The Haut-Bugey line () (also nicknamed Lignes des Carpates) is a railway line in France. It is 65 kilometres in length and connects Bourg-en-Bresse with Bellegarde, travelling through the Jura Mountains. For a century and a quarter after its opening in 1877, it was a local line only, and with steep grades, tight curves, and a long poorly ventilated tunnel, it was a challenging line to operate. It suffered a gradual decline, until in 2006 it had a new lease of life as its renovation was chosen as the most cost-effective way to shorten the journey time from Paris to Geneva. The line was closed in 2006 for complete reconstruction and electrification. The upgraded line was inaugurated on 2 December 2010 featuring 25 kV AC electrification, replacement of 18 level-crossings with bridges, avalanche protection and daylighting a tunnel. Today the line enables a faster link between the French TGV network and Geneva, giving a Paris to Geneva journey time of just over three hours (a saving of nearly 20 minutes compared to the old route via Ambérieu and Culoz).
History The history of the line began in 1866. The Compagnie des Dombes et des Chemins de Fer du Sud-Est (DSE), founded 1863, obtained a concession to build and operate a line linking the communes of Bourg-en-Bresse and La Cluse. This project, deemed insufficiently lucrative by the major companies was given life thanks to a law passed in 1865 allowing lines 'of local interest' to be financed by departments and municipalities. However work only began in September 1872 after delay caused by a conflict in 1870 with the (PLM) with which the DSE was becoming a serious competitor. The outcome was a requirement to share stations with existing ones on the network and to use standard gauge track to ensure interoperability.
The difficult geography of the region required the line to be built in sections. The first to be opened, on 10 March 1876, was between Bourg-en-Bresse and Simandre-sur-Suran, about 22 km long. On 6 July the same year, the line was extended 3 km to reach Bolozon. These 3 km include the two significant engineering works on the line, the Racouse tunnel (1.7 km) and the Cize-Bolozon viaduct (245m long) over the river Ain at a cost of 339,000 francs. This multi-arch viaduct is unusual in that it carries the railway line and, on a lower level, the road. Later on, three new tunnels extended the line from Bolozon to La Cluse, including the Mornay tunnel, the longest on the line at 2.6 km. The line from Bourg-en-Bresse to La Cluse was opened on 29 March 1877 by the DSE.
After 1878, the Freycinet Plan called for standard gauge 'local interest lines' be integrated into the national network prior to nationalisation. The stated objective was to allow the local lines to be operated by the major companies. Mr. Mangini, the founder and director of the DSE, signed the contractual agreement to do this in 1881. This contract included the construction of the rest of the line, now classified of 'national interest', to Bellegarde. This section, completing the line, was opened on 1 April 1882. On 26 May 1883, the DSE signed the sale of the line to the PLM, with an effective date of 1 January 1884. Finally, the DSE was wound up on 23 January 1884. In 1886, the Andelot to Cluse line connected it to the Dijon to Lausanne artery.
The Ice harvesting factory on the Lac de Sylans was one of the largest of its kind in the 19th century. The arrival of the railway in 1882 enabled it to drastically increase production by cutting delivery time to Paris and increasing the volume that could be transported out of the factory.
Several incidents have coloured the history of the line. On 1 August 1904 the passenger building of Bellegarde station went up in flames, to be rebuilt in 1913. 1922 saw the two biggest incidents on the line, a landslide and a tunnel accident. On 11 April, a huge landslide near Neyrolles station completely cut the line. On 3 June a new alignment was opened. The most difficult operational feature of the line was its longest tunnel, the Mornay tunnel. Over 1300m of the tunnel is at 2.4% gradient; running towards Bellegarde, steam locomotives had to operate at full power, filling the tunnel with smoke. The natural ventilation was poor. In May 1922, 7 members of a train crew were asphyxiated and died. Subsequently, a special ventilation plant was opened in 1924, one of only two of it kind in France. It blew air into the tunnel when trains were passing through in the Bourg to La Cluse direction. In 1932 a new station was built at le Neyrolles on the new alignment. During the World War II, the line had strategic importance, as there was a lot of resistance activity in the Ain and on the Jura plateau. Several bridges were destroyed in 1944, starting with the bridge over the Suran on 8 July, followed by the Cize Bolozon viaduct on the 8th and the Reyssouze bridge on 2 September. The Cize Bolozon viaduct was only opened 5 years after the end of the war, on 14 May 1950.
On 2 May 2003 another accident occurred in the Mornay tunnel when a diesel railcar caught fire 300m from the Bolozon portal. The train was halted in the tunnel, but there were no casualties.
After the La Cluse - Bellegarde section was closed to passenger traffic in 1990, station became a cul-de-sac; the only remaining service being Bourg-en-Bresse to Oyonnax and Saint-Claude all trains had to reverse.
A chord line was therefore laid avoiding station, which was not served any more and closed. A new station, Brion—Montréal-la-Cluse was created on 1 June 1996.
In 2006 the Bourg-en-Bresse - Brion—Montréal-la-Cluse section was closed in preparation for “the Haut-Bugey Project”
The section La Cluse - Bellegarde is also known as .
