Léman Express

Léman Express

An RABe 522 train in Léman Express livery at Genève-Eaux-Vives railway station on opening day, 15 December 2019
Overview
Owner	CFF Infrastructure SNCF Réseau
Locale	Switzerland: cantons of Geneva and Vaud France: departments of Haute-Savoie and Ain
Transit type	Commuter rail
Number of lines	6
Number of stations	45
Daily ridership	45,000 in March 2020[1]
Website	lemanexpress.ch
Operation
Operator(s)	CFF SNCF
Technical
System length	230 km (140 mi)
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge
hideSystem map

The Léman Express^[2][3] is a commuter rail network for the transborder agglomeration of Grand Genève^[4] (Greater Geneva) in west Switzerland and the French Alps (Haute-Savoie and Ain).

At the heart of the Léman Express system is the CEVA rail project linking Eaux-Vives station with Cornavin station in Geneva. This new line, largely underground, was opened on 15 December 2019. The Léman Express marked the start of direct services from Genève-Cornavin station to the French cities of Evian, Thonon, Annemasse and Annecy as well as the population of the Arve Valley up to Saint-Gervais-les-Bains.

Prior to the opening CEVA, local rail in Geneva consisted of two short services: the half-hourly Regio operating from Coppet to the main Genève-Cornavin railway station and (since 2002) on to Lancy-Pont-Rouge station (now sections of L1-L4), as well as the Rhône Express Régional (abbreviated to 'RER') line from La Plaine (in Dardagny) to Genève-Cornavin station (now L5 and L6). The RER line used tram-trains derived from those on Lausanne métro's line M1, required as it was electrified using 1,500 Volts direct current, unlike the 15,000 Volts alternating current rest of the Swiss Federal Railway network. Local trains to Bellegarde-sur-Valserine (in France) joined the network on 3 December 2001. The line was subsequently upgraded to the standard 25 kV AC electrification (as used on much of the French railways) in conjunction with the development of the Léman Express system.

Upon the full launch of the network in December 2019, it was hoped ridership would be around 50,000 travelers per day by the end of the next year; at the beginning of March 2020 it had already reached 45,000 per day before the COVID-19 pandemic and related economic and travel shutdowns reduced ridership. As of June 2020, ridership had recovered to around 50% of pre-pandemic ridership.^[5]

History[]

On 8 February 2008, the Swiss and French Railways brought into being a study and marketing company, Transferis, to look into rolling stock, service, and marketing improvements for the RER system. The studies were necessitated by the growing number of commuters living in France and working in Geneva, not only on the short, existing RER system but on the lines leaving the station at Eaux Vives on the south side of the lake.

The new, enlarged, RER network was to cover the present Eaux Vives to Annemasse line with services at regular intervals beyond to serve Evian, St. Gervais and Annecy, the RER line from Cornavin to La Plaine with services extending beyond to serve Bellegarde, and the local CFF services operating from Lancy (Pont Rouge) to Coppet through Cornavin. At the time of study, services carried some 7,000 commuters a day; with the improved network this was expected to grow to over 35,000 and cut up to 50,000 car journeys between France and Switzerland.

The largest civil engineering project within the scheme was the CEVA line from Cornavin to Annemasse, with a tunnel between La Praille and Eaux Vives. Between Eaux Vives and Annemasse the present line was closed for four years period whilst it was double-tracked and cut-and-covered.

As part of the scheme and to avoid RER rolling stock needing three voltages, Cornavin – La Plaine – Bellegarde was re-electrified at 25 kV AC in summer 2014. This not only allows standard Swiss dual voltage (25 kV AC 50 Hz and 15 kV 16⅔ Hz) EMUs to work on the line but also improves the performance of the TGV workings (Paris-Geneva TGVs no longer need to run under 1.5 kV DC).

The French signalling and train control between Geneva and la Plaine was replaced with standard Swiss equipment, the points motors renewed and the line fully automated.^[6]

Prior services[]

Rhône Express Regional[]

The Geneva RER or Rhône Express Regional was a commuter railway service running between Geneva Cornavin Station, Switzerland using the dedicated Platform 5 and La Plaine (Swiss terminus) and Bellegarde-sur-Valserine in France. It forms part of the Lyon-Geneva Railway. It is probably not a coincidence that the initials correspond to the Paris suburban railway commuter network RER. The service was twice hourly in each direction weekdays, with additional hourly services to Bellegarde at peak hours. Fares within the Swiss sector are covered by the Tout Genève ('whole of Geneva') rate, zones 11–17.

This line used to be electrified at 1500 V DC and signalled to SNCF standards from the border to both Geneva's central passenger station and La Praille goods depot.

Prior to the introduction of the "RER" brand in 1995 the Geneva – La-Plaine service was operated by two notoriously unreliable BDe 4/4 II railcars.

Rolling stock[]

Stadler FLIRT RABe 524 EMU about to leave Satigny for Cornavin

Initially, service was operated by five specially built two coach articulated railcars of class Bem550. These were built by Vevey Technologies (formerly Ateliers de Constructions Mécaniques de Vevey, ACMV)^[7] with electrical equipment by Asea Brown Boveri in 1994. They ran under 1.5 kV DC wires, but were equipped with a diesel engine to enable them to reach the workshops.

When the service frequency was expanded, some trains composed of RIO carriages hauled by BB25500 series locos. This rather antiquated rolling stock was replaced progressively by Stadler FLIRT RABe 524 EMUs.

From December 2010 to June 2014, Geneva – La Plaine services were operated by three Stadler FLIRT RABe 524 EMUs, which were not certified to run beyond la Plaine, while Geneva-Bellegarde services were operated by the Bem550s. The RABe 524 were taken temporarily from the Ticino railway network as they can also run on 1.5 kV DC. These sets went back to Ticino when the Genève-La Plaine line was re-electrified with 25 kV AC as they cannot use that voltage, to be replaced by RABe 522 EMUs.

External links[]

• Official Léman Express website
• Project website
• Léman Express Project France
• Léman Express Project Geneva
• on official website Canton of Geneva
• On alprail

References[]

• Joint Press Release, CFF-SBB-FSS / SNCF.^{[full citation needed]}