ALP-Rail is an association that was founded in 1993. Its goal is « the promotion and defence of railway transport considered as a service provided to the community » (article 2 of the  association's status [this document is in French]). This article points out that « The association commits to upholding and developing a global railway network in the Lake Geneva - Mont-Blanc region, able to support any kind of traffic ». This goals includes the commitment « to upholding and developing the existing railway network around the lake Geneva » that appeared in the former version of its status, when the association was founded in 1993.

The primary goal, in 1993, was indeed to correct a situation that kept worsening throughout the XXth century: Geneva, end of the line both on the western end of Switzerland and by one of France's eastern borders.

ALP-Rail's founder members target a consistent regional and international railway network, including neighbouring France. Hence the obvious necessity to restore the line, threatened at the time, between Geneva's Eaux-Vives station and Annemasse. And, as a consequence, to link Cornavin's CFF station to Eaux-Vives' SNCF station. From Cornavin to Annemasse, a stretch long of 3 miles only needs to be built, while a further 7 miles need restoration.

Nowadays, everyone acknowledges the necessity to carry out this stretch. Two milestones can be mentioned in order to illustrate this consensus: in December 1999, in its answer to ALP-Rail, the federal councillor Moritz Leuenberger confirms the 1912 convention between the Confederation and the canton of Geneva, concerning among other subjects the link between Cornavin and Eaux-Vives' stations, is valid. In 2000, the Grand Conseil of Geneva almost unanimously votes a law that allocates funds to preliminary studies concerning the link. This comes each time as a result to ALP-Rail's informative and persuasive work.

In spite of some reservations raised by the perspective of a costly operation, the train is on its tracks, the stretch will be built, this evolution is irreversible. ALP-Rail deserves credit for putting it on its rails.

A such link is four times relevant:

• first, it is a fast urban railway connecting the two shores of the lake and serving such vital centres as Cornavin, Lancy, Carouge - La Praille, the hospital, Eaux-Vives, the "Trois-Chêne", Annemasse;
• It is too a true franco-Swiss express railway network with potential benefits on regenerating railway transport in the French region of Haute-Savoie ;
• It is a new birth for regional railways, whose benefits can be felt from the western part of Switzerland to the French region of Rhône-Alpes.
• Last but not least, it means inter-regional connections departing from Geneva, western gate of Switzerland: Bellegarde - Bourg en Bresse ("Haut-Bugey" line); the French "alpine furrow" route through Annemasse, Annecy, Chambéry, Grenoble and its continuations towards the Rhône valley or, departing from Chambéry, the crossing of the Alps, using the Mount-Cenis tunnel today, and tomorrow the Lyon-Turin transalpine railroad.

Such an area of action required ALP-Rail to free itself from country boundaries. This was done in officially registering offices both in France and Switzerland. ALP-Rail not only accepts personal memberships, among which several personalities and people from various occupational backgrounds, but also public memberships that can be either other associations or local communities. Among these can be mentioned, on the Swiss side:

• The Valais canton,
• The city of Geneva,
• Carouge,
• Chêne-Bougerie,
• Chêne-Bourg,
• Lancy,
• Thonex,

...and on the French side:

• Annemasse,
• Thonon-les-Bains,
• Ambilly,
• Bons-en-Chablais,
• Gaillard,
• Perrignier,
• Publier,
• and Chambéry.

As a conclusion, a reminder of what reasons led to the creation of ALP-Rail. Firmly stated in the status, they legitimate its present and future activities: obvious socio-economical benefits of developing railway transport and constantly growing needs for mobility, especially at a regional level, can only be answered to by this means of transport without endangering vital environmental priorities.

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