Projects subsidised over the 2021-2027 period - 2024 call for proposals

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The Connecting Europe Facility committee, which brings together the Member States and the European Commission, validated the list of projects receiving a CEF grant on 16 July 2024. €123 million have been awarded to projects led by SNCF Réseau.

6 projects have been selected from the 14 submitted by SNCF Réseau as part of the 3rd call for proposals for the 2021 to 2027 period. The Connecting Europe Facility is the financial tool dedicated to the implementation of the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T). The available budget was €7 billion, but the competition was very strong: 134 proposals were selected out of 408 (all modes combined). France was the leading recipient of grants with: 

  • €1bn (from the €2.6bn core network budget) granted for the Lyon-Turin and Seine-Escaut cross-border projects, 
  • €156 million in grants awarded across all modes combined, including €142 million for the SNCF Group, with €123 million allocated to SNCF Réseau. 

Focus on the 6 SNCF Réseau projects selected

  • Lyon Turin Alpine access (APD):  

The Lyon-Chambéry-Turin Alpine Access project will link France to Italy via the Alps, with the construction of 140 km of new line between Lyon and Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne. This new route will link up with the future international tunnel under the Alps, due to open in 2032. 

The European Commission is to provide €64.5m in funding for the final preliminary design studies (APD) for the construction of the French accesses to the Lyon-Torino rail link.  

  • New Montpellier Perpignan Line:  

The line between Montpellier and Perpignan is the only missing link in the high-speed network between Seville and Amsterdam. The aim of this project is to complete this missing link in the TEN-T and the Mediterranean corridor.  

€22.5 million has been awarded for the preliminary design studies (AVP) for phase 1, Montpellier-Béziers, and the preliminary studies (EP) for phase 2, between Béziers and Perpignan. The European Commission had already allocated €6.5m to this project in the previous call. 

  • Major South-Western rail project 

The new Bordeaux-Toulouse and Bordeaux-Dax lines (327 km in total) are the main operation of the Major South-Western rail project (GPSO) on the Bordeaux-Toulouse and Bordeaux-Spain routes. This programme integrates the challenges of long-distance mobility and everyday transport.  

€19.1m has been allocated to finance studies on the new Dax-Spain line and part of the rail upgrade works to the south of Bordeaux (AFSB). During the last call for proposals, the European Commission already granted €35.2 million for the New Line section and €27.18 million for the rail upgrade project operations to the south of Bordeaux. 

  • Roissy-Picardy 

The Roissy-Picardy rail link will improve daily travel to the Roissy hub from Picardy and the north-east of the Val d'Oise. It will improve access from the south of Hauts-de-France to the TGV network and the Île-de-France region. The project involves the creation of a new 6.5 km section of track running at 160 km/h, and improvements to the stations at Survilliers-Fosses, Roissy and Amiens. The works began in the first quarter of 2024. 

The European Commission has awarded €10.374 million for works at Roissy station. 

  • Le Boulou terminal 

SNCF Réseau is studying the possibility of extending the facilities at Le Boulou freight station by building a new set of sidings and connecting them to the Figueras-Perpignan line (LFP). The aim of this upgrade is to increase the proportion of goods transported by rail through Le Boulou. 

€4.5 million has been allocated to preliminary design studies (AVP) for the freight complex and preliminary studies (EP) for the connection to the Perpignan-Figueras line. 

  • ETCS equipment: BB60000 locomotives  

€1.89m has been awarded by the European Commission for the retrofit of BB60000 maintenance locomotives to be deployed on the Marseille-Ventimiglia line as part of the Marseille-Ventimiglia High Performance (HPMV) project. 

In 2021, an initial call for proposals resulted in the funding of 4 SNCF Réseau projects for a total of more than €36 million. In the CEF 2022 call for proposals, the French infrastructure manager received €126m to fund 5 projects.