All France articles – Page 23
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NewsBluetooth beacon competition to enhance stations
FRANCE: SNCF’s stations business Gares & Connexions has launched an innovation competition branded Open Beacon aimed at enhancing the accessibility of and service offering at major stations. The term ‘open beacon’ refers to Gares & Connexions’ plan to install Bluetooth geolocation tags in more than 300 stations across the country. ...
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NewsAerospace innovation for rolling stock electrical systems
FRANCE: Alstom, IGE+XAO and Safran have agreed to establish a centre of excellence for onboard electrical systems in Toulouse. Located at aerospace equipment manufacturer Safran Electrical & Power’s site, the facility will be able to accommodate up to 100 engineers. IGE+XAO is providing design, simulation and manufacturing software under a ...
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Rail Business UKStudy to look at adapting Bordeaux station to handle London trains
EUROPE: The four infrastructure managers responsible for the high speed lines between London and Bordeaux have agreed to study the feasibility of adapting Bordeaux Saint-Jean station to handle international passengers traveling to and from the UK. SNCF Réseau, Eurotunnel, Lisea and HS1 said the October 10 agreement was a key ...
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News€50m plan to link Paris stations as an ‘integrated hub’
FRANCE: Transport authority Île-de-France Mobilités has outlined a 10-point package running until 2024 to rehabilitate the urban realm around Nord and Est stations in Paris, as well as improving access between them. The €50m programme is intended to enhance the walking routes between the two stations, which using existing streets ...
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NewsDB expands international ticket purchase options
EUROPE: Deutsche Bahn has expanded the range of cross-border and foreign rail tickets which can be booked through its website and mobile app. Passengers can now book travel on SNCF and Thalys services, and Eurostar is to be added from October 8. Until now only selected connections were offered ...
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NewsRefit agreed as French night trains reprieved again
FRANCE: Transport Minister Élisabeth Borne has authorised a €30m injection of funding to revitalise the country’s two remaining overnight trains which link Paris with Briançon in the Hautes-Alpes region and Latour-de-Carol in Pyrénées-Orientales with a portion for Rodez. Seeking to allay suggestions that the heavily subsidised services would be withdrawn, ...
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NewsPepy promises to make SNCF ‘fit for the future’
INNOTRANS: The trade union strike action which has disrupted France’s rail network for much of this year has cost national railway group SNCF €780m, President Guillaume Pepy said at the InnoTrans trade show in Berlin on September 19. Speaking alongside SNCF Réseau President Patrick Jeantet, Pepy nevertheless painted a picture ...
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NewsLocos for French leg of Paris - Moscow service
EUROPE: A deal for Voyages SNCF to lease three Bombardier Transportation locomotives from MRCE to haul part of Russian Railways’ Paris – Moscow passenger service was confirmed at InnoTrans 2018 on September 19. From December 2018, Voyages SNCF will extend its section of the route from Paris as far as ...
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NewsMadrid - Montpellier open access service approved
SPAIN: National competition authority CNMC announced on September 17 that it had approved Intermodalidad de Levante SA's plans to launch an open-access passenger service between Madrid and Montpellier. The Air Nostrum subsidiary has applied to run two trains each way per day, calling at Zaragoza, Barcelona, Perpignan and Narbonne. EU ...
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NewsHybrid regional train to be tested
FRANCE: Plans to convert a TER regional multiple-unit into a prototype overhead electric, battery and diesel hybrid unit were announced by SNCF and Alstom on September 17. The Grand Est, Nouvelle-Aquitaine and Occitanie regions and Alstom are to spend €16.6m converting and testing the Régiolis unit, which will be taken ...
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NewsSNCF targets autonomous trains in five years
FRANCE: SNCF expects to see ‘semi-autonomous’ trains running on the French rail network by 2020 and fully automatic trains within five years, following the establishment of two consortia of suppliers and research institutes to develop and implement the technology. Providing an update on progress with the Train Autonome research programme ...
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NewsUrban hubs prioritised in French infrastructure programme
FRANCE: On September 11 Transport Minister Elisabeth Borne outlined her ministry’s infrastructure spending priorities for the decade to 2028. In the rail sector, spending is to be focused on the ‘everyday needs of users’ in keeping with the priorities set out in mid-2017 by President Emmanuel Macron. Offering a ‘clear, ...
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NewsSteel coil wagons ordered
FRANCE: Leasing company Ermewa has awarded Đuro Đaković Specijalna Vozila a 127m kuna contract to supply Shimmns TTU four-axle wagons which will be used to transport steel coil for car manufacturers. Deliveries under the contract announced on August 27 are scheduled to begin in Q4 2018 and continue throughout 2019. ...
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NewsOmneo Premium inter-city trainset on test
FRANCE: Bombardier Transportation has begun dynamic testing of the first Omneo Premium inter-city version of the Omneo double-deck regional train family. SNCF placed a €585m order for 40 Omneo Premium electric multiple-units in November 2016, acting on behalf of the Normandie region as part of an agreement to transfer responsibility ...
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NewsCatenary renewal fleet ordered
FRANCE: The RC2 consortium of TSO, Mobility, ETF and Setec Ferroviaire has selected Bergamo-based Tesmec Group to develop and supply a fleet of high-performance on-track machines for the replacement of overhead line equipment on Paris RER Line C. Under a €277m design-build contract awarded by infrastructure manager SNCF Réseau in ...
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NewsSNCF orders 36 EMUs
FRANCE: Bombardier Transportation is to supply further 36 Francilien high-capacity suburban electric multiple-units to SNCF, which has placed the €261m order announced on July 30 on behalf of Greater Paris transport authority Île-de-France Mobilités. The firm order has been placed within a 2006 framework agreement covering up to 372 EMUs, ...
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NewsSNCF confirms TGV of the Future order
FRANCE: SNCF Mobilités confirmed an order for Alstom to supply 100 high speed trainsets under the TGV of the Future programme at a board meeting on July 26. Branded Avelia Horizon by Alstom, the double-deck trains will be acquired at a cost of €25m per trainset, which SNCF says ...
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NewsFranco-Belgian passenger services to be enhanced from December
EUROPE: Amid concern from policymakers and rail advocates about the extent and quality of cross-border passenger services in Europe, SNCB is to reintroduce conventional services linking Charleroi and Mons with Maubeuge and Aulnoye in France from the December timetable change. Direct inter-city trains had linked Paris with the Wallonie region ...
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NewsRooftop running in Paris-Nord expansion plan
FRANCE: The refurbishment and expansion of Paris-Nord station took a step forward on July 9 when the management board of SNCF Mobilités selected Ceetrus as preferred partner for exclusive negotiation with Ceetrus to undertake the programme. Ceetrus is the commercial property arm of retail group Auchan, and SNCF said that ...
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NewsNext generation interlocking development programme launched
FRANCE: Infrastructure manager SNCF Réseau has launched the Argos ‘innovation partnership’ project to design its next generation of computer-controlled interlockings. The project which formally began on June 20 has three objectives: a 15% decrease in the cost of procurement, maintenance and future modernisation; reducing the cost, number of ...