French railway news – Page 26
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Metro Report InternationalAlstom wins contract to automate Marseille metro
FRANCE: Alstom is to supply trains and signalling for the conversion of the Marseille metro to fully driverless operation, the manufacturer announced on November 26. The €430m contract, financed by local authority Métropole Aix-Marseille-Provence, will see both lines of the city’s rubber-tyred metro move to driverless operation ...
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NewsSNCF selects train connectivity technology supplier
FRANCE: SNCF has selected Klas Telecom and its local partner Seolane Innovation for a contract to provide LTE train-to-ground communications to support operational and passenger connectivity services. The first deployment of the supplier’s TRX R6 Connected Transportation Platform will support CCTV onboard regional trains, with passenger information ...
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NewsRATP and Getlink target French regional market
Photo: Christophe Masse FRANCE: RATP Dev has signed an agreement with Channel Tunnel operator Getlink to establish a joint venture to bid for tendered operating contracts in the forthcoming opening up of the French regional rail market. RATP would have a 55% stake in the joint venture, ...
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Metro Report InternationalAlstom rolls out next-generation Lille metro train
FRANCE: Alstom presented the first new-generation trainset that it is supplying to increase capacity on the Lille metro at the Villeneuve d’Ascq maintenance depot on November 14. Alstom is supplying 27 four-car rubber-tyred trainsets to operate on the city’s automated light metro network. The 52 m long ...
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Metro Report InternationalOGC Nice players kick off city’s third tram route
FRANCE: The third tram route in Nice was inaugurated on November 12 with a ceremony at Saint-Isidore attended by Mayor Christian Estrosi. As the route serves the Allianz Riviera football stadium, the ceremony was attended by OGC Nice players and manager Patrick Vieira. T3 services run along ...
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NewsMillet AFR resumes wagon manufacturing
FRANCE: Manufacturing of new wagons has resumed at the former Arbel-Fauvet-Rail plant in Douai, following the acquisition of the business by wagon leasing group Millet SA, the company confirmed on November 12. Assembly of grain wagons began in October, and the construction of tank wagons is expected to restart in ...
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Metro Report InternationalBattery trolleybuses delivered to Limoges
FRANCE: Limoges has taken delivery of two battery trolleybuses made by Iveco and Škoda Electric. Last year Iveco won a contract for two trolleybuses with an option for four more. The articulated vehicles made to Iveco’s Crealis design feature traction equipment from Škoda, which has also undertaken ...
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NewsSNCF confirms CAF inter-city EMU order to ‘transform the traveller experience’
FRANCE: The SNCF Mobilités board has formally approved the selection of CAF to supply the railway’s next generation of inter-city trainsets, designated as Confort 200. Meeting in Paris on October 24, the board confirmed the award of a firm order for 28 trains ...
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NewsGrand Est orders electro-diesels for services to Germany
FRANCE: The Grand Est region has placed a €360m order for a further 39 Alstom Coradia Polyvalent electro-diesel multiple-units for delivery in 2022-24. The order announced on October 22 includes 30 four-car units to be delivered from the end of 2023 for use on cross-border services to ...
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Metro Report InternationalAvignon tramway inaugurated
FRANCE: The initial section of the Avignon tramway was inaugurated on October 19 with a day of free travel. The 5·2 km route T1 runs east from Saint-Roch Université des Métiers to Gare Centre, then south along Avenue Saint-Ruf and Avenue de Tarascon, before turning east again ...
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Metro Report InternationalFirst RER NG EMU emerges
FRANCE: The first of 255 double-deck EMUs being built by Alstom and Bombardier for Paris RER lines D and E has been completed, and is expected to start testing shortly, Île-de-France Mobilités announced on October 18. The regional transport authority has committed to a complete replacement of ...
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Metro Report InternationalBayonne – Biarritz e-BRT route launched
FRANCE: Keolis has begun operating a 100% electric bus rapid transit route between Bayonne and Biarritz on behalf of public transport authority SMPBA . According to Keolis, the service is designed to be simple for passengers to understand and use, with the 30 stops having real-time passenger ...
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Metro Report InternationalParis Line B train refurbishment underway
PARIS: The refurbishment of 31 RATP-owned MI84 electric multiple-units used on Paris RER Line B is underway at Alstom’s Reichshoffen plant, with the first two expected to return to service in December. The similar SNCF-owned MI79 sets have already been refurbished. The MI84 ...
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NewsOuigo to link centres of Paris and Lyon from June 2020
FRANCE: SNCF will launch Ouigo low-cost high speed services between the city centres of Paris and Lyon in June 2020. Until now Ouigo passengers between the two cities have been obliged to use trains that either start or finish outside the city centre of Paris or Lyon. ...
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In depthToulouse: Transport investment for a growing population
As Toulouse grows to become the fourth-largest city in France, it requires transport investment to keep up with the expanding population and to reduce car use.
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Metro Report InternationalSystra awarded Grand Paris Express contract
Grand Paris Express FRANCE: Grand Paris Express metro project promoter Société du Grand Paris has awarded Systra a contract to provide technical project management assistance services for construction of the East and West sections of the future automated Line 15. What Systra described as ‘an exceptionally large’ ...
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NewsAlstom to supply ETCS for Paris – Lyon high speed line
FRANCE: SNCF Réseau has awarded a framework contract to Alstom for the development, installation and maintenance of ERTMS equipment on LGV Sud-Est between Paris and Lyon. Valued at €52·5m, the contract announced on September 25 was awarded following a negotiated procedure and a prior call for competition. ...
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NewsFirst ETR1000 trainsets arrive in France for testing
Photo: Christophe Masse FRANCE: The first of two Trenitalia ETR1000 Frecciarossa trainsets arrived in France on September 19 for type approval tests in Bretagne. Trenitalia plans to launch a Paris – Milano high speed service in summer 2020 using a fleet of five ETR1000 trainsets modified for ...
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NewsKeolis chief to head SNCF
FRANCE: Keolis chief executive Jean-Pierre Farandou has been nominated as the next President of SNCF, with effect from the end of this year. He will succeed Guillaume Pepy, who had previously announced his intention not to seek a new mandate after more than a decade in the ...
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NewsSNCF selects CAF to supply inter-city fleet
FRANCE: SNCF Mobilités has selected CAF as preferred bidder for a €700m contract to supply 28 electric multiple-units for medium and long-distance Intercités services on the Paris – Clermont-Ferrand and Paris – Limoges – Toulouse routes. There would be options for up to 75 more trainsets, including ...