French railway news – Page 32
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NewsSilverRail offers B2B ticket sellers access to SNCF inventory
FRANCE: Business-to-business travel technology company SilverRail has announced that it has become the first non-SNCF partner to be able to connect to the French national operator’s ticket inventories via its Portail d’Acces aux Offres API. This will enable travel management companies and online travel agents across the world to use ...
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NewsAir Nostrum applies to operate Madrid — Montpellier open access service
EUROPE: Via its subsidiary Intermodalidad de Levante SA, airline Air Nostrum has applied to Spanish competition authority CNMC to operate a high speed open access service between Madrid and Montpellier in France from October 5 2018. Departures from Madrid would be at 07.45 and 15.30, with services leaving Montpellier at ...
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NewsSNCF and AccorHotels to develop the Orient Express brand
FRANCE: An agreement to exploit the SNCF-owned Orient Express brand within the global luxury hospitality sector was signed by the French national railway and AccorHotels on October 4. AccorHotels plans to develop a chain of hotels under the Orient Express name, and is to acquire a 50% stake in ...
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NewsDuPont develops disposable coveralls for SNCF
FRANCE: To meet an SNCF requirement for protective workwear which combines high visibility with chemical protection, DuPont Protection Solutions has developed Tyvek 500 HV disposable coveralls. These provide a barrier to low concentration, aqueous inorganic chemical products, as well biological risks encountered by staff inspecting trains following a collision with ...
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NewsRailway supply industry news round-up
Systra announced on August 31 that it had completed the acquisition of International Bridge Technologies. This will enable the consultancy to establish ‘a global bridge centre of excellence’ that will offer specialist design expertise. This is Systra’s first acquisition in a specific engineering discipline, marking a significant strategic move, the ...
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NewsLogistics bodies urge action after Rastatt ‘disaster’
EUROPE: ‘The European system of rail logistics is about to collapse’, warned more than 20 trade bodies on September 4 in an open letter to European Transport Commissioner Violeta Bulc and German Federal Transport Minister Alexander Dobrindt. The letter was copied to seven other transport ministers and Josef Doppelbauer, Executive ...
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NewsNSK receives first bearing order from SNCF
FRANCE: NSK has received its first order for wheelset bearings as a qualified supplier to SNCF, following a five-year process to obtain approval for their use on TGV trainsets. NSK worked closely with the operator to ensure that its requirements were met, with audits of its manufacturing processes and extensive ...
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NewsFrench regions prepare for market opening
FRANCE: Plans for the progressive introduction of competitive tendering in the regional passenger market have been confirmed by the government, and the proposals will be included in transport legislation due to be published in the first half of 2018. The organisation which represents the regions of France has told the ...
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NewsTGV resurgence in SNCF first half results
FRANCE: The SNCF group reported a €119m net profit in the first six months of 2017, driven by strong growth in high speed ridership.Amid concerns about the competitive threat facing the French national operator from long-distance buses and ride-sharing apps, SNCF reported on July 28 that overall group revenue was ...
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NewsSNCF selects Alstom traffic management system
FRANCE: SNCF Réseau announced on July 10 that, following a call for tenders, it had selected Alstom to develop a traffic management system that is to be rolled out from 2019, initially on the Paris — Lyon — Marseille route. Alstom will be supplying its Iconis product, which it says ...
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NewsFive rolling stock proposals for rail motorway to Spain
EUROPE: Five proposals have been received for wagons to carry lorries on a future rail motorway service between France and Spain, the Spanish Ministry of Development announced on July 9. By the deadline of June 30, proposals had been received from CAF, engineering consultancy Civenssy and Stadler Rail Valencia from ...
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NewsXRL trainset arrives in Hong Kong by rail
CHINA: The signalling and communications systems on the Hong Kong and Mainland sections of the Guangzhou – Shenzhen – Hong Kong Express Rail Link high speed line were connected on July 5, enabling the third of the nine trainsets for the future service to be delivered from CRRC Qingdao ...
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NewsEuro Cargo Rail restructuring on course
FRANCE: DB Cargo subsidiary Euro Cargo Rail announced on July 4 that restructuring had completed a key stage, with its redundancy programme agreed by the unions and approved on June 23 by the government regional office responsible for employment. ECR had begun negotiations with the unions in December 2016, originally ...
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NewsSNCF buys online ticket retailer Loco2
FRANCE: Independent online ticket retailer Loco2 announced on July 5 that it had been bought by SNCF’s Voyages-sncf.com business. Loco2 co-founders Kate and Jamie Andrews will remain with the business they launched in 2012. Kate Andrews said it would continue to operate as an independent company, but the new owner ...
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NewsSNCF opens two high speed lines in one day
FRANCE: More than 500 km of new high speed line were officially opened on July 1, when SNCF operated special trains on LGV Sud Europe Atlantique and LGV Bretagne – Pays de la Loire, ahead of the start of commercial services the following day. Taking part in the events were ...
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NewsCharles-de-Gaulle Airport rail link funding model approved
FRANCE: The proposed financing mechanism for the construction of the CDG Express dedicated rail link between Paris Est station and Charles-de-Gaulle Airport has been approved by the European Commission. Under the current proposals, the 32 km link is to be built and operated by a 50:50 joint venture between SNCF ...
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NewsAlstom to overhaul Akiem electric locomotives
FRANCE: Leasing company Akiem has awarded Alstom a €20m contract to undertake the mid-life overhaul of 23 BB36000 tri-voltage electric locomotives to ensure they can provide another 15 years of service. The project runs to 2024 and will include bogie refurbishment, obsolescence monitoring, component repairs and cab modernisation. The work ...
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NewsSNCB does not expect DB to run to London
EUROPE: Deutsche Bahn has effectively deferred its high-profile plan to run direct high speed trains between Germany and London. Reports in the French press last week had quoted Birgit Bohle, Managing Director of DB Fernverkehr, suggesting that the German operator had no desire to compete directly with its French counterpart ...
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NewsThalys aims for full trains and happy customers
EUROPE: High speed operator Thalys is to introduce a new fares structure and onboard service proposition on September 12. The current Comfort 1 and Comfort 2 classes of travel are to be replaced with Standard, Comfort and Premium, improving flexibility and increasing the proportion of discounted fares on offer from ...
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NewsMesea manages maintenance with modular machines
IAF: On show at the 27th IAF track technology exhibition in Münster is the first of a fleet of vehicles for maintaining the LGV Sud Est Atlantique high speed line between Tours and Bordeaux which opens in July. The vehicles are being developed by Socofer to a specification prepared by ...