Oc’Via
14% of the time worked on the project has been devoted to social inclusion programmes
Up to 4,500 people worked on the construction phase at peak times
126 protected species were identified along the line
188 engineering structures, i.e. approximately 1 every 400 m
80 km of new mixed line, passenger and freight
Oc’Via was awarded the private-public partnership concession contract for the Nîmes-Montpellier rail by-pass. Under this agreement signed in June 2012 with SNCF Réseau, Oc’Via is responsible for funding, designing, building and maintaining this new railway line until 2037.
The first combined passenger / freight high speed line
Designed to handle passenger and freight traffic, the Nîmes-Montpellier rail by-pass is the first mixed traffic high speed line.
Shorter journey times
Journey times between Paris and Montpellier of less than 3 hours
Start of commercial operations
October 2017
Improving regional transport
Faster flowing traffic on the existing line due to the diversion of freight trains and some high speed trains
A 5-year project
- 80 km of new track
- 188 engineering structures including 11 viaducts and 1 cut and cover
Employment
- Up to 4,500 people worked on the construction phase at peak times
- 14% of the hours worked on the project were devoted to social inclusion programmes
- Over 20% of the total cost of the work was carried out by small and medium sized businesses.
Environmental measures
- Identifying 126 protected species
- Reinstating 1,800 hectares of natural habitat, i.e. twice the amount of land occupied by the infrastructure
- Reducing flooding risks by building most of the line on raised embankments.
- Testing of new building materials: one structure was built using 20% recycled concrete
Investment
€1.8 billion for the new line, €1.2 billion of which came from the private sector.
Major Project Phases
June 2012
Start of contract
Jul 2012 –end of 2013
Design phase
End 2013
Start of earthworks and civil engineering work
End 2015
Start of work to install railway equipment
Mid 2017
Testing
End 2017
Start of commercial service
Respecting the environment: a primary concern
Mitigation and compensatory environmental measures
From the very outset, Oc’Via struck a balance between environmental concerns and technical constraints, introducing mitigation and compensatory measures in partnership with local environmental authorities to protect flora and fauna along the railway corridor. During the construction phase for example, artificial homes were created to protect certain species.
Creation of an environmental Monitoring Unit
Set up before the start of construction work and for a duration stretching up to five years after the commissioning of the line, this Monitoring Unit assesses the impact of the project on the environment and tracks the deployment and efficiency of the mitigation measures.
