Cornavin train station, Geneva 2009

Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - The Tribune de Geneve reports 1 December that an agreement is “imminent” for a solution to the Lausanne-Geneva rail line, which will reach capacity in 2018. Discussions in the past appeared to have broken down between the cantons of Geneva and Vaud, and the federal government, whose ZEB rail development plan to 2030 has little room to consider a third rail line or other solution. The cantons, federal government and the CFF rail company are now reportedly close to an agreement that will allow them to study compromise solutions.

The newspaper reports that the CFF’s preferred solution is a better use of the train lines for France at Geneva’s Cornavin station, with an extra line built. Geneva is opposed to this, given the impact it would have on the Les Grottes neighbourhood behind the station.

Other options could include using nearby post office rails or building an underground line.

The discussions to find a suitable solution come, however, just as the federal government announced Monday 30 November that the next phase of the ZEB rail development programme will be spread out over time, due to financial constraints.

The list of projects, large and small, published by the CFF that will get underway in the next decade include increasing the number of seats on the Lausanne-Geneva line by 20 percent. Cars on the line are gradually being upgraded, a process that started earlier in 2009.

The federal government in early November noted in a statement that the country’s infrastructure is in good shape, but will need considerable investments to maintain this. New development projects must be balanced against the need and cost of keeping up the infrastructure, it said.

Link to other sites: CFF rail, Tribune de Geneve (Fre), ZEB federal rail programme (Fre)

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