WORK officially started on January 22 on the €150m project to upgrade and reopen the 75km non-electrified Nancy - Contrexéville line in eastern France, which has been completely closed between Mirecourt and Vittel since 2016.
The project is being undertaken as a public-private partnership (PPP) by the Nova 14 consortium. In 2024 Nova 14 signed a 22-year concession with the Grand Est region to upgrade the line, operate passenger services and manage infrastructure, the latter a first on the national network in France.
Nova 14 is led by NGE Concessions, which holds a 50% stake, and also comprises operating contractor Transdev (20%) and Banque des Territoires (30%).
Infrastructure work is being carried out mainly by NGE subsidiary TSO, and includes a comprehensive programme of track renewals, resignalling, and upgrading 43 level crossings, while 21 will be removed. A control centre and rolling stock maintenance depot will be built on a 16,500 m² site at Mirecourt.
The line is due to reopen on December 12 2027, with up to 16 return services a day between Nancy and Contrexéville with an end-to-end journey time of 1h 10min. There will be 14 a day between Nancy and Pont-Saint-Vincent. Traffic is forecast at 500,000 passengers a year. Existing rolling stock will be used, likely to be eight class X 73500 diesel railcars.
Vittel is a spa town and the return of passenger services will form part of a campaign to revive its fortunes. Heavy shipments of mineral water from Vittel and Contrexéville continue to move by rail daily, travelling westwards on the freight-only line from Vittel to Merrey to eventually join the Paris - Basle main line.
