To be completed in 2009, the railway will be built and operated by a company called TP Ferro in a 50 year concession. It will be standard guage, and meant for both high-speed rail service at up to 350 km/h as well as freight trains. It will use blockless ERTMS signalling. Travel times will be reduced between Barcelona and Paris to 5 hours 30 minutes, between Barcelone and Montpellier to 2 hours 10 minutes and between Barcelona and Perpignan to 50 minutes.

The history

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PERPIGNAN-FIGUERES CROSS-BORDER RAILWAY, FRANCE

In November 2001 the French and Spanish governments agreed to work towards the construction of a new standard gauge (1,435mm) line between Perpignan in France and Figueres over the border in Spain. Six companies are shortlisted to build and operate the proposed link.

The line should connect the proposed French Languedoc-Rousillon TGV network extension from Nimes to Perpignan to the Spanish (1,435mm) high-speed line currently being built from Madrid to Barcelona and Figueres.

INFRASTRUCTURE

The line will speed up the passage of freight and passengers across the Franco-Spanish border, which is constrained by the change of gauge at Cerbere/Port Bou. Currently all through trains either pass through a gauge changer or are transhipped between wagons at the border, slowing the progress of freight in particular.

A 45.5km (28.3 miles) line, costing ?714 million is planned between the two towns, including an 8.2km (5.1 miles) twin bore tunnel beneath the Pyrenees. Unlike previous TGV lines in France, the Languedoc-Rousillon and cross-border lines are to be built for mixed use, rather than exclusively for high-speed passenger trains, as passenger figures alone do not justify its construction. It is envisaged that high-speed passenger, freight and 'rolling road' style piggyback trains carrying complete trucks will use the line. These trains will require easier gradients than those found on other TGV lines, which can be as steep as 1 in 28.

Public consultation has begun on the Spanish section of the route, which runs for 20.8km (12.9 miles) from Figueres. Traffic for the first year of operations is expected to be around 3.5 million passengers and 4.2 million tonnes of freight, in addition to the 3 million tonnes of freight that already use the existing route.

Perpignan - Figueres award

ON DECEMBER 26, 2003 the governments of France and Spain announced that TP Ferro had been selected as preferred bidder for the concession to design, finance, build and operate the 44·4km route between Perpignan and Figueres. It was hoped to sign the 50-year concession contract within a matter of weeks, enabling construction to start during the first quarter of 2004.

The winning bid puts the cost of construction at ?952m, and TP Ferro has requested ?540m in subsidy which according to the Spanish Ministry of Development is 'substantially lower' than the amounts sought by the other bidders (RG 8.03 p475). The European Union would be expected to provide at least 10% of this public support, with the remainder divided equally between France and Spain. Shareholders in TP Ferro would provide ?102·9m and the consortium would also borrow to fund the project.

Including an 8·3km twin-bore tunnel across the frontier, the new line is due to open within 60 months of contract signature. Designed for freight trains as well as high speed passenger services operating at over 300km/h, the route will be equipped with ERTMS and will be controlled from Barcelona.