French railway news – Page 28
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Rail Business UKLondon – Bordeaux high speed rail service ‘blueprint’
EUROPE: A ‘blueprint’ for the operation of direct high speed services to and from London was presented to the Mayor of Bordeaux and the President of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region on April 29. The proposals are being developed jointly by HS1 Ltd, which manages the high speed line between London and ...
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NewsHauts-de-France starts regional tendering
FRANCE: Proposals to tender the operation of regional passenger services in Hauts-de-France from the end of 2022 were unveiled by the regional council on April 23. Following the lead set by Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur last month, the region is planning to open up local rail services to competition in line with ...
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NewsLéman Express cross-border EMU unveiled
EUROPE: The first completed Alstom electric multiple-unit for the Léman Express cross-border regional passenger service between Genève in Switzerland and destinations in France was unveiled at the manufacturer's Reichshoffen factory on April 10. SNCF has ordered 17 EMUs from Alstom’s Coradia Polyvalent family, known as Régiolis by the operator. The ...
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NewsCustoms buildings handed over as Eurotunnel prepares for Brexit
FRANCE: On April 4 Eurotunnel officially handed over to the French authorities buildings intended for customs, veterinary and phytosanitary inspection services. The Douane-SIVEP control centre will be open 24/7 for Ministry of Agriculture officials and customs officers. It provides nine unloading docks, a refrigerated storage area, 100 parking spaces ...
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Rail Business UKEurotunnel awards Shuttle refurbishment contract
EUROPE: Channel Tunnel concessionaire Eurotunnel has appointed Bombardier Transportation to undertake the mid-life refurbishment of its nine passenger Shuttle trainsets, which carry cars, coaches and their occupants between the terminals in the UK and France. The contract announced on March 20 is worth €150m over seven years, with deliveries of ...
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NewsSNCF brings forward Ouigo expansion to Toulouse
FRANCE: Originally envisaged for 2020, Ouigo low-cost high speed services between Paris and Toulouse are now to begin running on July 6. The SNCF subsidiary has announced that ticket sales for its first trains will open on March 26. Ouigo will initially operate one train each way per day, calling ...
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NewsTrains certified as ‘Guaranteed French Origin’
FRANCE: Certification of origin might be more closely associated with wine and cheese, but Bombardier Transportation has now obtained the Pro France association’s ‘Guaranteed French Origin’ certification for the Francilien and Omneo/Regio 2N multiple-units designed and produced at its Crespin site in Hauts-de-France. ‘This is the first time a ...
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NewsPACA launches TER tendering process
FRANCE: President of Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur, Renaud Muselier has announced the start of tendering for the operation of local rail services from the end of 2022. Speaking in Marseille on February 19, alongside Vice-President for Transport & Intermobility Philippe Tabarot, Muselier said the quality of service being provided to around 100 ...
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NewsSNCF registers Rielsfera brand for Spanish passenger business
SPAIN: French national passenger operator Voyages SNCF has registered the Rielsfera trademark and appointed a legal practice in Barcelona with a view to establishing a train operating business in Spain. The EU trademark registration for the Rielsfera brand was lodged by SNCF Voyages Développement last November, and is currently listed ...
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NewsSNCF to reshape TER operations
FRANCE: Radical changes to the operations management and customer relations activities for SNCF’s regional passenger services were announced by General Manager, TER, Frank Lacroix on February 14. Providing an update on the CAP TER 2020 transformation strategy launched at the end of 2016, Lacroix said the first two years had ...
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News‘Battle plan’ to save France’s rural railways
FRANCE: A report into the condition, usage and prospects of almost 9 000 route-km of secondary railway is to be handed to government before the end of March. According to Transport Minister Elisabeth Borne, the report will form part of a ‘battle plan’ to save a broad swathe of the ...
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NewsRed look for refurbished TGV-Lyria Euroduplex
EUROPE: Franco-Swiss high speed operator TGV-Lyria has unveiled the first of 15 multi-system Euroduplex trainsets which are destined to operate all Lyria services from the December 15 2019 timetable change. Being repainted into a predominantly red livery at the PSA works in Rouen, at a rate of two or three ...
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NewsMore trains and better security in SNCF-PACA agreement
FRANCE: SNCF President Guillaume Pepy and the President of Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur, Renaud Muselier, signed a co-operation agreement on January 17 covering the development of regional passenger services in 2019-23. The improvement plan covers the remaining period within SNCF’s current agreement to operate local passenger trains. The contract to operate TER ...
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NewsSNCF rolls out GIRO scheduling software
FRANCE: SNCF is to deploy GIRO’s Hastus integrated scheduling and operations software to replace the existing tools which are used to manage staff and rolling stock on its network of high speed services. The software will cover around 380 trains, 5 000 drivers and onboard staff and 9 000 employees ...
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Rail Business UKEurotunnel calls for clarity on post-Brexit border
EUROPE: Channel Tunnel concessionaire Eurotunnel has called on political leaders to clarify ‘as soon as possible’ the nature of the border relationship and controls that will exist following the UK’s expected departure from the EU, which is currently set to occur on March 29. Eurotunnel’s call came immediately after a ...
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NewsParis RER Line A refurbishment contract awarded
FRANCE: Île-de-France Mobilités and RATP have signed a €121·3m contract for CAF to refurbish the 43 MI2N electric multiple-units operating on RER Line A. In addition to a new livery, the EMUs will gain a new interior layout, as well as CCTV and passenger information screens. The first renovated ...
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NewsFrance to tender operation of two inter-city routes
FRANCE: The government on January 9 formally launched the process of opening the French domestic main line passenger railway to competition when it announced the publication of a Prior Information Notice covering two routes. Issued by the Ministry of Environmental Transformation & Sustainability and to be published this week ...
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NewsParis commuter EMUs ordered
FRANCE: SNCF has awarded Bombardier Transportation a €330m firm order to supply a further 42 seven-car and five eight-car train Francilien suburban electric multiple-units. The contract announced on December 21 has been placed on behalf of Greater Paris public transport authority Île-de-France Mobilités, which is funding the order. The latest ...
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NewsBeacon Rail buys Colas fleet
EUROPE: Beacon Rail Leasing has acquired 67 diesel locomotives from Colas Rail, which will continue to operate them in the UK and France. ‘Acquiring this portfolio of diesel locomotives is in line with our strategy, growth ambitions and our continued commitment to being the leader in this segment of the ...
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NewsSNCF to run fuel cell train in 2022
FRANCE: National operator SNCF expects to start testing hydrogen technology during 2021, and to run its first fuel cell powered train in the first quarter of the following year, according to Deputy Chief Executive Officer, Rail Systems & Technology, Pierre Izard. Addressing a meeting of regional government representatives on December ...