Paris to get high-speed Charles de Gaulle Airport Express train
By David Flynn, January 30 2014
The good news: Paris' super-busy Charles de Gaulle international airport is getting an express train to run non-stop into the city centre in just 20 minutes.
The not-so-good news: it's almost a decade away, with the 32km line not expected to open until 2023.
ironically, the Charles de Gaulle Express has been an on-and-off project for almost the past decade – but the French government says it is now committed to the €1.7bn (A$2.65bn) project intended to alleviate overcrowding on the airport's local RER rapid commuter lines.
An estimated eight million passengers used the suburban train to shuttle between Charles de Gaulle airport and Paris in 2013.
Construction on the first 8km of track needed to join up to the existing rail network will begin in 2017, with the CDG Express terminating at Gare de l'Est (Paris East) station.
It's expected that the project may be partially funded by a €1 surcharge on all tickets for flights into and out of Charles de Gaulle airport.
A one-way ticket on the CDG Express is projected to cost €24 (A$37), compared with under €10 for the suburban train.
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David Flynn is the Editor-in-Chief of Executive Traveller and a bit of a travel tragic with a weakness for good coffee, shopping and lychee martinis.
Qantas - Platinum One
18 Jan 2011
Total posts 82
2 decade lead time?
Maybe the French Government isn't too different from ours (Sydney Airport expansion, Melbourne Airport rail?)
Air China - Phoenix Miles
20 Dec 2012
Total posts 105
Hope they've already counted the strike cost.
I used Roisse Bus from and to CDG, which is only 10 euro.
21 Apr 2012
Total posts 3006
Will it leave from Gare du Nord?
15 Apr 2011
Total posts 580
No, but Gare de l'Est is only a couple of blocks southeast of Gare du Nord and an easy 5-10 minute walk door-to-door (or one stop on the metro).
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