Lausanne train station: another set of tracks heading towards Geneva is on the books for 2018
Lausanne, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Canton Vaud Tuesday 1 February approved the funds that will allow a third rail line for the congested Geneva-Lausanne tracks to be built in 2018 instead of four years later, as the federal government had planned.
The area’s population has been growing rapidly for the past 20 years and projections are that the rate of increase will remain strong: the area west of Lausanne is expected to grow by 20,000-30,000 people by 2020.
Cantons Vaud and Geneva in December 2009 signed an agreement with the Federal Transport Office to find the funds for loans to the CFF rail company to advance several critical projects.
Yesterday the canton approved nearly CHF200 million for four projects: additional crossings in Mies and Chambesy, pre-financing for the Lausanne-Renens third rail line, modernization of the Renens train station and feasibility studies for the Geneva-Lausanne additional rail line.
Geneva financing approval en route
Update 2, 22:45 Lausanne, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Years of arguing and debate over the need for the Lake Geneva region to rapidly develop its train service were brought to a close Monday 21 December with a framework agreement signed by the federal and cantonal governments and the CFF rail company. The agreement acknowledges that the Geneva-Lausanne area is one of the fastest-growing in Switzerland and states the intent of the signing parties to develop a rail network and service that match the rapidly changing need for public transport in the area.
Third and possibly fourth rail line planned
The two cantons have agreed to put up CHF312 million in pre-financing for several projects, designed to speed up the project. The 20-year plan, to 2030, will increase the frequency of trains to one every 15 minutes between Lausanne and Geneva. The number of seats will double by 2020. Several congestion points are targeted: Mies in Vaud and Chambésy in Geneva plus the freight passing line between Nyon and Coppet. The three-phase plan calls for the main lines and RER regional system to be improved first, then the third rail line between Renens and Allaman to be built during a second phase, when the system will also be extended in the area west of Geneva. Main train stations will be modernized.
The third phase will involve building a fourth rail line and improving public transport access to Geneva’s airport.
Bern, Switzerland (RSR, Fre) – Politicians from the Lake Geneva region failed to succeed once again in getting Parliament to back construction of a third rail line between Lausanne and Geneva.
Lausanne, Vaud (20 Minutes, Fre) – The Vaud cantonal council Monday night voted in favour of a motion that calls for a study to determine whether or not the canton should loan the Swiss federal government CHF1 million for a third rail line and additional autoroute lane between Geneva and Lausanne, to reduce growing traffic congestion in the region. The population in Vaud alone is expected to grow by another 100,000 in the next 12 years, from its current 770,000.
Lausanne, Switzerland (TSR, Fre) – The talks are only exploratory and will remain theoretical, but Vaud cantonal councilor François Marthaler has met with a group of private investors, whose identity he will not reveal except to say they are European, to discuss a possible private-public approach to building a third rail line between Lausanne and Geneva.
Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The lower house of the Swiss parliament today voted in favour of a CHF19.1 billion credit to continue work on the Gotthard rail tunnel. Read more…
