GCF - Transalp, Work in Progress

Construction Sites Open 360° Across France

From the bustling French capital to the vast cultivated or wooded lands south of Limoges, through the Centre-Val de Loire, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, and Occitanie regions. Different landscapes but construction sites operating at full speed for GCF France and Transalp Renouvellement, engaged on multiple fronts across France.

Numerous railway renewal worksites are underway, starting with the intervention along line 590 000 Reuilly - Souillac, which will see the complete replacement of over 21 kilometers of old rails by May. The construction area extends over 325 kilometers, covering 37 renewal zones between the stations of Sainte-Lizagne and Brive-La-Gaillarde, where the unloading of new rails has been completed.

"Having completed in recent months the areas north of Limoges," reports Sabino Carbone from the GCF France Directorate, "and those between Limoges and Salon-La-Tour – amounting to a total of 9,000 meters of renewed and thermally regulated rails- the team is now heading south towards Brive-La-Gaillarde, where the worksite is expected to be completed by late May or early June."

Considering all planned operations (rail replacement, welding, finishing, and removal of old rails), the worksite has so far completed more than 25% of its operational mission.

Meanwhile, the first “Hors Suite” site of the year has been successfully completed. On the eastern outskirts of Paris, over three weekends between February and early March, the P95 construction train and the C75 ballast cleaner carried out the complete renewal of 2,502 meters of track and ballast on non-contiguous sections along track 2 of the heavily trafficked Pantin - Paris Gare de l’Est line. The operation, carried out practically inside the station - which, with 40 million passengers per year, ranks fifth in traffic volume - was completed in the second weekend of March with leveling and finishing work performed by the Matisa B4539 tamper and the R21 profiling machine.

Further north, GCF workers and high-efficiency machinery are at work on the renewal site along line 750 000 Veneux Les Sablons - Givors, on the Nevers - Cosne-sur-Loire section in the Nièvre department, Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region. In the Lot 4 Suite Rapide worksite managed by ETF, GCF is operating with the powerful C75-2C ballast cleaner, a Matisa B4532 tamper, a Plasser 109-3X dynamic stabilizer, as well as numerous earth and ballast transport wagons (EXBT, WAC, FALNS) to carry out renewal and leveling work following the ETF construction train. Sabino Carbone explains: "From the first scheduled night closure on January 14 until March 31, 34,477 meters of track have been renewed. The work is expected to be completed by mid-May."

Additionally, smaller "Hors Suite" worksites are active along railway line 695 000 Bourges - Montluçon for thermal regulation work on LRS (Long Welded Rails) on certain track sections. Since mid-February, work has also been underway in Aulnay for pre-ballasting operations, track section compaction, sleeper distribution, and LRS thermal regulation implementation.

Finally, a GCF B50 tamper is working along the Ligne des Horlogers to ensure maximum compaction of the lower ballast layers, while other machines - R21 profiling machines and B45 tampers - rented with operators to SNCF and ETF, are active on construction sites spread throughout France: Gap, Toulon, Cavaillon, Les Arcs, Abbeville, and St. Florentin.

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