Railway renewal 2019: over 250 km in 8 months
Excellent performances for the two Suite Rapide trains in France
The works of Lot 2 of Suite Rapide, involved along line 655,000 Bordeaux - Saint Jean Irun for the total renewal of almost 70 km of railway line, have resumed at full pace after the two weeks holiday in mid-August.
The section being worked, the third one of 2019 for Lot 2, is between Morcenx and Dax, a double track line of UC14 group, electrified at 1500V that allows a speed of 160 km/h.
The works began on June 24th as soon as the construction site in Libourne was closed - with the delivery of 54,805 mt of renewed tracks with GCF’s P95 and 54,543 mt of renewed tracks with Transalp’s C75-2C - and after transferring high-efficiency trains and machinery to the new base in Aquitaine.
There are three work phases scheduled for Dax construction site: a first phase consisting in the renewal of track 1 in the section between Morcenx and Dax stations (from progressive km 109+800 to 145,000); Phase 2 consisting in the renewal of track 2 in the section between Laluque and Morcenx stations (from progressive km 109+093 to 132-540) and Phase 3, also reserved to works on track 2 in the segment between progressive 134+550 to 143+910, between Dax and Laluque stations.
All the preparation and execution works for total railway renewal with the replacement of sleepers and tracks and restoring of the screed, are performed at night between 9:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m., when transit on the track being worked are suspended and the current of the electric traction on the adjacent track has been removed. The end of the main works is foreseen for the first week of October.
Overall, the two Suite Rapide Lots entrusted by the French railway to GCF- Transalp Renouvellement produced from the beginning of the year, over about 250 km of renewed and restored track. During the six years of the double Suite Rapide contract 2018-2023 GCF-Transalp will work about 60 construction sites in 12 regions of France, restoring 400 km/year of railway.