The LGV Rhin-Rhône (French: Ligne à Grande Vitesse; English: high-speed line) is a French high-speed rail line, the first in France to be presented as an inter-regional route rather than a link from the provinces to Paris, though it actually is used by some trains to/from Paris. The first phase of the eastern branch opened on 11 December 2011. Construction of its second phase was initially expected to start in 2014 but still has no funding. If completed, LGV Rhin-Rhône would have three branches: The Eastern branch, from Genlis, near Dijon to Lutterbach, near Mulhouse, of which have been built The Western branch, crossing Dijon, joining the LGV Sud-Est near Montbard and making the line a connection between Dijon and Paris The Southern branch, from Dijon to Lyon The construction of the latter two branches and of the second phase of the Eastern branch is currently unfunded. Running north-south, the Southern branch line would help connect Germany, the north of Switzerland, and eastern France on the one hand with the valleys of the Saône, Rhône, the Mediterranean arc and finally Catalonia on the other. The east-west Eastern and Western branches lines would help connect on the one hand London, Brussels, Lille and Île-de-France (i.e., Paris and surroundings) with Burgundy, Franche-Comté, south Alsace, southern Baden, and Switzerland on the other. A connection will be built at Perrigny, south of Dijon, to serve TGV and freight trains. Auxon station will be connected to Besançon-Viotte station by a railway line which could be also used for commuter trains. It is projected that 12 million passengers per year will use the LGV Rhine-Rhône service. Western branch The western branch consists of the crossing of Dijon, where a new station is to be built, the connection to the Paris-Marseille line near Montbard and the connection with the LGV Sud-Est at the Pasilly-Aisy junction. This branch will speed up connections with the Île-de-France region. Southern branch In 2009, the regional planning procedure for the long south branch was launched. Seven routes have been put up for discussion by the developer Réseau ferré de France, who favours a route parallel to the A 39 motorway, at an estimated cost of €3 billion. History The first phase of the eastern branch runs of the planned length, connecting Villers-les-Pots (east of Dijon) to Petit-Croix (southeast of Belfort), was officially opened by President Nicolas Sarkozy on 8 September 2011, with