CDG Express kicks off

[whole diary]

[stuving]

The French government announced in January that the long-discussed express line from Roissy CDG to Gare d l'est would be built. This week the work started - in the sense that a jointly-owned company has been set up to do the full engineering study. It's a PPP involving RFF, ADP (A^roports de Paris) and the French state - nominally at least. RFF is 100% state-owned, and ADP is legally a private company but is 50.6% state-owned, so the private share is pretty puny.

Some details have been fixed - like the fare, at ^23, and that the ^1.7 bn cost will be mainly recovered from passengers (but with the option of a ^1 levy on all air passengers as well). The route is shown in this article (in French).

[ellendune]

Seems a very strange route. Presumably it will go to Gare De L'Est because there is no capacity at Gare Du Nord. I know they are as close as Kings Cross & St Pancras, but surely it would have been easier to go in along the main rail corridor into Gare De L'Est.  Also I always found the RER a perfectly good way to get to CDG.