French railway news – Page 22
-
NewsCalais – Mediterranean rail motorway bids called
FRANCE: The government has called for expressions of interest to operate a lorry-carrying train service between the English Channel port of Calais and the Mediterranean port of Sète south of Montpellier.
-
NewsSNCF places orders for more hydrogen trainsets
FRANCE: SNCF Voyageurs has placed orders totalling €190m for Alstom to supply 12 hydrogen-electric multiple-units for use in four regions, with options for a further two trainsets. The operator has placed the orders on behalf of the regions of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, Bourgogne-Franche-Comté, Grand Est and Occitanie, which have ...
-
NewsRule change calls SNCF Réseau investment into question
FRANCE: Management independence and business productivity at infrastructure manager SNCF Réseau are in jeopardy, according to President & Director General Luc Lallemand. Describing a government decision to consolidate SNCF Réseau’s debts into the state accounts as ‘catastrophic’, Lallemand warned that the infrastructure manager would ...
-
Metro Report InternationalLyon consults on orbital tram and metro extensions
FRANCE: Lyon transport operator Sytral has started public consultation into two route options for an orbital tram extension in the northeast of the city, as one of several schemes to be developed over the next five years. The T6 Nord project would see the ...
-
NewsHydrogen-electric hybrid trains ordered
FRANCE: The first commercial passenger trains in France to be powered by hydrogen fuel cells are expected to enter service in 2024 on routes from Auxerre to Avallon and Corbigny in the Yonne département of the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region. This follows signing on March 5 of a ...
-
NewsRailcoop reaches initial funding target
FRANCE: Not-for-profit co-operative Railcoop confirmed on March 4 that it had achieved its target of raising initial capital of €1∙5m to fund the establishment of an open access freight and passenger operator.
-
NewsGrand Est concession attracts ‘good response’
FRANCE: ‘Between four and 10’ companies or consortia have prequalified for a concession to operate a group of branch lines in the Grand Est region, according to the region’s Vice-President responsible for Transport David Valence.
-
NewsColas-led consortium to modernise Ligne des Horlogers
FRANCE: Infrastructure manager SNCF Réseau has awarded a consortium of Colas Rail, Colas Génie Civil and Legrand a €22m contract to refurbish a 70 km section of the Ligne des Horlogers route between Besançon and the Swiss border near La Chaux-de-Fonds. This will include 34 km ...
-
Metro Report InternationalSmart windows on Paris airport peoplemover
FRANCE: One of the Orlyval shuttles at Paris Orly airport has been fitted with smart LCD windows which show information including flight departures and weather forecasts for the destinations. . The information is specific to the direction of the shuttle, and the operator can also provide ...
-
NewsFrench ERTMS installation financing
FRANCE: Infrastructure manager SNCF Réseau has secured more than €31m in grants from the European Commission’s Innovation & Networks Executive Agency and a similar sum in debt financing from Caisse des Dépôts to finance the installation of ERTMS equipment on 252 passenger vehicles and freight locomotives. ...
-
NewsFrench night train network renaissance
FRANCE: Transport Minister Jean-Baptiste Djébbari has said his ambition is ‘to have about 10 overnight train services in 2030’. Speaking to Le Parisien after visiting the technicentre at Périgueux with SNCF President Jean-Pierre Farandou to see the first of 60 couchette coaches that are being refurbished, ...
-
NewsTalgo confirms work underway to approve Avril trains for use in France
EUROPE: Work is underway to obtain approval for Talgo’s Avril high speed train design to operate in France, the manufacturer has confirmed. The announcement on February 3 came as the first Avril trainset for RENFE began dynamic type testing runs on the recently opened high speed ...
-
NewsEuroRail Hub brings together Railtex, Infrarail, SIFER and EXPO Ferroviaria trade fairs
EUROPE: Mack-Brooks Exhibitions has announced a two-day programme of virtual seminars focused on the British, Italian and French rail markets. EuroRail Hub will be held on March 24-25, bringing together exhibitors from its Railtex, Infrarail, SIFER and EXPO Ferroviaria trade shows. The online event is intended ...
-
NewsCall for Eurostar trains to be made available to support on-rail competition
EUROPE: The ALLRAIL association of new entrants to the rail market has said any government support which might be offered to Eurostar during the coronavirus pandemic should be accompanied by conditions designed to facilitate cross-Channel competition.
-
Metro Report International‘Listen to the City’ train styling brings Mediterranean sunshine to the Marseille metro
FRANCE: The design selected for the driverless rubber tyred metro trains which are to enter service in Marseille from 2023 has been unveiled by manufacturer Alstom, the Métropole Aix-Marseille-Provence authority and design studio Ora-ïto.
-
NewsRailcoop plans freight launch this year ahead of passenger market entry
FRANCE: Start-up open access operator Railcoop aims to launch its first freight services later this year. If the co-operative’s plans come to fruition, Railcoop would follow up in 2022 with the launch of inter-city passenger services on the Bordeaux – Lyon via Périgueux route.
-
NewsUK government called on to support Eurostar during the pandemic
EUROPE: Cross-Channel high speed train operator Eurostar has called for financial support of the kind which has been offered to airlines during the coronavirus pandemic, saying that without government funding ‘there is a real risk to the survival of Eurostar and the green gateway to Europe’.
-
NewsFrance pauses tendering of TET inter-city routes
FRANCE: Government plans to let concessions to operate the 10 conventional inter-city services for which it remains responsible have been put on hold pending a review of the tendering conditions.
-
Metro Report InternationalHastus software to be used for Paris metro workforce management
FRANCE: Paris transport operator RATP is to use Giro’s Hastus software to replace several different applications which are used to roster metro drivers. This builds on previous work covering staff allocation on the city’s bus and tram networks. ‘Public transport is transforming rapidly, as is our workforce’, ...
-
NewsCAF-Bombardier consortium selected for Paris RER rolling stock contract
FRANCE: National passenger operator SNCF Voyageurs and Paris transport operator RATP have confirmed their selection of a consortium of Bombardier Transpoartion and CAF as preferred bidder for a contract to supply 146 suburban trainsets for the jointly operated north-south RER Line B.