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On Sunday, the trains left Annemasse (Haute-Savoie) without delay, but there were few at the start in the context of the rail workers' strike against the pension reform. Fabrice COFFRINI / AFP

It is a first and its inauguration could change the daily life of tens of thousands of people, Swiss and French. This Sunday, December 15, the “Léman express”, a cross-border link between Geneva and France, made its first trip. This cross-border RER project will have required 8 years of work to see the light of day.

This is a mini-revolution for cross-border workers that takes place this Sunday. The launch of the “Léman express”, made up of 230 km of railways that connect a total of 45 stations, will make it possible “ to erase the border effect between Switzerland and France ”, as explained by Simonetta Sommaruga, the Federal Councilor Switzerland at the inauguration of the new stations last Thursday.

The now largest cross-border rail network in Europe should transport more than 50,000 people daily on the 6 lines created within a perimeter covering the Swiss cantons of Geneva and Vaud, as well as the French departments of Ain and Haute-Savoie.

The 40 trainsets will make it possible in particular to connect Evian, Annecy, Saint-Gervais, Bellegarde, Geneva and Coppet. This network, which cost just under 2 billion euros, has been awaited for decades by the tens of thousands of French and Swiss residents who cross the border daily to get to work.

The "Léman express" will not only save significant time, but also significantly reduce traffic on a saturated road network during peak hours. This is good news for the planet since this mountainous region is today considered to be one of the most polluted in Europe.

The “Léman express” will be co-operated until 2023 by SNCF and CFF, the Swiss Federal Railways, before a single binational company takes over.

The inauguration was tarnished by the strike in transport in France and a local movement of railway workers in Annemasse.