The LGV Rhin-Rhône (French: Ligne à Grande Vitesse; English: high-speed line) is a French high-speed rail line, the first in France to be presented as an inter-regional route rather than a link from the provinces to Paris,^[1] though it actually is used by some trains to/from Paris. The first phase of the eastern branch opened on 11 December 2011. Construction of its second phase was initially expected to start in 2014 but still has no funding.

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LGV Rhin-Rhône
View of the line in Saulnot
Overview
Status	Operational, partly projected
Owner	SNCF Réseau
Locale	Bourgogne-Franche-Comté, France
Termini	Petit-Croix Villers-les-Pots
Stations	Besançon Franche-Comté Belfort – Montbéliard
Service
Type	High-speed rail
Operator(s)	SNCF
Rolling stock	TGV Duplex TGV Sud-Est TGV Réseau TGV POS
History
Opened	11 December 2011
Technical
Line length	140 km (87 mi)
Number of tracks	Double track
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Electrification	25 kV 50 Hz
Operating speed	320 km/h (200 mph)
Signalling	TVM 430
Route map Legend Line from Dijon from Paris via west branch LGV Rhin-Rhône 0.0 to Vallorbe 8.3 River Saône 52.0 Besançon Franche-Comté TGV 57.1 to Besançon-Viotte Line from Belfort 133.9 Belfort – Montbéliard TGV to Delle 137.9 Line to Mulhouse east branch LGV Rhin-Rhône to Mulhouse This diagram: view talk edit

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If completed, LGV Rhin-Rhône would have three branches:

• The Eastern branch, 190 km (120 mi) from Genlis, near Dijon to Lutterbach, near Mulhouse, of which 140 km (87 mi) have been built
• The Western branch, crossing Dijon, joining the LGV Sud-Est near Montbard and making the line a connection between Dijon and Paris
• The Southern branch, from Dijon to Lyon

The construction of the latter two branches and of the second phase of the Eastern branch is currently unfunded.

Running north–south, the Southern branch line would help connect Germany, the north of Switzerland, and eastern France on the one hand with the valleys of the Saône, Rhône, the Mediterranean arc and finally Catalonia on the other. The east–west Eastern and Western branches lines would help connect on the one hand London, Brussels, Lille and Île-de-France (i.e., Paris and surroundings) with Burgundy, Franche-Comté, south Alsace, southern Baden, and Switzerland on the other.

A connection will be built at Perrigny, south of Dijon, to serve TGV and freight trains. Besançon Franche-Comté TGV station, located in Les Auxons will be connected to Besançon-Viotte station by a railway line which could be also used for commuter trains.

It is projected that 12 million passengers per year will use the LGV Rhine-Rhône service.^[2]

The western branch consists of the crossing of Dijon, where a new station is to be built, the connection to the Paris-Marseille line near Montbard and the connection with the LGV Sud-Est at the Pasilly-Aisy junction. This branch will speed up connections with the Île-de-France region.

In 2009, the regional planning procedure for the 150 km (93 mi) long south branch was launched. Seven routes have been put up for discussion by the developer Réseau ferré de France, who favours a route parallel to the A 39 motorway, at an estimated cost of €3 billion.

The first phase of the eastern branch runs 140 km (87 mi) of the 190 km (120 mi) planned length, connecting Villers-les-Pots (east of Dijon) to Petit-Croix (southeast of Belfort), was officially opened by President Nicolas Sarkozy on 8 September 2011,^[2] with passenger services starting on 11 December 2011.^[3]

The eastern branch is used by TGV trains operated by SNCF. It will become a key link in both the north–south and east–west transport corridors. The line carries regional, national, and intra-European traffic. Mulhouse provides connection to Basel, Switzerland, and then to southwestern Germany and north-western Switzerland.

• High-speed rail
• TGV
• Intercity-Express