Shortening the journey from Paris to Geneva Geneva and the surrounding areas have long sought to reduce the rail journey time to Paris. Before the decision was taken to use the Haut Bugey line, several other options were considered. The one with the greatest impact would be the construction of a new high speed line (HSL) from Mâcon to Geneva. This option was broadly supported by the cantons of Geneva, Vaud, Valais as well as the départements of Ain and Haute-Savoie, and a detailed feasibility study was done by the French group Sofrérail and the Swiss group Bonnard et Gardel.
Having considered 220 km of possible routes, the final report, delivered in September 1990, recommended an HSL starting from the Mâcon-Ambérieu line below Polliat and entering Geneva either from the North or the South with a junction to the la Praille goods yard and a spur to Archamps to connect to the Longeray – Annemasse – Évian line. The most plausible option, at 77 km, bypassed Bourg to the North, passed through the Jura foothills in tunnels, used the Cize Bolozon viaduct to cross the Ain, paralleled the existing line at Nurieux, bypassed Nantua in a tunnel, crossed the Valserine to the North of Bellegarde, plunged through the Crêt d'Eau in a 6750m tunnel, and arrived in the Geneva on the south bank of the Rhone. The crossing of existing rails at Nurieux and Châtillon-en-Michaille would have allowed construction to take place in phases.
Options that could be combined with this project were upgrading the Pont-de-Veyle - Polliat section to 200 km/h, and electrification of the Sathonay-Bourg line, with construction of two new stations, Bourg-north and Nurieux. With these additions, the Paris - Geneva journey time would fall to 2h15 and Geneva Lyon to 1h04, Paris-Lausanne in 2h50 and Paris to Évian reduced by 90 minutes. However, this option was considered to be far too expensive at 2.3 billion euros, mostly due to the extensive engineering works needed, and the project went no further. The Swiss authorities continued to push the SNCF for an alternative more affordable proposal.
Upgrading the route actually used by the TGV (via Ambérieu and Culoz), to allow tilting TGVs would only allow a 10-minute reduction for tilting TGVs and 6 minute reduction for standard TGVs. A freight route in the Albarine gorge between Ambérieu and Culoz, using two long tunnels to straighten and shorten the line would have brought an 8-minute gain, but this was abandoned by the ministry of transport.
Yet another option, allowing a Paris Geneva journey time of 2h 49 minutes, was to link Geneva to the future Lyon Turin high speed line at Chambéry, by building a new Geneva - Annecy - Aix-les-Bains - Chambéry high speed line. The heavy environmental footprint, and the exorbitant cost of this option (1.3 billion euros) led to it too being abandoned on 18 September 1988.
Comparing the costs per minute saved, the Mâcon - Geneva HSL cost FF190,000/minute while the upgrading of the Haut-Bugey line cost only FF76,000/minute. The use of existing infrastructure also limited the environmental footprint.
Thus it was that the Haut-Bugey project was finally chosen.
The Haut-Bugey upgrade project The project has upgraded existing tracks to enable higher speeds by both TGV and regular trains. While the result of the ‘’ is not a true (HSL)—the line remains a — but is still an important element in the TGV network, linking the LGV Sud-Est to Geneva. The reopened line has reduced journey times between Paris and Geneva due to both a shorter distance and higher speeds. The improved line now allows TGV trains to shorten their route to Geneva by 47 kilometres, reducing the Paris–Geneva journey time by about twenty minutes to just over three hours. In addition, the non-TGV services between Mâcon and Geneva via Bourg-en-Bresse and Bellegarde-sur-Valserine have been improved. Following completion, the project significantly increases freight capacity on the Ambérieu–Culoz section of the Lyon-Geneva line, as passenger trains use the Haut-Bugey line instead.
The upgraded line has been electrified at 25 kV 50 Hz AC, matching other high-speed lines in France. The right-of-way has been rebuilt, the infrastructure renovated, and many level crossings removed completely. A special effort has been made for environmental protection, particularly at the lakes of Nantua and Sylans, and to utilise rail noise screening.
A new station has been created at Nurieux-Volognat, near to the industrial basin of Oyonnax, and substantial works have taken place at Bellegarde-sur-Valserine, including building new tracks at the north-west end of the station (to allow trains from Geneva to turn onto the Haut-Bugey line without reversing), also new platforms for the Geneva-Paris TGV service and a new bus station with a car park.
Unusual engineering works on the line include the road-rail Cize-Bolozon viaduct, carrying the railway on the high level and the road on the low level and the overhead conductor rail used in the Bolozon I and Bolozon II tunnels and the open track in between. There are few examples of overhead conductor rails in France and this is the first at 25 kV.
Although the project is entirely in France, one third of the budget has been provided by Switzerland, owing to the expected benefit for Geneva. The project budget was €341 million, Rail Passion n°109 (November 2006), p.10. of which €23M is for the Bellegarde station and €318M for the line, funded by
€214M, France: AFITF (Transport Infrastructure Finance Agency of France) and Réseau Ferré de France (RFF). €110M, Switzerland. €17.45M, Rhone-Alpes Région, Department of Ain, Department of Haute-Savoie, town of Bellegarde
In April 2009, RFF was reported to have postponed the opening of the line to September 2010, due to an unexpectedly harsh winter. Finally, commercial service began on 12 December 2010
Description of the line
Route