LGV Rhin-Rhône

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, 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.

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.