French railway news – Page 34
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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 ...
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NewsSNCF to rebrand TGV services as ‘inOui’
FRANCE: On May 26 SNCF confirmed local media reports that its TGV network of high speed passenger services is to be rebranded as ‘inOui’. SNCF will progressively introduce the inOui brand across its legacy TGV services by 2020, starting with those on the Paris – Bordeaux route from July 2, ...
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NewsSTIF to fund €1∙1bn Paris suburban fleet
FRANCE: Ile-de-France transport authority STIF announced on May 23 that it will be providing 100% of the funding for an order for 83 Bombardier Régio2N double-deck EMUs, worth €1∙1bn. Of the new fleet, 69 trainsets will be deployed between the end of 2019 and 2021 to replace locomotive-hauled VB2N coaches ...
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NewsTank container designed for train to driverless vehicle transfer
EUROPE: The Flex Freight System which wagon leasing company Wascosa and chemical manufacturer BASF have developed for the transport of chemicals by rail and then autonomous vehicle was exhibited at the Transport Logistic trade fair in München in mid-May.The tank container has approximately the same load capacity as a tank ...
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NewsEurotunnel’s third-generation freight shuttles enter service
EUROPE: The first of three additional freight shuttle rakes for carrying lorries was inaugurated by Groupe Eurotunnel Chairman & CEO Jacques Gounon and President of the Hauts-de-France Region Xavier Bertrand at the end of April. The three trainsets will provide 20% more capacity and enable Eurotunnel to offer up ...
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NewsIONX and Ermewa agree telematics partnership
EUROPE: Amsted Rail used the Transport Logistic tradeshow in München on May 9-12 to mark the extension of its telematics activities in Europe. Amsted’s IONX subsidiary has finalised a preliminary co-operation agreement with wagon leasing business Ermewa for the supply of telematics technology. The agreement covers IONX telematics equipment, proprietary ...
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NewsNew partners for port freight operator
FRANCE: A joint venture of Millet SA and RegioRail has been selected by the port authorities of La Rochelle and Nantes Saint-Nazaire to become the new traction partner in their rail operating company OFP Atlantique. Millet and RegioRail are to form OuestRail which will take a 24∙9% stake in OFP ...
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NewsPerformance contracts signed despite regulator's concerns
FRANCE: Three 10-year performance contracts between the government and the SNCF group were formally signed on April 20 by Finance Minister Michel Sapin, Transport Minister Alain Vidalies, Frédéric Saint-George as head of the SNCF supervisory board, Patrick Jeantet as President of infrastructure manager SNCF Réseau and Florence Parly, Director-General of ...
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NewsRegions sound out SNCF competitors
FRANCE: The body which represents the regions of France says that there is a ‘strong appetite’ amongst potential bidders for contracts to operate TER passenger services currently provided by SNCF, which are expected to be opened up to competition around 2024. In order to enable its members to prepare for ...
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NewsResearch project aims to automate train driver functions
FRANCE: The Safe Autonomous Land Transport project to test the use of technology to automate train drivers’ observation functions has been launched by the SystemX digital engineering research institute in partnership with SNCF and Alstom. Drawing on the scientific expertise of the Université de Technologie de Compiègne, the project aims ...
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NewsSNCF orders 30 Coradias for TET services
FRANCE: SNCF Mobilités has awarded Alstom a €250m contract to supply a further 30 Alstom Coradia multiple-units. These are scheduled to be delivered from September 2018 for use on Trains d'Equilibre du Territoire long-distance services on the Paris – Amiens – Boulogne, Paris – Bourges – Montluçon, Clermont-Ferrand – Nîmes, ...
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NewsDigital freight train partnership formed
FRANCE: SNCF Logistics and maritime freight technology company Traxens have announced a partnership to develop technology for monitoring and real-time tracking of freight trains. This follows a year of research and testing of digital equipment for use in the rail environment. The project is to be launched at the Transport ...
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NewsFrance and Spain seek rail motorway proposals
EUROPE: Rolling stock manufacturers are to be invited to submit expressions of interest in supplying wagons capable of carrying lorries on ‘rail motorway’ services between France and Spain, it was agreed at a meeting of a working group on March 27 bringing together the transport ministries of both countries as ...
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NewsUPS adds six cities to China – Europe rail freight network
INTERNATIONAL: UPS has added six more cities to its intermodal rail network linking China and Europe. Changsha, Chongqing, Suzhou and Wuhan have been added in China, joining Zhengzhou and Chengdu. The additional locations have been chosen for their proximity to manufacturing, commercial and cultural centres in inland China. Duisburg and ...
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NewsMIT and SNCF collaborate to improve stations
FRANCE: SNCF’s stations subsidiary Gares & Connexions and Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Senseable City Lab multi-disciplinary urban environment research group have signed an agreement to work together to improve waiting conditions at stations. The aim is to ‘improve the thermal comfort, acoustic, visual and other characteristics of stations in France’, ...
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NewsLéman Express moves closer
EUROPE: During a ‘summit’ between the two railways held in Paris on March 9, SBB CEO Andreas Meyer and SNCF President Guillaume Pepy signed a co-operation agreement for the operation from December 2019 of the Léman Express network of cross-border regional and suburban services centred on Genève. Under the agreement, ...
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NewsiDTGV brand to disappear
FRANCE: The iDTGV brand for high speed services which can only be booked online is to be phased out, SNCF announced on March 7. The brand will first be withdrawn on routes from Paris to Bretagne and the southwest with the opening of the LGV Bretagne Pays de la Loire ...
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NewsPresidential inauguration for LGV Sud Europe Atlantique
FRANCE: The LGV Sud Europe Atlantique high speed line between Tours and Bordeaux was inaugurated on February 28 in the presence of President François Hollande, SNCF Réseau President Patrick Jeantet and Laurent Cavrois, President of the LISEA consortium which has built and part-financed the new line under a 50-year concession. ...