French railway news – Page 24
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Metro Report InternationalGrand Paris Express designs unveiled
FRANCE: Parisians will be able to see at first hand what the future trains and stations of the first part of the Grand Paris Express metro will look like from October 3, when Société de Grand Paris and Ile de France Mobilités will unveil a full-scale mock-up ...
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NewsBordeaux RER plans take shape
FRANCE: Nouvelle-Aquitaine region has announced the first tentative steps towards the development of a proposed regional express network around Bordeaux. Bordeaux Métropole and Nouvelle-Aquitaine signed an accord in December 2018 to work on the development of an RER network to serve the Bordeaux metropolitan area over the ...
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NewsSNCF sets green targets to cut TER emissions
FRANCE: National operator SNCF has launched an ambitious programme designed to reduce the environmental impact of its TER regional services as a contribution towards combatting climate change. The PlaneTER programme is also intended to help win passengers back to rail and attract customers from new markets after ...
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NewsStaff invited to design TGV M livery
FRANCE: With the first SNCF’s next-generation TGV M power cars and trailers taking shape at Alstom’s factories in Belfort and La Rochelle respectively, the operator and its supplier have invited their staff to come up with a design for the livery of the two test trains.
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NewsRail receives €4·7bn in French recovery spending package
Photo: Christophe Masse FRANCE: The government announced on September 3 its intention to provide a financial support package for the rail sector worth €4·7bn as part of a post-pandemic recovery plan. Transport Secretary Jean-Baptiste Djebbari said that the funding package, which forms part of a wider national ...
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NewsHauts-de-France tenders regional services
FRANCE: Following a year of consultation over the competitive tendering of up to 10 groups of local rail services, the Hauts-de-France regional council formally invited expressions of interest on July 30 for three nine-year public service contracts to operate routes in Nord-Pas de Calais and Picardie.
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NewsGrand Est seeks Alsace branch concessionaire
FRANCE: Passenger trains on the Saint-Dié-des-Vosges – Épinal line are expected to resume running in 2025 under plans unveiled by the Grand Est regional authority on July 29.
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NewsFrench freight access charges waived
FRANCE: Track access charges for freight trains will be waived until the end of this year and halved in 2021, Prime Minister Jean Castex announced on July 27 Speaking after touring the Valenton intermodal terminal at Bonneuil-sur-Marne in the southeastern suburbs of Paris, Castex, who was appointed ...
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NewsGrand Est to pilot revitalisation of France’s rural branch lines
FRANCE: The Grand Est region has invited tenders for a 22-year concession to rehabilitate, operate and maintain the Nancy – Mirecourt – Vittel – Contrexéville line in Lorraine.
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NewsPays de la Loire launches regional rail and tram-train tenders
FRANCE: Operation of the Nantes – Châteaubriant tram-train route and regional rail services in western France is to be competitively tendered, the Pays de la Loire regional government confirmed on July 17.
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NewsEurostar looks to cut costs with reduced hours and part-time working
EUROPE: Eurostar is looking to reduce its payroll costs through the introduction of reduced hours and more part-time working ‘wherever possible throughout 2021’, in a move which the cross-Channel high speed operator said was intended to protect jobs at a time when ‘the impact of Covid-19 has ...
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NewsAlstom proposes divestments to obtain approval for Bombardier Transportation acquisition
INTERNATONAL: Alstom has put forward proposals for a number of product and factory divestments as part of the process of gaining European Union regulatory approval for its planned acquisition of Bombardier Transportation. The European Commission was formally notified of the proposed transaction on June 11. After initial ...
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NewsFrench regulators formalise co-operation ahead of market opening
FRANCE: National transport regulator ART and rail safety authority EPSF have agreed to strengthen their co-operation in preparation for opening up of the domestic rail market to competition, the two organisations announced on July 7.
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NewsSNCF Réseau selects Trimble data sharing platform
Source: C Masse FRANCE: Infrastructure manager SNCF Réseau is to use Trimble’s Quadri and Connect platforms to share information and streamline data workflows within its Enterprise Common Data Environment. An initial implementation phase expected to last 18 months aims to test many use cases covering entire project ...
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NewsColas Rail and Adecco join forces to seek a more inclusive workforce
FRANCE: Infrastructure contractor and open access freight operator Colas Rail has entered into a long term partnership with employment agency Adecco to develop a more inclusive approach to its recruitment processes. The two parties signed a ‘social pact’ in Paris on June 17 aimed at ‘developing ...
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NewsNormandie orders long distance EMUs
FRANCE: SNCF has awarded Bombardier Transportation firm contracts to supply 27 more 10-car Omneo Premium double-deck electric multiple-units for use on long-distance services, acting on behalf of the Normandie region which is funding the orders. The €162m order for 11 units announced on June 23 and a ...
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NewsSNCF launches ‘unprecedented’ regional rail and tourism campaign
FRANCE: What SNCF terms an ‘unprecedented relaunch’ of its TER regional passenger services was announced on June 12 as the country starts to open up after the coronavirus pandemic. Branded ‘TER de France’, the campaign is being led by SNCF in conjunction with regional authorities acting through ...
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NewsCo-operative group seeks to launch Lyon – Bordeaux open access service from 2022
FRANCE: Nascent open access operator Railcoop lodged a formal application with the Autorité de Régulation des Transports on June 9 to launch a Bordeaux – Lyon inter-city service using the conventional route via Périgueux and Montluçon. Photo: Christophe Masse A direct Lyon - Bordeaux service could be revived ...
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NewsAlliance targets doubling of freight market share
FRANCE: Plans to relaunch the rail freight business are now being finalised in preparation for formal presentation to the government by the end of this month. Drawn up by the Fret Ferroviaire Français du Futur alliance (4F), the proposals aim to double rail’s share of the freight ...
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Metro Report International‘Aesthetic, sensitive and poetic’ metro station contract awarded
FRANCE: Société du Grand Paris has awarded BESIX France a €100m contract to build its new interchange station at Saint-Denis Pleyel. Designed by architect Kengo Kuma, this will be one of the largest stations on the automated metro network, covering 34 000 m² on nine levels ...