[1] The Mediterranean TGV. The Mariage of technology and the environment.

[2] In June 2001, 250 kilometres of new TGV (high-speed train) line was officially opened between Marseilles and Lyons. 
[3] An update on the last great project of the 20th century which has managed to reconcile a commercial gamble, technological performance and environmental concern to permit travel at over 300 km/h.

[4] On June 10, 2001, departing from Marseilles, the double-decker blue and silver trains of the TGV Méditerranée [Mediterranean service] welcomed its first paying passengers for a journey that took them to Paris at a speed of 300 km/h (in a maximum of three hours). 
[5] Begun twelve years ago with the launch of initial studies by the government, then the real work started on the ground five years ago with the arrival of bulldozers, tunnel borers and cranes, when the site very quickly took shape forming a long furrow swarming with men and machinery.

[6] Starting at both ends, on the outskirts of Marseilles and Valence, the construction of the new line began with overhead and underground structures (bridges, tunnels and viaducts. 
[7] A project long in preparation and development because of the vulnerability of the natural areas through which it passed and the beauty of the Provençal countryside. 
[8] The designers of the new line (SNCF, the publicly-owned French rail company, through the TGV Méditerranée organisation), initially opposed by residents and environmental campaigners, made it a point of honour to blend the route into a succession of picturesque rural landscapes.

[9] "Initially, the planners conceived the whole line cutting through the hills in the interests of high speed. 
[10] They subsequently adapted the structural features and landscaping to each site through which it passed", explained Guy Claverie, who is in charge of planning and the environment on the new line.

[11] Cutting-edge technologies.

[12] The 500 permanent structures that punctuate the route, seven magnificent viaducts varying in length from 320 to 1,730 metres, and two tunnels, one more than 8 kilometres long on the outskirts of Marseille, were the object of intensive studies which made use of the most efficient construction techniques, 
[13] some for the very first time in the world.

[14] Thus the Ventabren viaduct, whose 1,730 metre plinth straddles a motorway, was connected in the space of five hours by rotating two 4,000 tonne sections hoisted into position on their columns. 
[15] This daring technique was employed because there was no question of stopping motorway traffic for an extended period. 
[16] Another far from minor aspect was allowing for seismic risks. 
[17] The structures of the new line have been specially designed to withstand an earthquake of 5.5 on the Richter scale occurring at the very moment when two trains are passing each other at high speed.


[18] On the environmental side, the architects have favoured curved and rounded shapes, even the concretes being specially mixed to merge into the countryside along the route. 
[19] But the odyssey of the new line is also distinctive for the care taken not to disturb wildlife and plants. 
[20] Fences have been specially designed to prevent animals crossing, and passages created so that deer, wild boar and toads can cross the high speed track. 
[21] Embankments, mounds and walls have been redesigned, seeded and planted in order to stabilise them and make them attractive to look at. 
[22]  At the last count, more than a million plants have been planted, sometimes after growers had had to learn how to cultivate species they had never had before.

[23] This background work represents an area of expertise that SNCF presents to visitors from all over the world (more than 10,000, out of a total of 100,000 visitors from the United States, China, Korea, Australia, the European Union, Eastern Europe and the Middle East). 
[24]  Alongside this, a web site, listed by most search engines, provides an idea of the scale of the work done. 
[25]  That is not all: SNCF wanted to see how these features evolve over time; 
[26] hence the creation of a monitoring unit whose first task is to ensure that the landscape dominates the train, and not the other way round - 
[27] another innovation.

[28] The drive to develop the country.

[29]  The care taken over the construction of the TGV Méditerranée line is certainly due to the beauty of the countryside through which it passes. 
[30]  But the concepts of land development and commercial ventures also play their part.

 
[31]  More than a million plants have been planted.
 
[32]  Indeed, for the first time, the high speed train will make Marseilles and its port, France’s largest and third largest in Europe in terms of trade, one hour from Lyons, the Rhône-Alpes regional capital and the third largest French city, 
[33]  bringing two regional metropolises together, as well as adjusting the balance of the communications network to the South to the benefit of medium sized towns. 
[34]   For SNCF, this new TGV service should also be considered in the context of the completion of a European high-speed rail network that will extend first towards Spain, then to Italy. Studies are in progress. 
[35]  What’s more, bringing the new line into service will release other tracks for freight between Marseilles and Lyons.

[36]  Lastly, the travelling public. For the first time the train will be in direct competition with the plane on the Marseilles-Paris-Marseilles route, and SNCF should gain six million additional passengers here, 
[37]  thus shooting ahead as it enters the new century.

[38]  Jean-Luc Crozel. Journalist with the regional daily La Provence

[39]  For further information: On the internet: www.tgvmediterranee.com
 

[40]  The TGV Méditerranée in figures. The total length of the new line is 250 kilometres. 
[41] It required 36 million cubic metres of excavated material and 40 million cubic metres of filling material for its construction. 
[42] 483 of the standard structures have been constructed, as well as 17,155 metres of viaducts and 12,768 metres of underground works and tunnels. 
[43] 1,000 kilometres of rails and 850,000 sleepers have been laid on 2.4 million tonnes of ballast. 
[44] The project, which also included the construction of three new stations (Valence, Avignon and Aix-en-Provence) as well as the renovation of the Marseilles-Saint-Charles station, built in the late 19th century, took 100 million man hours of work. 
[45] It created 11,500 direct and indirect jobs over the five years it took to complete the project. 
[46] The overall cost of the works has been calculated at 3.81 billion euros (25 billion francs).