Tonkin Railway | |
---|---|
Viaduct de la Morge at Saint-Gingolph in 2019. | |
Overview | |
Owner | SBB (in Switzerland), SNCF Network (in France) |
Locale | Switzerland, France |
Service | |
Services | In Switzerland: Voyageurs RegionAlps (since 2003), SBB local freight; In France: Voyageurs PLM (until 1938), Fret local (until 1988), Touristique (until 1998) |
History | |
Opened | 1859 – 1886 |
Closed | 1998 (partial closure) |
Technical | |
Track gauge | Standard-gauge railway (1,435 m) |
Electrification | 15 kV - 16.7 Hz in Switzerland, 25 kV - 50 Hz in France (not electrified between Évian and St-Gingolph) |
Signalling | Absolute block signalling |
The Tonkin Railway or South Lake Geneva railway (St-Gingolph-Bouveret-Monthey–St-Maurice railway and section of the Longeray-Léaz railway to Bouveret) is a rail transport connecting Saint-Maurice to Geneva (Switzerland), passing through Évian-les-Bains, Thonon-les-Bains and Annemasse (France).
The railway operates in the Valais Chablais region and between Évian-les-Bains and Geneva. However, the 17.8 km section between Saint-Gingolph and Évian-les-Bains, on the southeastern shore of Lake Geneva in the Savoie Chablais region, has been out of service since 1998. Several associations are currently campaigning for its reopening.
It is said that the nickname "Tonkin Railway" was given to this railway by its builders, who found geological conditions during construction reminiscent of those encountered during the construction of the "real" Tonkin Railway, between southern China and northern Indochina, then a French colony.[10]
After the sale of the rolling stock of the tourist train "Rive-Bleue Express", the local French authorities initially preferred to convert the railway into a bikeway rather than work towards its reopening. However, this idea was quickly abandoned, mainly due to international conventions preventing the downgrading of the railway and its cost (100,000 euros per kilometer).
Other ideas were then put forward, such as converting the railway into a voie verte and building a road with viaducts and tunnels[11] above the villages on the southern shore of Lake Geneva, which would divert international road traffic. However, these proposals did not meet with the approval of the local and national authorities,[12] while the reopening of the railway, which also had its supporters,[13] came back to the fore.
Regarding this, according to opponents of the railway rehabilitation project, the preliminary study for the reopening of the railway costs 2 million dollars, a sum higher than the construction of a 17-kilometer voie verte at 100,000 euros per kilometer.[14] However, it is officially known that the preliminary study represents a real cost of 115,100 euros.[15]
The dossier was then taken over by the Rhône-Alpes region, which organizes rail transport, in partnership with the Swiss cantons of Geneva and Valais, which voted in February 2006 to grant a credit of 400,000 Swiss francs to clear and weed the abandoned French section up to and including 2010, pending a decision.[16] Cleaning of the railway began on November 20, 2006.
On December 16, 2008, the Regional Council of Rhône-Alpes unanimously adopted a resolution incorporating the reopening into the Regional Scheme for Transport Services,[17] which reads as follows:[18]
The Regional Council of Rhône-Alpes reaffirms the objectives and orientations of the Regional Transport Plan (RTP) regarding the railway known as the "Tonkin Railway" linking Evian and Saint-Gingolph. It calls for the pre-project studies to be launched immediately and reaffirms its desire for a project compatible with Swiss technology (power supply, signaling, and techniques identical to those of the Pontarlier-Les Verrières railway) and the constraints of the areas crossed (urban, semi-urban, rural). It hopes that this project will be developed in close collaboration with elected officials, the populations concerned, and the associative world. Finally, it hopes that the French State and the RFF will quickly commit to providing their share of the funding for this project.
On March 16, 2009, the President of the Rhône-Alpes Regional Council, Jean-Jack Queyranne, announced that a preliminary study would soon be launched. This study would allow the railway to be reopened to tourists in 2011, and to regional passengers in 2013 or 2015.[19] However, in June 2015, no trains were running on the abandoned section.
On April 22, 2009, the specifications for the preliminary study were presented in Saint-Gingolph, financed by the Rhône-Alpes Region and the Chablais Inter-Municipal Development Syndicate, made up of 62 French Chablais municipalities, and by the Chablais Inter-Cantonal Development Organization, made up of the cantons of Vaud and Valais, for Switzerland.
The results of this preliminary study were presented in Evian-les-Bains on July 18, 2011. The cost of the rehabilitation of the railway is 106 million euros (124 million euros with margins and contingencies). The chosen scenario is the extension of the Valais railway to Évian-les-Bains.[20] The railway would therefore be electrified with Swiss electricity and operated by the company RegionAlps (a subsidiary of CFF). Funding is currently being sought and the partners are awaiting the next planning contract between the French state and the Rhône-Alpes region.
On September 22, 2012, the Franco-Swiss association "Save the Tonkin" made a symbolic gesture: A model of the Domino train crossed the level crossing in the commune of Meillerie, halfway between the stations of Evian-les-Bains and Saint-Gingolph.[21][22]
On February 20, 2020, about three months after the full opening of the Léman Express network, a steering committee composed of Swiss and French representatives met to revive the missing 17 kilometers of track. It plans to carry out studies until 2022, start work around 2024, and open the railway in 2027.[23]
With the support of the Swiss Confederation, the canton of Valais is investing 24 million Swiss francs to renovate the railroad railway that crosses the Valaisan Chablais between Saint-Maurice and Saint-Gingolph.[24]
On the French side, RFF and SNCF are investing part of the 48 million euros for the installation of automatic signaling (BAL) between Évian and Annemasse.[24]
This means that only 17 kilometers remain for the completion of the Lake Geneva loop (via Montreux and Lausanne) and the Mont Blanc loop (via Saint-Gervais-les-Bains and Chamonix).
With the completion of the CEVA railway, trains will be able to run hourly from Geneva to Thonon-les-Bains, Evian-les-Bains, St. Gingolph, Martigny, Sion, and Brigue.[24] Additionally, due to the geography of Lake Geneva, this route is shorter than the current transit through Lausanne. This would reduce the journey time from Martigny to Geneva.[25]
However, freight transport, as mentioned in some speeches,[26] does not seem feasible due to the profile of the railway, as shown in a study by Réseau ferré de France in 2002.[26] In some places (notably around the Évian thermal baths), the gradient is too steep, which would require double traction, as opposed to single traction north of Lake Geneva, and considerable sums for infrastructure renovation.[26]