A 80km high speed railway for freight and passengers which forms part of the Mediterranean High Speed Link. In operation since 2017

Background

The Nîmes-Montpellier Bypass (CNM) Project is a 25-year contract for a new 80-kilometre section of railway for both freight and passenger traffic between Nîmes and Montpellier. It is an extension of the Mediterranean High-Speed Link which was commissioned in 2001.

The line has been developed for several reasons:

• serving both passenger and freight rail services,
• adding substantial capacity to the existing east-west transport corridor,
• bypassing the cities of Nîmes and Montpellier, and
• serving as an extension to a strategic rail route from Barcelona to Avignon and beyond.

OC’Via, the Project Company, signed the 25-year PPP contract with SNCF Réseau, a government entity which owns the national French railway network.

The infrastructure was commissioned in 2017, on schedule. In 2019, Meridiam increased its ownership from 53% to 73% by acquiring the shares of the industrial partners.

Stage:

In Operation, completion date 13 November 2017

Learn more about the project:

Nîmes Montpellier High Speed Rail Line

Launch of the First commercial freight train on the CNM (Nîmes-Montpellier Bypass)