, the Alli ...
: 2 hours 14 minutes (a reduction of 42 minutes)
*
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
–
Lorient
Lorient (; ) is a town (''Communes of France, commune'') and Port, seaport in the Morbihan Departments of France, department of Brittany (administrative region), Brittany in western France.
History
Prehistory and classical antiquity
Beginn ...
: 2 hours 56 minutes (a reduction of 42 minutes)
*
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
–
Brest
Brest may refer to:
Places
*Brest, Belarus
**Brest Region
**Brest Airport
**Brest Fortress
* Brest, Kyustendil Province, Bulgaria
* Břest, Czech Republic
*Brest, France
** Arrondissement of Brest
**Brest Bretagne Airport
** Château de Brest
*Br ...
: 3 hours 25 minutes (a reduction of 46 minutes)
External links
LGV website
References
{{Lignes à grande vitesse
Bretagne-Pays de la Loire
Transport in Brittany