French railway news – Page 18
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NewsTrenitalia launches French domestic high speed services
FRANCE: Trenitalia launched its first French domestic open access high speed service between Paris-Lyon and Lyon-Perrache on April 5.
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NewsTGV M power cars transported from Belfort to La Rochelle
FRANCE: Power cars from the first of the TGM M trainsets ordered under SNCF’s TGV of the Future programme, branded Avelia Horizon by the manufacturer, have been transported from Alstom’s Belfort factory to La Rochelle.
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Metro Report International‘Mireille’ breaks through on Paris Line 16
FRANCE: Celebrations at the site of the future Clichy-Montfermeil station on March 29 marked a milestone in the construction of automated metro Line 16 as part of the Grand Paris Express project. After boring 2·2 km from the Bel-Air worksite in Chelles, tunnel boring machine ‘Mireille’ ...
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NewsFrench open access passenger service launch postponed
FRANCE: Open access operator Railcoop has indefinitely postponed the launch of its planned Lyon – Bordeaux passenger service, which had been scheduled to start with the December timetable change. On March 30 the co-operative community interest group released a statement confirming the deferral of its entry ...
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NewsMerger approval ‘should ensure the rebound and growth ambitions of Thalys and Eurostar’, says SNCF
EUROPE: The European Commission has approved the planned merger of cross-border high speed train operators Thalys and Eurostar. SNCF Voyageurs told Railway Gazette International the merger ‘should ensure the rebound and growth ambitions of Thalys and Eurostar.’ Announcing its decision on March 29, the Commission said ...
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NewsCargoBeamer launches dedicated Germany – France train for DFDS
EUROPE: CargoBeamer has launched its first service dedicated to one client, carrying unaccompanied lorry semi-trailers, swap bodies and containers by rail between Köln in Germany and Sète near Montpellier in southern France. The two trains per week in each direction are each able to carry 38 ...
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NewsTramway du Mont-Blanc train delivered
FRANCE: Stadler has delivered the first of four electric multiple-units for the Tramway du Mont-Blanc mountain railway. The metre-gauge line runs 12·5 km from Fayet station at 580 m above sea level in Saint-Gervais-les-Bains to the 2 372 m high summit station at Nid d’Aigle. It ...
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NewsChannel Tunnel track contracts awarded
EUROPE: Channel Tunnel operator Eurotunnel has awarded Colas Rail two contracts for maintenance and renewal of the 200 km of track at its two terminals and in the tunnel. One contract covers routine maintenance and is worth €2·5m over three years, with an option for a ...
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NewsMore French inter-city services in prospect as tendering relaunched
FRANCE: A 20% increase in ridership on conventional inter-city services or Trains d’Equilibre du Territoire over the next decade is envisaged in a new operating contract between the government and SNCF Voyageurs which was signed in Paris on March 17.
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Metro Report InternationalKeolis merges its digital services
FRANCE: Keolis is merging all its public transport related data and software development activities into a single entity called Hove, formed from the words Hive and Move. Hove will take over the 110 employees of Kisio Digital and those of the data team of Kisio Services ...
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NewsHigh speed line financing corporations established
FRANCE: The government has established public corporations to handle the financing of three major high speed line projects. The three are the Ligne Nouvelle Provence Côte d’Azur between Marseille and Nice, the Grand Projet du Sud-Ouest from Bordeaux to Toulouse, and the Ligne Nouvelle Montpellier – ...
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NewsMarseille – Nice route modernisation signed off
FRANCE: Upon completion of a public inquiry on February 28, the French government, SNCF and the local authorities involved have signed off the €3·5bn funding package for the Ligne Nouvelle Provence Côte d’Azur programme to enhance capacity in the Marseille – Nice corridor.
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NewsDomestic thinking continues to hinder European freight revival, conference told
EUROPE: The need for European co-ordination, better train paths and the best use of technology to improve service quality were among the topics covered when the French Ministry of Transport organised a conference in Paris on February 23-24 to discuss ways of improving European rail freight ...
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NewsRolling stock manufacturers keen to support night train market
EUROPE: Rolling stock manufacturers have expressed interest supplying new sleeping cars at a conference in Paris on February 23-24 on best practice in night train operation. The conference in Paris was organised by the French Ministry of Transport as part of the country’s Presidency of the ...
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Rail Business UKUK to France automotive train service launched
EUROPE: DB Cargo UK has launched a rail service transporting Corolla hybrid cars manufactured at Toyota’s Derby plant in the UK to Valenciennes in France via the Channel Tunnel, returning with Aygo, Yaris and Yaris+ vehicles. ‘This project is the culmination of four years of work ...
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NewsSNCF and Alstom unveil first tri-mode Régiolis conversion
FRANCE: SNCF Voyageurs and Alstom have unveiled the first tri-mode battery-electro-diesel Régiolis train, converted from an existing four-car bi-mode trainset.
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NewsJapanese traction package to equip French inter-city trains
FRANCE: Mitsubishi Electric Corp has begun delivering traction equipment for the 28 Confort 200 inter-city trainsets which CAF is building for national operator SNCF. The articulated 10-car EMUs for operation at up to 200 km/h on 25 kV 50 Hz and 1·5 ...
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NewsFunding agreement advances high speed link to Perpignan
FRANCE: A memorandum of understanding covering the financing of construction of the first phase of the LGV Montpellier-Perpignan mixed-traffic high speed line was signed in Narbonne on January 22 in the presence of Prime Minister Jean Castex,
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In depthStations & Terminals: Delta 3 aims to drive modal shift
Operation of the Dourges Delta 3 intermodal and logistics hub in northern France is being transferred to a public sector organisation as part of a strategy to boost rail freight’s market share in France and western Europe. Laurent Charlier reports.
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Metro Report InternationalHitachi and RATP extend Paris metro and tram maintenance partnership
FRANCE: RATP has awarded Hitachi Rail a further maintenance contract covering signalling and train control systems on nine Paris metro lines and seven tram routes. The four-year, renewable €33m contract builds on ‘more than a century of partnership between Hitachi Rail’s French entity and the Paris ...