Investigation underway by CDG Express for high speed rail link between Gare de l'Est and Roissy-CDG airport which will require a tunnel to connect the east Paris lines to the existing line from Roissy to Marne la Vallee. Partners in CDG Express are Aeroports de Paris, SNCF and RFF. For a useful map of transport links between Paris and its airports visit www.adp.fr and select Roissy. July 2000. Charles-de-Gaulle Express rail link between Gare de l'Est and the Roissy airport will be undergrounded in Mitry-Mory. The line will run on the existing tracks between Paris and Noisy-le-Sec and the remaining 14 km will be built underground up to Tremblay-en-France. Commissioning programmed for 2008. Visit www.cdgexpress.org 46/01.Syndicat des Transports d'Ile-de-France (STIF), the Greater Paris tranport authority, has voted in favour of the CDG Express line, a non-stop rail link from downtown Paris to Roissy-Charles de Gaulle airport. There will be a 10.5 km tunnel. The project is promoted by a JV formed by SNCF - the French state rail company, Aéroports de Paris (ADP) and Réseau Ferré de France (RFF) - the railway infrastructure operator. Visit www.cdgexpress.org and www.stif-idf.fr 07/03.SNCF Ingénierie has secured a €1.4 million contract for technical design of an express line between Gare de l'Est and Charles de Gaulle airport, including a 10.5 km tunnel between Noisy-le-Sec and Tremblay-en-France. Visit www.sncf.fr 40/03.Notice of concession, deadline 30th October, 2006 for the Charles de Gaulle Express line between central Paris and Charles de Gaulle airport in Roissy. The project includes an approx. 700 m cut-and-cover tunnel between Gare de l'Est and Gare du Nord main stations and a 400 m tunnel under runway number 4 at CDG airport. Also, a 300 m bored tunnel and a 200 m cut-and-cover tunnel will be required before the Gare de l'Est station. Read E-News Weekly 24/2004. Visit http://ted.europa.eu/udl?request=Seek-Deliver&language=en&docid=160688-2006, OJ S 149, or contact Ministry of transport, Paris, fax +33 140811661. E-mail cdg-express.dtfc.dgmt@equipement.gouv.fr. Also visit www.cdgexpress.org 33-34/06.The five candidates for the concession for the Charles de Gaulle Express, between Gare de l'Est station in Paris and Charles de Gaulle airport in Roissy are: a consortium led by Eiffage, with Macquarie Bank; a consortium led by Bouygues TP, with Seco-Rail, RATP Développement, FIDEPPP and HSBC; a consortium headed by Vinci Concessions, with Vinci, Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations, Axa Infrastructure Investissement and Keolis; and two Spanish contenders: ACS's Iridium Concesiones de Infraestructuras teaming with Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles (CAF); and FCC. The five candidates will submit their offer next fall. The contract is scheduled to be awarded in the first semester of 2008. Click fr/30 to learn more. 06/07.The Ministry for environment, energy, sustainable development and land use planning announced that it had selected a preferred bidder to finance, build and manage the Charles de Gaulle (CDG) Express airport rail link. The chosen consortium of VINCI Concessions, VINCI SA, Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations (CDC), Axa Infrastructure Investissement and Keolis will now negotiate the concession agreement, which is expected to be signed at the beginning of 2009. The planning and enquiry process leading to the award of a declaration of public utility for the project is due to be completed by the end of this year, and the line is scheduled to open in 2013. The 32 km route will start from Paris Est main railway station and run though a new 700 m tunnel, 220 m of which using the cut-and-cover technique, to reach a pair of tracks parallel to Line B of the regional express railway (RER) network. Beyond Aulnay-sous-Bois, the CDG Express link will diverge at Villeparisis on to a 8 km double-track branch paralleling the high speed interconnection to a new terminus at the airport. From there, the existing VAL people mover will provide connections to the various terminals. The line also requires a 300 m bored tunnel and a 200 m cut-and-cover tunnel. Plans call for non-stop trains to run at 15 minutes intervals, taking just 20 minutes. The CDG Express will double rail transport capacity between the Paris city centre and CDG airport in Roissy and is expected to boost the rail share of traffic between Paris and the airport from 22% to 40%. Visit www.vinci-concessions.com, www.vinci.com, www.cdgexpress.fr and www.developpement-durable.gouv.fr/IMG/pdf/DP_CDG_complet_cle519847-2.pdf 31/08.