All France articles – Page 29
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NewsRobots on test at Paris stations
FRANCE: A robot luggage trolley and two types of cleaning machine are being tested in Paris by SNCF’s station management business Gares & Connexions. The motorised luggage carrier has sensors which enable it to automatically follow the route taken by staff who are assisting less-mobile passengers at Paris Est. ...
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NewsBretagne funds EMU order
FRANCE: On February 16 Bombardier announced that SNCF had placed a €34m order for an additional four eight-car Regio 2N double-deck electric multiple-units. They are being financed by the Bretagne region and are scheduled to be delivered in 2019. The order is an option on a 2010 framework agreement ...
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NewsLyon – Torino TBM completed
EUROPE: Tunnelling is expected to get underway towards the end of this summer at Saint-Martin-la-Porte in France on the test bore for the base tunnel planned to carry a high speed line between Lyon and Torino. This will use a 12 m diameter TBM built by NFM Technologies at Le ...
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NewsSpeedInnov to develop future TGV
FRANCE: The ministries responsible for transport, research and industry announced on December 17 the creation of SpeedInnov, a joint venture that is to develop ‘the TGV of the future’. The new joint venture also includes Alstom and ADEME, a government agency providing funding for projects aiming to reduce environmental impact ...
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NewsFret SNCF tests 1 000 m trains
FRANCE: Fret SNCF has been conducting trials of operating trains up to 1 000 m in length, running between the marshalling yard at Somain south of Lille to Woippy outside Metz. Comprising two coupled formations each with their own locomotive and driver, 12 test trains were due to be operated ...
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NewsTest train catastrophe on LGV Est
FRANCE: Opening of the 106 km second section of LGV Est-Européenne between Baudrecourt and Vendenheim for commercial services is likely to be delayed, following the high speed derailment of a TGV test train on November 14. SNCF Réseau President Jacques Rapoport told local media that it was ‘reasonable to expect’ ...
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NewsSNCF launches digital investment fund
FRANCE: SNCF has launched a €30m SNCF Digital Ventures investment fund, which aims to ‘actively seek and identify digital initiatives that will impact SNCF’s transport business’. The fund will invest in companies that are working with SNCF on innovation, and acquire stakes in companies specialising in areas that ‘are ...
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NewsTrenitalia planning Paris – Brussels high speed service
EUROPE: Italian national operator Trenitalia has confirmed that it is holding preliminary discussions with its suppliers and relevant regulatory bodies regarding the possible launch of an open access high speed service between Paris and Brussels. Speaking in Milano on October 28, Pietro Diamantini of FS Group's Passenger Division suggested that ...
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NewsCalais opens Modalohr terminal
FRANCE: A terminal for loading lorry semi-trailers onto Modalohr swing-tray wagons was officially opened at the Port of Calais on October 23. Costing €7m, it has been funded by the combined operating company for the ports of Calais and Boulogne as well as the European Union. From January 12 2016 ...
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NewsWabtec signs Faiveley Transport purchase agreement
INTERNATIONAL: On October 6 Wabtec Corp signed a definitive share purchase agreement to acquire a 51% stake in Faiveley Transport SA from members of the Faiveley family. According to Wabtec, the deal would ‘create one of the world’s largest public rail equipment companies, with revenues of about US$4·5bn and ...
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NewsMidi-Pyrénées orders more double-deck EMUs
FRANCE: SNCF has exercised an option for a further eight Bombardier Transportation Regio 2N double-deck electric multiple-units to be delivered in 2017-19. The €56·5m contract announced on October 1 is being financed by the Midi-Pyrénées region, which ordered an initial 10 Regio 2N EMUs in December 2013. In ...
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NewsTwo more LGV branches to go ahead
FRANCE: Transport Minister Alain Vidalies announced on September 26 that the government intends to proceed with plans to extend the high speed network from Bordeaux to Toulouse and Dax. The decision in favour of what is known as the Grand Projet Ferroviaire du Sud-Ouest reverses the negative finding of a ...
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NewsOuigo to expand as SNCF rethinks low-cost services
FRANCE: Ouigo low-cost TGV services are to be expanded to a further eight stations in the north and west of the country in 2016, SNCF announced on September 3. Faced with increasing competition from the liberalisation of long-distance bus services and the growth of ride-sharing, SNCF has unveiled a new ...
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NewsMidi-Pyrénées orders more multiple-units
FRANCE: Alstom Transport announced a €46m order to supply a further five electric and three electro-diesel Régiolis multiple-units to the Midi-Pyrénées region on August 5. This follows from an initial 25 units ordered in 2009 which began entering service on the routes from Toulouse to Latour-de-Carol and Mazamet from ...
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NewsWabtec to buy Faiveley Transport for US$1·8bn
FRANCE: On July 27 Wabtec Corp announced plans to acquire Faiveley Transport in a deal which would ‘create one of the world’s largest public rail equipment companies’, with revenues of US$4·5bn and a presence in ‘all key freight rail and passenger transit geographies worldwide.’ Shareholders owning 51% of Faiveley Transport ...
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NewsDB and SNCF extend Alleo cross-border co-operation
EUROPE: The ceremonial launch of Deutsche Bahn Class 407 trainsets on the Frankfurt to Paris Est route on July 23 was followed by the signing of an agreement to extend DB and SNCF’s Alleo cross-border operating partnership for a further five years to 2020. Around 12 million passengers have travelled ...
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NewsChoose your destination with #TGVpop
FRANCE: On July 5 SNCF operated the first five trains under its ‘100% digital’ #TGVpop concept, where the destination is determined by online voting. The first services ran from Paris to Nantes, Bordeaux, Marseille and Lyon, as well as from Lyon to Paris. Under a campaign running until August 30, ...
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NewsTET revival plan presented
FRANCE: On July 7 Secretary of State for Transport Alain Vidalies presented the government’s proposals for reviving the Trains d’Equilibre du Territoire, SNCF’s network of conventional long-distance passenger services which have seen traffic fall by 20% since 2011. From €330m in 2014, operating losses are expected to rise to an ...
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NewsSNCF announces eight-year transformation of Paris-Nord
FRANCE: Gares et Connexions, the station management subsidiary of national railway holding group SNCF, is to refurbish and expand Paris-Nord station in a phased programme lasting until 2023. The plans were announced by SNCF President Guillaume Pepy and Anne Hildago, Mayor of Paris, on June 24. At the heart of ...
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NewsMixed fleet for cross-border RER
EUROPE: The Rhône-Alpes region of France has announced that it is to order a fleet of 17 Régiolis EMUs for the RER Franco-Valdo-Genevois network that will connect Evian, Saint-Gervais, Annecy and Bellegarde with Genève and Lausanne in Switzerland. Worth €220m, the order is to be placed under the framework agreement ...