Suite Rapide 2013–2017, France
Line Renewal: Suite Rapide 2013–2017 Lot 2, France
The objective set by SNCF with the three “Suite Rapide” lots approved for the 2013–2017 period was to rapidly renew at least 550 kilometres per year of ageing railway lines, while minimising interference with passenger and freight traffic.
In January 2013, GCF opened its first worksite on the challenging Pau–Dax line. It was along this section that the GCF–Transalp Suite Rapide tested innovative methods, deployed machinery specifically designed, purchased and modified for the project – such as the Matisa P95 renewal train – and achieved results that exceeded expectations.
Between 2013 and 2017, through the Transalp Renouvellement consortium, in which GCF holds a majority stake, renewal worksites were activated in the 12 areas covered by Lot 2, leading to the complete renewal of over 1,000 km of ageing railway lines.
Suite Rapide: key features of the intervention
High execution speed (over 1,000 metres of line renewed per night), strong focus on reducing environmental impact, the use of innovative operating procedures (GOP12A method), highly efficient machinery and the involvement of more than 250 highly specialised technicians characterised GCF’s intervention.
Lot 2 of the “Suite Rapide” programme involved the installation, on a new 25 cm-thick ballast bed, of 1,180 km of new rails and more than one million new concrete sleepers.
The outcome of the “Suite Rapide” project was the improvement of line performance on the renewed sections, allowing operating speeds of up to 140 km/h and enhanced passenger comfort.
