“I’m not going to get tired of 5 hours on the train”, the TGV Paris

The high-speed line between Paris and Lyon will be closed to TGV traffic for four days. The weekend of November 9 to 12, the SNCF will equip it with a new signaling system. Travelers must organize themselves. An operation of this magnitude is a “world first” on a high-speed line in operation.

The weekend of November 11 promises to be complicated for TGV users between Paris and the south of France. From November 9 to 12, trains will be diverted to the classic line. Modernization work will be carried out over four days between Paris and Lyon. Trains will be canceled and, for those that do run, their journey times will be extended.

For four days, 30% of TGVs will be canceled. The others will therefore travel at reduced speed on the classic line, “with a significant increase in travel times” indicates the SNCF. Thus, a TGV which connects Paris and Lyon in two hoursin normal times, will put more than four hours to make the same journey. The same for a journey between Marseille and Paris: you will have to count on eight hours of travel against approximately three hours usually.

On the “SNCF Connect” application, there are still places available for the weekend of November 11. But the announced journey times deter many travelers. Valérie had to go to Paris on November 12, she decided to anticipate her trip. “I’m not going to get tired of five hours on the train.” She puts things into perspective, “It’s not very serious, I’ll take the opportunity to see some friends again”. Others will have to organize themselves or be patient.

SNCF indicates that this work will last until November 12 inclusive. Certain destinations in the south of France will not be insured. Valence TGV station will not be served. “Consequently, users wishing to travel by train on the Paris-Lyon-Marseille axis during this exceptional period will have to take their train at Valence Ville” said the Drôme prefecture in a press release.

This modernization project, “a world first on an operating line” named LGV +, should ultimately allow “an increase in train frequency and better regularity”according to SNCF Réseau. The work will focus on switches or signaling; this vast project will enable the line to be equipped with a new system called ERTMS.

The network manager explains that ERTMS (European Rail Traffic Management System) technology is “a European standard signaling system, with a high level of safety and performance”. It will allow “ffacilitate access of railway companies to the network”in short: to enable European competition. But the line will also be able to accommodate more trains.

Its capacity will also be gradually increased, going from 13 trains per hour per direction during rush hour today, to 16 trains per hour per direction in 2030, a gain of 25%.

The high-speed line between Paris and Lyon sees 240 trains run per day. 460 km long, it will therefore be closed for four days. It was commissioned in 1981. The work will involve nearly 1000 people over the period. But until the end of 2024, other work will take place, without impact on train traffic.