French railway news – Page 37
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NewsAlstom acquires Areva transport business
FRANCE: Nuclear energy company Areva transferred its Command & Control for Transportation activities and staff to Alstom with effect from October 31. The CCT business designs and produces signalling equipment for trams and metros, as well as radio communications and the Train Control Management System as used on the ...
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NewsReal-time train positions from multiple data sources
FRANCE: HaCon has implemented a version of its HAFAS Live Maps real-time train location mapping software for French national passenger operator SNCF which for the first time integrates positioning information from both trackside equipment and GPS. ‘The combination of the two data sources results in the highest possible precision that ...
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NewsFunding agreed for Lyon - Torino test bore
FRANCE: Construction of a 9 km trial bore for the Alpine base tunnel that will eventually form part of the new line between Lyon and Torino in Italy is expected to start in January 2015, following the signature of a funding agreement worth €105∙78m. The agreement was signed in Paris ...
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NewsRail businesses included in planned Tata Steel sale
EUROPE: Tata Steel announced the signing of a memorandum of understanding for the potential sale of its Long Products Europe business to chemicals, metals and oil commodities business Klesch Group on October 14. Both parties have now entered a period of exclusive detailed due diligence with the objective of ...
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NewsUK invites interest in buying 40% stake in Eurostar
EUROPE: The British government formally invited expressions of interest in buying its 40% stake in cross-Channel high speed train operator Eurostar International Ltd on October 13. Potential bidders have until October 31 to respond, with the government saying its key objective is to ‘maximise value for money for the ...
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NewsThello to launch Marseille – Milano service
EUROPE: Open access passenger operator Thello is to launch a daily service between Marseille in France and Milano in Italy with the timetable change on December 14. Announcing the new route on September 23, Thello said that intermediate stops would include Cannes, Nice, Savona and Genoa, and that it would ...
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NewsLasers produce 3D map of French railways
FRANCE: A StreetMapper mobile laser scanning system has been used to produce detailed three-dimensional maps of several hundred kilometres of the French rail network to support studies for modernisation and electrification works. The StreetMapper was developed by 3D Laser Mapping and IGI, and is operated by FIT ESIC. The companies ...
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NewsMontpellier Sud de France station bidder selected
FRANCE: Infrastructure manager RFF has selected a consortium led by Icade as preferred bidder for the public-private partnership contract to design and build Montpellier Sud de France station. The station on the new line between Nîmes and Montpellier is due to open in the fourth quarter of 2017. It ...
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NewsUIC launches global railway MBA
INTERNATIONAL: Under the umbrella of its Railway Academy programme, UIC has announced the launch of a Railway Global Executive MBA course, to be hosted by the EM Lyon Business School in France. Subject to sufficient applications through member railways, UIC hopes that the first intake could start the Master’s course ...
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NewsSNCF orders more Francilien EMUs
FRANCE: SNCF has exercised an option for 22 additional eight-car Francilien electric multiple-units for use on Transilien suburban routes H and K around Paris, Bombardier Transportation announced on July 29. The firm order has been placed under a 2006 agreement for up to 372 units, and takes the total ...
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NewsSénat approves French railway reforms
FRANCE: The government’s draft legislation to restructure the rail sector passed its reading in the Sénat by 188 votes to 150 on July 10. The revised text had been adopted by 355 votes to 168 during a reading in the Assemblée Nationale on June 24. Under an accelerated process, the ...
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NewsSwap bodies to carry mail by rail
FRANCE: The post office announced on June 19 a three-year €100m investment programme that will see mail moving by rail in swap bodies from a new terminal to be built at Bonneuil-sur-Marne in the southeastern suburbs of Paris. Due to open towards the end of 2015 at a cost of ...
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NewsAlstom to focus on transport after GE deal
ALSTOM: The board of Alstom has unanimously recommended that shareholders accept a deal with GE which would see the French company sell its energy activities and focus on transport, with the acquisition of GE’s signalling business and international collaboration with GE in the rail sector. The deal is subject to ...
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NewsRelieving bottlenecks around Marseille and Nice
FRANCE: Transport Minister Frédéric Cuvillier announced last month that studies are to be taken forward for projects to increase capacity around Marseille and Nice. The government hopes that the projects will be approved as being of public utility in 2017. With the emphasis now on upgrading the existing network ...
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NewsChinese firm MA Steel acquires Valdunes
FRANCE: The Commercial Court in Valenciennes has approved a bid by Chinese steel and railway wheel supplier MA Steel to take over the activities of wheelset manufacturer Valdunes, which had entered receivership in April. The deal includes the Valdunes plant in Dunkerque, which has the only dedicated wheel forge ...
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NewsKapsch CarrierCom to supply RFF with all-IP GSM-R core network
FRANCE: Infrastructure manager RFF and its GSM-R installation and maintenance PPP concessionaire Synerail have awarded Kapsch CarrierCom a contract to modernise the GSM-R network with an all-IP core based on Kapsch’s R4 architecture. Kaspch says this will improve reliability and form the basis for new applications such as Railway ...
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NewsAlstom says sale of Energy business would strengthen Transport
ALSTOM: The proposed sale of its Energy business to GE ‘would allow Alstom to develop its Transport business as a standalone company, with a strong balance sheet to capitalise on opportunities in the dynamic rail transport market’, Alstom Chairman & CEO Patrick Kron said on April 30. Alstom explained that ...
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NewsEurotunnel cuts freight charges
EUROPE: Channel Tunnel concessionaire Eurotunnel announced a reduction in track access charges of up to 50% on April 28, saying it hopes this will lead to a doubling of the number of freight trains through the tunnel to 5 000 per year in 2018. The announcement follows the European Commission ...
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NewsDistributed diesel traction tested on Europe’s longest freight train
EUROPE: On April 12 Fret SNCF operated a 1 524 m long freight train between Sibelin yard near Lyon and Nîmes, hauled at up to 100 km/h by two Euro 4000 diesel locomotives built by Vossloh España. Weighing 4 020 tonnes, ‘the longest freight train ever run in Europe’ comprised ...
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NewsValdunes enters receivership ahead of sale
VALDUNES: French rolling stock wheel manufacturer Valdunes announced on April 3 that its management had obtained approval for the company to move from the current safeguarding procedure into receivership, 'in order to facilitate the continuity of its activities'. The company said the change in status was 'not a result of ...