Entry into service of Rhônexpress

11 September 2010 - Projects update and handover - France

Less than four years after the contract was signed, the Rhônexpress rail link, offering a journey time of less than 30 minutes between the centre of Lyons (central France) and Lyon - Saint-Exupéry Airport, was brought into service at 5:00 am on Monday 9 August 2010. Within the framework of a 30-year concession, the Rhônexpress consortium, led by VINCI Concessions (35.2%), is in charge of the design, financing, construction and overall management of the project, which represents an overall investment of 120 million euros.

The design and construction work was undertaken by Group companies. Campenon Bernard Management, a VINCI Construction France subsidiary, and Entreprise Jean Lefebvre Sud Est and ETF-Eurovia Travaux Ferroviaires, both Eurovia subsidiaries, supplied the infrastructure works, including the creation of five engineering structures and the laying of 7 km of track.
Roiret Transports and Cegelec (Energy business line business units) carried out the electrical equipment works. The first rail concession in France for a service linking a city’s centre with its airport, the Rhônexpress link will operate 365 days a year, between 5:00 am and midnight. It is expected it will carry more than a million passengers a year.