French railway news – Page 37
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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 ...
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NewsATO to boost capacity on Paris RER Line A
FRANCE: Alstom Transport has been selected to develop and install automatic train operation on Paris RER Line A under a €20m contract awarded by city transport operator RATP, the Ile-de-France region and transport authority STIF. The introduction of attended ATO that meets Grade of Automation 2 is expected to improve ...
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NewsUrgent action needed to reverse TET decline
FRANCE: Urgent action is needed to save SNCF’s network of conventional long-distance passenger services, says Philippe Duron in his foreword to a report on the future of these Trains d’Equilibre du Territoire, submitted to the government on May 26. Socialist MP for Calvados, Duron has presided over a committee of ...
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NewsEuropean Commission approves SNCF control of Eurostar
EUROPE: The European Commission announced on May 13 that it had approved a shareholders’ agreement which will see French national railway SNCF acquire sole management control of cross-Channel high speed train operator Eurostar International Ltd. This approval is subject to commitments which are designed to facilitate the entry of new ...
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NewsSNCF orders 19 more Francilien EMUs
FRANCE: SNCF has exercised a €127m option for a further 19 Francilien electric multiple-units, Bombardier announced on May 6. The order is to be financed Ile-de-France transport authority STIF. The Francilien single-deck eight-car commuter EMUs have a capacity of 1 000 passengers, with wide gangways and doors to facilitate ...
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NewsHigh speed line maintenance software
FRANCE: CARL Software has won a contract to supply its CARL Source asset management software to the Mesea joint venture which will maintain the track, signalling and electrification on the 300 km Tours – Bordeaux LGV Sud Europe Atlantique high speed line which is under construction for opening in 2017. ...
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NewsLGV Est Phase 2 completed
FRANCE: On March 31 SNCF President Guillaume Pepy joined SNCF Réseau President Jacques Rapoport and other dignitaries as the last rail was welded to mark the completion of construction work on Phase 2 of LGV Est, the high speed line between Paris and Strasbourg. Work on Phase 2, covering the ...
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NewsFatigue testing with heavy loads
FRANCE: An agreement signed this month paves the way for tests to begin later this year in the Channel Tunnel on the durability of various track designs under heavy loads. The tests will be undertaken by Railenium, the railway research institute based in northern France, of which Eurotunnel is a ...
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NewsSifer 2015 draws infrastructure firms
FRANCE: No less than 22% of the exhibitors participating in the ninth Sifer trade fair taking place in Lille on March 24-26 will be first-time entrants, according to organisers Mack Brooks Exhibitions. Around 400 companies are participating in the event, which is expected to attract up to 5000 visitors. This ...
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NewsLyon – Torino railway project now ‘irreversible’
EUROPE: The governments of France and Italy have formally agreed to go ahead with the Lyon – Torino railway project, including the 57 km Mont Cenis base tunnel. France’s President Hollande and Italian Prime Minister Renzi signed the agreement at a Franco-Italian summit on February 24. This enabled the ...
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News‘Connectivity and vision’ key to future of high speed
RAILWAY GAZETTE TV: More than 370 viewers in 20 countries registered to watch Railway Gazette’s interactive live debate on high speed rail on February 25. Sponsored by Bombardier Transportation, the latest in RG TV’s debate series assessed the future of high speed rail over the next five decades saw Chris ...
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NewsSNCF posts stable results as competitive threats mount
FRANCE: National operator SNCF issued its 2014 financial results on February 12, which highlighted the scale of the competitive threats that the business is facing in its home market. In what the company termed ‘the difficult environment in France’, SNCF reported year-on-year growth in revenue of 1·5% against 0·5% for ...
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NewsSTIF orders more double-deck EMUs
FRANCE: Paris regional transport authority STIF has ordered a further 10 MI09 double-deck electric multiple-units from a consortium of Alstom and Bombardier. The total value of the contract announced on February 12 is €150m, with Alstom having a €95m share. The new EMUs are to be delivered in 2017 to ...