Cross-border infrastructure projects and passenger services High-speed rail in Europe

1 cross-border infrastructure projects , passenger services

1.1 belgium
1.2 netherlands
1.3 paris frankfurt
1.4 channel tunnel

1.4.1 london paris , brussels
1.4.2 london amsterdam , germany


1.5 spanish-french border
1.6 crossing alps

cross-border infrastructure projects , passenger services
belgium


high-speed rail network in belgium

belgium s rail network served 4 high-speed train operators: thalys, eurostar, ice , tgv trains. of them serve brussels south (midi) station, belgium s largest railway station. thalys trains, variant of french tgv, operate between belgium, germany (dortmund), netherlands (amsterdam) , france (paris). since 2007, eurostar has connected brussels london st pancras, before which, trains connected london waterloo. german ice operates between brussels, liège , frankfurt hbf.

the hsl 1 belgian high-speed railway line connects brussels french border. 88 km long (71 km dedicated high-speed tracks, 17 km modernised lines), began service on 14 december 1997. line has appreciably shortened rail journeys, journey paris brussels taking 1:22. in combination lgv nord, has affected international journeys france , london, ensuring high-speed through-running eurostar, tgv, thalys pba , thalys pbka trainsets. total construction cost €1.42 billion.

the hsl 2 belgian high-speed rail line between brussels , liège, 95 km long (61 km dedicated high-speed tracks between leuven , ans, 34 km modernised lines between brussels , leuven , between ans , liège) began service on 15 december 2002. extension german border (the hsl 3) in use, combined high-speed line accelerates journeys between brussels, paris , germany. hsl 2 used thalys , ice trains fast internal intercity services.

the hsl 3 belgian high-speed railway line connects liège german border. 56 km long (42 km dedicated high-speed tracks, 14 km modernised lines), began service on 13 december 2009. hsl 3 used international thalys , ice trains only, opposed hsl 2 used fast internal intercity services.

the hsl 4 belgian high-speed railway line connects brussels dutch border. 87 km long (40 km dedicated high-speed tracks, 57 km modernised lines). hsl 4 used thalys trains since 13 december 2009 , used starting 2010 fast internal intercity trains. between brussels , antwerp (47 km), trains travel @ 160 km/h on upgraded existing line (with exception of few segments speed limit of 120 km/h imposed). @ e19/a12 motorway junction, trains leave regular line run on new dedicated high-speed tracks dutch border (40 km) @ 300 km/h.

the completion of channel tunnel rail link (high speed 1) , completion of lines brussels amsterdam , cologne led news reports in november 2007 both eurostar , deutsche bahn pursuing direct services london amsterdam , cologne. both journeys under 4 hours, length considered competitive air travel.

netherlands


hsl-zuid, connected antwerp hsl 4

hsl-zuid (dutch: hogesnelheidslijn zuid, english: high-speed line south) 125 km high-speed line in netherlands. using existing tracks amsterdam centraal schiphol airport, dedicated high-speed line begins here , continues rotterdam centraal , belgian border. here, connects hsl 4, terminating @ antwerpen-centraal. den haag centraal (the hague) , breda connected high-speed line conventional railway lines. services on hsl-zuid began on 7 september 2009. served thalys trains amsterdam brussels , paris.

hsl-oost planned, put on hiatus. connect amsterdam centraal via utrecht centraal , arnhem germany.

paris frankfurt

admission of ice trains onto french lgvs applied in 2001, , trial runs completed in 2005. in june 2007, lgv est paris middle of lorraine region of france opened. first time, high-speed services on franco-german border offered. sncf operates tgv service between paris , stuttgart via strasbourg , daily return journey paris frankfurt via saarbrücken, while ice trains operate remaining paris frankfurt.

channel tunnel

the construction of channel tunnel, completed in 1994, provided impetus first cross-border high-speed rail line. in 1993, lgv nord, connects paris belgian border , channel tunnel via lille, opened. initial travel times through tunnel london paris , brussels 3 hours. in 1997, dedicated high-speed line brussels, hsl 1, opened. in 2007, high speed 1, channel tunnel rail link london, completed after partial opening in 2003. 3 lines built french lgv standards, including electrification @ 25 kv.

london paris , brussels

passenger trains built specific safety standards operated eurostar through channel tunnel. direct trains travel london st. pancras paris in 2h15, , brussels in 1h51. on 1 may 2015 eurostar introduced weekly service london lyon, avignon , marseille. thalys high-speed international trains serve paris brussels corridor, covered in 1h20. additional thalys services extend amsterdam , cologne in addition belgian cities.

london amsterdam , germany

both deutsche bahn , eurostar plan direct services london continental destinations in near future. four-hour service amsterdam , cologne, , five-hour service frankfurt planned 2017. german manufacturer siemens has designed trainsets meet strict safety standards of channel tunnel operation. eurostar additionally plans direct london service geneva 2017.

spanish-french border

a 131-kilometre (81.4 mi) section of perpignan–barcelona high-speed rail line across spanish-french border opened in january 2013. line includes new 8.3-kilometre (5.2 mi) perthus tunnel under pyrenees , permits high-speed rail services between spain , france. since december 15, 2013 french sncf operates tgv service between paris , barcelona , spanish ave offers direct madrid–marseille, barcelona–lyon , barcelona–toulouse high-speed services. journey time tgv paris–barcelona service 6h 25min. 60 kilometer nîmes–montpellier bypass under construction , chop 20 minutes off travel times barcelona lyon , beyond. there on other hand no funding missing segment of high-speed line between montpellier , perpignan, cut journey times between 2 countries additional hour.

another high-speed rail link connecting 2 countries planned via irun/hendaye, not funded.

crossing alps

international links between italy , france, switzerland, austria , slovenia underway. these links incorporate extensive new tunnelling under alps. european union funding has been approved turin–lyon high-speed railway, connect tgv , tav networks, , link slovenia. in slovenia, pendolino-based trainsets operated slovenian railways intercityslovenija. trains connect capital ljubljana maribor , koper in summer months. 1 unit operated ec casanova on line ljubljana–venice, service discontinued in april 2008.

between austria , italy, brenner base tunnel being constructed upgrade berlin–palermo railway axis.