New Swiss Federal Railways line

December 2019 saw a long-cherished dream of the city of Geneva become reality: the launch of the Léman Express by the Swiss Federal Railways in collaboration with French railways operator SNCF marked a significant expansion of public transport in the region around Lake Geneva. The CEVA line forms the backbone and main route of the Léman Express. Following a former freight route, it closes the gap between the districts of La Praille and Eaux-Vives. Only eight kilometres of track were missing, but these had to be built through densely built-up districts, across the river Arve and under Champel hill. More than 240,000 people live and work within 500 m of each of the CEVA stations. They thus benefit from access to the local and regional transport links. Noise from the railway was reduced as far as possible, in particular by running much of the line underground and providing underground stations. 

Controlled protection at every turn.

In terms of safety and security, we played a significant role in the future of this historic railway line by installing 115 video cameras in the five new Swiss-side railway stations and 13 underground emergency exits. We seamlessly integrated these cameras into the Swiss Federal Railways’ LAN network. This data highway then sends the images to the company’s IPS video management system, which we set up beforehand.

In terms of fire protection, we equipped each of the five stations with state-of-the-art detection technology, namely the SecuriFire 3010: easy to operate, extremely reliable and flexible, meaning that not a second is lost in the event of an alarm. The system includes 750 multi-sensors for smoke and heat detection (including audible alarms), designed to spot incipient fires. The high-tech early fire detection system is complemented by the SecuriBeam BSD and SecuriBeam ILIA linear smoke detectors, which are particularly suitable for larger station premises. A SecuriHeat LIST sensor cable provides additional protection in a technical plant. In a nutshell, our all-round safety and security package provides the Geneva railway project with the protection it deserves.