Duracover - On the High Speed Train Lines through France

The construction of the High Speed Train Lines is part of the planned 2000km of new high speed lines due to open between now and 2020. It comes under the programme law of 3 August 2009 relating to the implementation of the Grenelle Environment Forum.

The Grenelle Environment Forum is a conference bringing together the government, local authorities, trade unions, companies and the volunteer sectors to draw up an action plan of concrete measures to address environmental problems, for example: It imposes a 20% cut in CO2 emissions in the transport sector.

The compensatory measures carries out have been adopted within this framework, given that building a high speed line inevitably had environmental impacts. To do so, various types of vegetation have been planted while preserving water quality and limiting impact on fauna and flora.

Duracover for revival, growth and development of plants

This vegetation can be found on both sides of the 2 lines on acoustic earth levees, aligned and in clumps, covering a surface area of more or less 600 000m² for the Tours-Bordeaux line and 300 000m² for Le Mans-Rennes line.

The vegetation is planted in many places on Duracover, which is a 100% biodegradable woven fabric. The use of Duracover, encourages therevival, growth and development of plants, by allowing exchanges of “air and water” with the earth and by limiting competition from weeds, etc.

As from July 2016, trains run at speeds of over 320km/h over the track.