On Thursday 13 October 2022 the Prefect of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur and Bouches-du-Rhône Region, the Prefect of Var and the Prefect of the Alpes-Maritimes signed the inter-prefecture decree declaring of public utility the project concerning the realization of phases 1 & 2 of the LNPCA (Ligne Nouvelle Provence Cote d'Azur), which aims to improve daily travel by train in the cities of Marseille, Toulon and the Côte d'Azur. The project aims to implement a true rail metropolitan express network (REM), which should contribute to the shift from car to train in the region.  

Phase 2 will include the: 

• doubling of the existing Saint-Louis tunnel (from 2 to 4 lanes), with the construction of two single-track tunnels, each about 500 m long, on either side of the existing tracks.  

• the underground crossing of Marseille with a double tunnel, whose northern tube (4.8 km) will connect the Paris-Lyon-Marseille (PLM) line in La Delorme to Saint-Charles station and the other tube (3.1 km) will link the Marseille - Ventimiglia line in the La Parette sector with Saint-Charles station.  

The project is coupled with a major effort to modernize the Marseille-Ventimiglia line as part of the High-Performance Marseille-Ventimiglia (HPMV) project, which contributes to the development of an essential European corridor of the trans-European transport network (TEN-T) along the Mediterranean. Click fr/132 for the tunnelbuilder tender archive. For further information on the project visit https://www.lignenouvelle-provencecotedazur.fr. 45/22.