Renewal underway in Hautes-de-France

3 Suite Rapide’s sites at Lille

Suite Rapide at work in the Northern region, in Hautes-de-France, where SNCF will fully and “rapidly” restore 3 railway sections that branch out in the chief town of Lille.

The new GCF - Transalp Renouvellement’s rapid site started on the night of April 25th with renewal train P95. Together with ballast cleaning machine C75-2C, it has the task to fully restore the double-track section Fives – Baisieux, along 269,000 line that from Lille goes towards east, uniting France with Belgium.

The works that will be performed at night and with the railway traffic suspended, foresee two total renewal of both tracks, restoring the screed (about 36,000 tons of ballast) and will replace 23,200 sleepers and over 24 km of tracks.

The section being worked on, fully considered blue zone due to the presence of contact airborne lines at less than 5 metres from the tracks, is characterised by the presence of two Seveso sites and ten level crossings (2 inside the Belgian territory), elements that- as usual- will involve particular precaution measures to guarantee the safety of the operators and of the territory and its inhabitants.

Additional work phases are foreseen for the renewal of other 2 sections.

The first section, the Haubourdin - Saint André, also of double track, will undergo the renewal of over 10,242 metres of track, for about 32,000 tons of ballast, 21,300 sleepers and 20 km of rails.

Suite Rapide will intervene in the last phase to restore a second section of about 11 km from Pérenchies and Steenwerck, along Lille – Fontinettes line. Here the restoring works will involve about 30,000 tons of ballast, while the line renewal will consist of the substitution of over 20,000 sleepers and 11 km of track.

For both sections, characterised by the presence of numerous level crossings, intermediate stations and travellers’ platforms, specific precaution measures are foreseen to ensure that the railway renewal works will not hinder the regular safety conditions of railway operators and passengers.

The main operational bases of the “triple” Suite Rapide site are located in Pont à Vendin (for main trains and machineries, in addition to the storage of ballasts, tracks and sleepers) and Lomme Déliverance where the site train for finishes, the locomotors and other “minor” machines and equipment are located.

At the same time, in addition to the section restored by GCF with its work site train, other specialised companies of Transalp consortium will provide for the HS (Hors suite) renewal of short railway sections, in general a few tenths of metres, near level crossings, junctions, stations, civil works.

The works will be completed by July 14th with regards to renewal train P95 and July 20th with regards to ballast cleaner C75-2C.