LGV Montpellier–Perpignan

The LGV Montpellier–Perpignan is a proposed high-speed rail line between the French cities of Montpellier and Perpignan, at which points they will link with the Contournement Nîmes – Montpellier and LGV Perpignan–Figueres. Two new stations would be constructed as part of the project in Béziers and Narbonne. Montpellier–Béziers and Rivesaltes–Toulouges will be for mixed traffic (freight and passenger), with Béziers–Toulouges being for passenger traffic only.[1]

French TGV network, with the planned high-speed line from Montpellier to Perpignan in the south

Route

Shortly after Montpellier-Sud de France station, trains will meet the LGV Montpellier–Perpignan near Maurin.[2]

A parkway station serving Béziers near the A9 and A75 junction is planned.[3] There will also be a classic line allowing trains to call at Béziers station, from which trains can then continue to destinations such as Narbonne and Carcassonne before the Béziers-Perpignan section is complete, though through trains in the direction of Perpignan will need to use the parkway station, as there is no link on the other side of Béziers.

The urban centre of Narbonne will be bypassed, but a station will be constructed to the west of the urban centre. This station will be built over the classic line, allowing platform transfers to the line to Carcassonne, as is the case at Valence TGV station. There will also be a triangle junction to the north of this station allowing the line to link with the line to Carcassonne without passing through the urban centre.[4]

The planned line will offer bypasses of all the cities, with link railways to enable connections with existing stations at various points.[5] Passive provision has been made for a connection with the existing LGV Perpignan-Figueres line near Toulouges.[6]

Ultimately, the goal is to allow the connection Paris - Madrid in six hours by 2025, with stops in Nîmes, Montpellier, Béziers, Narbonne, Perpignan and Barcelona. The journey time would be less competitive with the plane on the complete route, but could be rather on intermediate routes, such as Lyon - Madrid or Paris - Barcelona.

Progress

In February 2016 the preliminary high-speed route and station locations were approved by the French transport ministry .[7] In autumn 2018, timescales were announced, namely 10 years to construct the Montpellier-Béziers section and another 10 years to construct the Béziers-Perpignan section.[8]

References
  1. Barrow, Keith. , Rail Journal, Wednesday 3 February 2016. Retrieved on 16 March 2017.
  2. , LGV Montpellier-Perpignan project website, retrieved on 16 March 2017
  3. , Line map covering Béziers, retrieved on 2019-03-01
  4. , Project map covering the Narbonne area, retrieved 2019-03-01
  5. , Project map showing connections to classic lines near Perpignan
  6. , Future junction, retrieved on 2019-03-01
  7. "Route approved for Montpellier - Perpignan HSL". International Railway Journal. 3 February 2016.
  8. , Planned timescales, retrieved on 2019-03-01
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