French railway news – Page 34
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NewsEurostar lounge seeks 'the spirit of a Parisian apartment'
FRANCE: Eurostar opened its relocated Business Premier lounge at Paris-Nord on February 4. Accessed after passengers pass through an expanded security and passport control area, the lounge is intended to offer a ‘stylish, comfortable environment for both working and relaxing’. The facility on the top floor of the original 19th ...
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NewsRER catenary renewal contract awarded
FRANCE: Infrastructure manager SNCF Réseau announced on February 3 that it had awarded its first design-build contract for catenary renewal. Under a €277m deal signed the previous day, the RC2 consortium of TSO Caténaires, Setec Ferroviare and Vinci subsidiaries ETF and Mobility is to replace the 1·5 kV DC overhead ...
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NewsTGVmax offers unlimited travel for less than a car-share
FRANCE: A new online ticketing product offering passengers aged 16 to 27 unlimited travel on long-distance services for €79 a month was announced by SNCF on January 23. TGVmax will be available on 94% of TGV and Intercités services and on every day of the year, with the exception of ...
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NewsChannel Tunnel security centre opened
EUROPE: Channel Tunnel operator Eurotunnel inaugurated a security control centre at its French terminal in Coquelles on January 18. The decision to make the ‘major investment’ in the centre was taken following a meeting in summer 2015 between the UK’s then Home Secretary Theresa May and her French counterpart Bernard ...
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NewsSNCF Réseau forms drones business
FRANCE: SNCF Réseau has established a subsidiary to offer its expertise in the use of drones to other infrastructure managers. Altametris has a team of 20 engineers, pilots and developers as well as a fleet of 12 drones. Services offered include data collection and the preparation of 3D plans and ...
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NewsMore TET transfers agreed
FRANCE: On January 12 Transport Secretary Alain Vidalies met with Philippe Richert, President of the association of French regions, and SNCF Voyageurs Director General Florence Parly to review progress with the programme to transfer responsibility for the loss-making Trains d’Equilibre du Territoire network of conventional passenger services from central government ...
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NewsSNCF awards €3·75bn Paris RER fleet renewal contract
FRANCE: The SNCF board has formally selected a consortium of Alstom and Bombardier Transportation for a deal to supply up to 355 custom-designed X'Trapolis Cityduplex double-deck trainsets worth €3·75bn for use on Paris RER lines D and E. The order announced on January 11 is the largest-ever contract to be ...
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NewsTrain interior celebrates nature and culture
FRANCE: To promote the architectural and natural heritage of the region they serve, SNCF is decorating the interiors of five trainsets deployed on Line N of the Transilien suburban network, running from Paris Montparnasse to Mantes-la-Jolie, Dreux and Rambouillet. The programme being undertaken in conjunction with CMN, the government ...
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NewsSNCF Réseau approves €46bn spending plan
FRANCE: Meeting on December 20, the board of infrastructure manager SNCF Réseau formally approved the first multi-year performance contract with the national government, as required under railway reform legislation enacted in 2014. Welcoming the government’s long-term commitment to the rail network as a ‘very important step’, SNCF Réseau said the ...
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NewsCoradia Liner inter-city multiple-unit on test
FRANCE: Testing of the first Alstom Coradia Liner inter-city electro-diesel multiple unit has begun on the Paris Est – Troyes – Belfort line. SNCF awarded Alstom a €346m contract in October 2013 covering the supply 34 six-car Coradia Liner multiple-units to replace locomotive-hauled stock on trains d'équilibre du territoire inter-city ...
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NewsSNCF launches free wi-fi on TGVs
FRANCE: SNCF began offering passengers free wi-fi on some TGV trainsets on the Paris – Lyon route with effect from December 15. This is the first phase of a wider roll-out which aims to provide wi-fi coverage for around 80% of TGV passengers on high speed and conventional lines by ...
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NewsRégiolis enters service in Clermont-Ferrand
FRANCE: The first of 29 Alstom Régiolis multiple-units which SNCF has ordered on behalf of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region entered service with the December 11 timetable change. The order placed under a national framework agreement between SNCF and Alstom includes 12 dual-voltage electro-diesel sets for use on routes from Clermont-Ferrand to ...
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NewsAlstom update on Belfort rescue package
FRANCE: Timescales for the government-backed rescue package for Alstom's Belfort plant which had been announced on October 4 were given by Secretary of State for Industry Christophe Sirugue and Alstom Chairman & CEO Henri Poupart-Lafarge on November 28. This followed the first meeting of a monitoring committee which was formed ...
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NewsFirst order for Omneo Premium inter-city EMUs
FRANCE: SNCF has placed the first order for the Premium inter-city version of Bombardier Transportation’s Omneo double-deck electric multiple-unit, acting on behalf of the Normandie region. The €585m firm order announced on November 24 covers 40 EMUs scheduled to enter service from the end of 2019. The Omneo Premium design ...
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NewsGrand Est agrees TET transfer
FRANCE: Meeting in plenary session on November 18, the Grand Est regional council approved an agreement that will see it become responsible for three routes within the loss-making Trains d’Equilibre du Territoire network of conventional passenger services operated by SNCF. Grand Est, formerly the Alsace, Champagne-Ardenne and Lorraine regions, is ...
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NewsFunding approved for Paris EMU order
FRANCE: The board of Ile-de-France transport authority STIF approved on November 15 the provision of €500m to fund the purchase by SNCF of a further 52 Francilien electric multiple-units from Bombardier Transportation. The EMUs are scheduled to be delivered from March 2018 to operate on suburban lines J and L ...
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NewsEurostar 'confident' as Amsterdam plans gather pace
EUROPE: Eurostar said it was seeing ‘signs of recovery in the trading environment’ when it announced its Quarter 3 results on November 4, with passenger numbers in the previous eight weeks increasing year-on-year. This followed a ‘challenging period’ when demand had been dampened by the Nice terrorist attack in July. ...
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NewsSNCF Réseau raises €900m with inaugural green bond
FRANCE: SNCF Réseau has raised €900m with its inaugural 15-year ‘green bond’, which it says was the first to be issued by a railway infrastructure manager and the first issued by a European transport company. Crédit Agricole CIB, HSBC France and JP Morgan acted as joint lead managers. The proceeds ...
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NewsFinnish firm wins TGV lighting contract
FRANCE: SNCF has selected Finnish company Teknoware to supply LED interior lighting for the refurbishment of its Alstom-built TGV Duplex double-deck high speed train fleet. The contract covers the supply of main lighting elements housed in opening ceiling frames on both sides of the aisles, as well as indirect mood ...
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NewsEurostar to cut services and jobs
EUROPE: Cross-Channel high speed train operator Eurostar is to reduce the number of services it operates by 8% and intends to cut 80 jobs. ‘This is a challenging environment for all travel companies and we need to manage our costs very carefully’, Eurostar told Railway Gazette. ‘That’s why we are ...