Lille Europe Station

[Thames99]

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End of the line for Paris’ iconic metro ticket

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Do Paris Eurostar trains normally run via Lille Europe? They did in both directions and I wondered if this was a diversion due to the extensive flooding in northern France as I've never noticed passing through the station on previous trips.

 

[AdamWW]

A bit off topic, do Paris Eurostar trains normally run via Lille Europe?

Yes.

 

[zero]

A bit off topic, do Paris Eurostar trains normally run via Lille Europe? They did in both directions and I wondered if this was a diversion due to the extensive flooding in northern France as I've never noticed passing through the station on previous trips.

I think that's the only possible route along the high-speed lines. If they don't stop you may not notice that you've passed through Lille station as to my memory it just looks like another tunnel when going through at high speed. GPS doesn't seem to work from inside eurostars so the only way to know where you are is by recognising landmarks and roads

 

[SocietyForFer]

I think that's the only possible route along the high-speed lines. If they don't stop you may not notice that you've passed through Lille station as to my memory it just looks like another tunnel when going through at high speed. GPS doesn't seem to work from inside eurostars so the only way to know where you are is by recognising landmarks and roads

The majority of the non-stop Eurostars pass through a tunnel under Lille at 200 km/h. It's usually only the ones that stop at Lille that continue to Lille Europe, and TGVs that ouright terminate in Lille go to Lille Flanders.

 

[zero]

The majority of the non-stop Eurostars pass through a tunnel under Lille at 200 km/h. It's usually only the ones that stop at Lille that continue to Lille Europe, and TGVs that ouright terminate in Lille go to Lille Flanders.

Oh ok, thanks.

 

[stuu]

The majority of the non-stop Eurostars pass through a tunnel under Lille at 200 km/h. It's usually only the ones that stop at Lille that continue to Lille Europe, and TGVs that ouright terminate in Lille go to Lille Flanders.

Pedantically the through lines are at the same level, but they are semi-screened from the platforms. The platforms sit either side of the through tracks with the passenger access on top of them. You can see the station if you know when to look, but it is "blink and you'll miss it"

 

[AdamWW]

The majority of the non-stop Eurostars pass through a tunnel under Lille at 200 km/h. It's usually only the ones that stop at Lille that continue to Lille Europe, and TGVs that ouright terminate in Lille go to Lille Flanders.

We are off topic here but in the interests of correcting something that I think is wrong, I don't believe there is way for a train to remain on the High Speed Line and bypass Lille Europe station. Certainly OpenRailwayMap shows no such thing:

 

[rvdborgt]

We are off topic here but in the interests of correcting something that I think is wrong, I don't believe there is way for a train to remain on the High Speed Line and bypass Lille Europe station. Certainly OpenRailwayMap shows no such thing:

Zoom in far enough and you'll see 6 tracks, 4 of which are the platform tracks and 2 are the through tracks, semi-screened from the platforms as mentioned before. So you indeed go through the station on a through train, but you if you don't pay attention you'll miss it.

 

[SocietyForFer]

We are off topic here but in the interests of correcting something that I think is wrong, I don't believe there is way for a train to remain on the High Speed Line and bypass Lille Europe station. Certainly OpenRailwayMap shows no such thing:

View attachment 147126

Sorry to continue the off topic, but I believe there is a two track tunnel capable of carrying trains at 220 km/h under Lille. I've found a few forum posts and one paywalled article but nothing technical or evidential yet however.

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

Sorry to continue the off topic, but I believe there is a two track tunnel capable of carrying trains at 220 km/h under Lille. I've found a few forum posts and one paywalled article but nothing technical or evidential yet however.

There's this French Wiki entry for Lille Europe which mentions 220km/h (this is more detailed than the English version, as is often the case on railways in France).
Elsewhere 200km/h appears to be the maximum service speed mentioned.

Gare de Lille-Europe — Wikipédia

fr.wikipedia.org

Les deux voies centrales, parcourables jusqu'à 220 km/h1 et dépourvues de quai, servent au transit des trains ne marquant pas d'arrêt (en l'occurrence des Eurostar, notamment tous ceux effectuant la liaison Paris – Londres).

You can translate with a browser.
Most of the detailed French Wiki articles on LGVs/main lines have a table of line speeds over the route, but seemingly not this one.

 

[jfollows]

https://www.sncf-reseau.com/en/carte/carte-reseau-ferre-en-france might be a better map of the area:

https://www.sncf-reseau.com/medias-publics/2019-04/MEP_POSTER_avril2019_POUR_LE_WEB.PDF

No tunnel, just lines through the middle of the station “lacking a platform” as in the french quote above.

EDIT It's gloomy, because of the screens and the station roof, so it might appear to be a tunnel to some.

"The two central roads, with 220km/h line speed and which lack platforms, are used by non-stopping trains (for example Eurostar trains and especially all of their Paris-London services)". I make some liberties with my attempted translation I'm sure.

 

[stuu]

Sorry to continue the off topic, but I believe there is a two track tunnel capable of carrying trains at 220 km/h under Lille. I've found a few forum posts and one paywalled article but nothing technical or evidential yet however.

It's not a separate tunnel. There are through tracks between the platforms, with a 200 km/h limit. In the photo the through tracks are behind the arches on the right:

Photo shows the northbound platforms at Lille Europe from the mezzanine level