major cross-border projects

Several cross-border projects are currently underway or in the study phase. Some of the main ones are :

The creation of the East European High Speed Line towards Luxembourg and Germany, which will form a major section of the Paris-Bratislava route
The launch of the Rhin-Rhône High Speed Line to improve connections with Switzerland and Germany
Building new transalpine links, with the Lyon-Turin line (along the priority PP6 Lyon-Turin-Budapest route) and the project to build the Provence-Alps-Côte d’Azur High Speed Line, which will be a component of the Mediterranean arc
Consolidating the European South-West railway artery, running down into the Iberian Peninsula, along its Mediterranean branch, via Nimes and Montpellier, and along the Atlantic side, via Bordeaux.
 

European railway traffic has great potential. The idea behind creating European railway corridors is to increase traffic levels whilst at the same time improving technical interoperability and service quality along these routes, especially at border points. These corridors have been developed in response to a need to promote a European railway network that gives priority to the freight sector, along which transport will be more reliable and efficient in terms of journey times, reliability and capacity.

At the request of the European Union, studies have been underway since 2005 into 6 European freight corridors, labelled A to F. These corridors were chosen for their role in traffic flows through Europe. These 6 corridors are: A: Rotterdam - Geneva B: Stockholm – Naples C: Antwerp - Basle - Lyon D: Valencia – Lyon – Ljubljana - Budapest E: Dresden – Prague - Budapest F: Duisburg – Berlin – Warsa

ERTMS Corridors

Around 20% of the total volume of European freight travels along these corridors, even though they represent only 6% of the length of track covered by the trans-European transport network (TEN-T).


One of the key stages in this process was the development of the European Rail Traffic Management System (ERTMS), a European signalling system which will replace all the various signalling systems currently in use throughout Europe. This is a crucial element in the development of an integrated system.

However, in order to achieve hard and fast results, the ERTMS must be accompanied by a range of measures aimed at eliminating bottlenecks, harmonising operational regulations and improving operating rules.

The work carried out by RailNetEurope (RNE) will be essential from the point of view of offering international rail paths and real-time traffic management.
 
Two “priority” corridors will cross through France, corridors C and D. Corridor C, Antwerp-Basle-Lyon, is a total of 1,840 kilometres in length.
Corridor D, Valencia-Lyon-Turin-Budapest, runs for 3,000 km.

They join together at Lyon and at Ambérieu, and offer interoperable connections to the North and South of Europe. These two corridors will also provide a railway connection to all of France’s neighbouring countries, except Great Britain.