A new high-speed rail line is being built between Lyon, France and Turin, Italy, and its centerpiece will be the 57.5 kilometer long Mont Cenis tunnel. When completed, it will be one of the longest railway tunnels in the world and will significantly transform passenger and freight traffic between France, Italy and the rest of Europe, he writes. Forbes Slovenia.
The estimated value of the Lyon–Turin project is around 11.1 billion euros, half of which is financed by the European Union. The construction is led by the French-Italian company TELT (Tunnel Euralpin Lyon Turin), and some of the largest European construction companies are involved in the project, including Webuild, VINCI, Implenia, NGE and Herrenknecht, reports N1.
The new link will be a key part of the European transport corridor TEN-T, which will connect south-western Europe with the center of the continent. The main tunnel will stretch between Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne in France and Susa in Italy, and in some places it will be more than a kilometer below the surface of the Alps.
Almost a third of the tunnel has been dug
According to TELT’s latest data, approximately 48 kilometers of the total 164 kilometers of tunnels and associated underground facilities that make up the cross-border part of the project have been excavated. All major construction tenders have already been awarded, and work is taking place simultaneously on several construction sites on both sides of the border.
One of the main goals of the project is to significantly reduce travel time. When completed, a train journey between Paris and Milan will take around four and a half hours, compared to the current journey which takes between six and a half to seven and a half hours. The new railway connection will thus become a serious alternative to air traffic on that route.
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The beginnings date back to 2007
The impact on freight traffic will be even more significant. Thousands of trucks cross the Alpine passes between France and Italy every day, and the European Union wants to redirect a large part of freight traffic to the railway. It is estimated that the new line will take more than a million heavy goods vehicles off the roads each year, reducing traffic congestion, noise and carbon dioxide emissions in the sensitive alpine environment.
The project started in 2007, but for years it was slowed down by environmental protests and complex site selection procedures, especially on the Italian side of the border. However, in recent years, construction has accelerated significantly.
According to current plans, the tunnel is expected to be completed in 2033. Then Lyon-Turin will become one of the most important railway connections in Europe and a symbol of the European Union’s efforts for faster, more efficient and more environmentally friendly transport in the future, he concludes. N1.
