French railway news – Page 39
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NewsCross-border RER Franco-Valdo-Genevois to serve Genève from 2017
EUROPE: SBB CEO Andreas Meyer and SNCF President Guillaume Pepy signed a letter of intent on October 30 setting out the next steps for the creation of a cross-border RER network centred on Genève. From December 2017 the 230 route-km RER Franco-Valdo-Genevois would serve a total of 45 stations, connecting ...
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NewsCuvillier confirms high speed alignments to Toulouse and Dax
FRANCE: Noting that his government ‘would prioritise the everyday transport needs of the French people without turning its back on high speed rail’, Transport Minister Frédéric Cuvillier confirmed on October 23 the government’s intention to build two new high speed lines under the 410 km Grand Projet Ferroviaire du Sud-Ouest. ...
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NewsCuvillier presents SNCF reform proposals
FRANCE: SNCF is to be reinstated as the overall managing entity for rail infrastructure and operations under draft legislation presented to the Conseil des Ministres by Transport Minister Frédéric Cuvillier on October 16. The bill is expected to go to parliament following municipal elections in March 2014. The ministry said ...
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NewsSNCF orders electro-diesel inter-city trainsets
FRANCE: National operator SNCF has awarded Alstom a €346m contract to supply 34 Coradia Liner electro-diesel multiple-units. These will replace locomotive-hauled stock on trains d'équilibre du territoire inter-city services on the conventional network from December 2015. Alstom said the Coradia Liner would be 'half-way between' TER regional express trains and ...
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News€510m package to renew inter-city fleet
FRANCE: Meeting on September 26, the SNCF board approved a draft financing agreement which paves the way for replacement of the ageing fleet used to operate longer-distance passenger trains on the conventional network, known as trains d’équilibre du territoire. Loss-making services on 38 designated routes, used by around 100 000 ...
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NewsBombardier unveils pre-series Omneo EMU
FRANCE: At a ceremony at its Crespin plant in northern France on September 25, Bombardier Transportation unveiled its Omneo double-deck electric multiple-unit to guests including SNCF President Guillaume Pepy and representatives of the six regions which have ordered the trains to date. Bombardier said that the six-car EMU for Rhône-Alpes ...
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NewsRFF presents €15bn modernisation plan
FRANCE: Investment totalling €15bn over six years would be concentrated on the conventional network to improve reliability, capacity and safety under a plan which infrastructure manager RFF has submitted to Transport Minister Frédéric Cuvillier. The minister requested the plan following a third audit undertaken by the École Polytechnique Fédérale de ...
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NewsMore lorries to move by rail
FRANCE: On September 18 Transport Minister Frédéric Cuvillier announced the creation of two new ‘rail motorway’ services to carry lorry trailers. In his presence, SNCF Geodis Managing Director Alain Picard and Lohr SA President Robert Lohr signed a contract worth €39m for the supply of 102 Modalohr swing-tray wagons that ...
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NewsSNCF Partenariat to provide Corsican courses
FRANCE: SNCF Partenariat is to provide staff training to Chemins de la Fer de la Corse under a three-year technical assistance contract which began last month. Including safety, operations, train driving, rolling stock and infrastructure maintenance, the programme is intended to enable CFC to become self-sufficient in railway skills. CFC ...
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NewsCarpentras branch to reopen
FRANCE: Work is underway to reopen the 16 km branch from Sorgues-Châteauneuf-du-Pape to Carpentras to passenger traffic, with the aim of introducing services between Avignon and Carpentras at the end of 2014. Infrastructure work including track renewals for a maximum speed of 120 km/h, resignalling and the closure of nine ...
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NewsAfter-sales service for Lorraine Régiolis fleet
FRANCE: In preparation for the delivery later this month of the first of 10 Régiolis multiple-units to operate local TER services in the Lorraine region, Alstom officially opened an after-sales service centre within the SNCF rolling stock maintenance workshops in Metz on September 5. The event was attended by Patrick ...
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NewsSNCF awards onboard catering contract
FRANCE: SNCF has awarded a joint venture of Newrest (65%) and Elior (35%) a contract to provide catering services on long-distance passenger trains from November 2013. The contract announced on August 6 covers domestic TGV services, Intercité trains on the conventional network and international services on LGV Est operated ...
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NewsSNCF orders double-deck TGVs
FRANCE: SNCF confirmed a €300m order for a further 10 Alstom Euroduplex double-deck high speed trainsets on July 25. This is the final order to be placed under June 2007 framework contract which covered an initial 55 trainsets with options for 40 more to be delivered in 2015-19; a ...
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NewsVossloh Cogifer buys Outreau Technologies
FRANCE: Metal processing, casting and forging group Manoir Industries sold its Outreau Technologies railway crossing casting subsidiary to Vossloh Cogifer on July 10. Outreau Technologies employs approximately 200 people at a plant in Pas-de-Calais which produces crossings for railway, tramway and metro trackwork. It has a long-term sales co-operation agreement ...
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NewsLoose fishplate identified following French inter-city derailment
FRANCE: National railway operator SNCF and infrastructure manager RFF confirmed on July 14 that a loose fishplate was believed to have triggered the derailment of a Paris - Limoges Intercité express at Brétigny-sur-Orge on July 12, which killed six people and injured a further 62. The seven-coach loco-hauled train which ...
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NewsMore RFF routes go live under GSM-R PPP
FRANCE: GSM-R digital train radio was brought into service on 150 km of routes in eastern France during the night of July 6 to 7, infrastructure manager RFF has announced. A total of 29 base stations are now operational on the Dijon – Montbéliard route, as well as between Besançon ...
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NewsEurotunnel to fund ParisTech academic position
EUROPE: Channel Tunnel owner Groupe Eurotunnel has signed a long-term partnership with the Ecole des Ponts ParisTech under which it will fund an academic Chair for an initial five years. Within a budget of €150 000 per annum from Eurotunnel, the position will combine both academic and research roles in ...
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NewsFirst Régiolis EMU delivered to Aquitaine
FRANCE: The first Régiolis EMU delivered by Alstom to operate local TER services in the Aquitaine region was presented to the public at Bordeaux Saint-Jean station on July 4. This followed a handover ceremony attended by President of the Aquitaine regional council Alain Rousset, SNCF President Guillaume Pepy and Alstom ...
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NewsRFF starts work on Lorraine control centre
FRANCE: Infrastructure manager RFF has begun work on a new control centre for the Lorraine region at Pagny-sur-Moselle, due to enter service on April 5 2015. It is one of 16 that are to be built across the network by 2030, which by centralising control functions currently shared between 1 ...
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NewsEuropean Commission seeks changes to Channel Tunnel regulation
EUROPE: On June 20 the European Commission formally requested that France and the UK 'comply with EU rules against excessive track access charges for passenger and freight trains in the Channel Tunnel'. The Commission claims the countries have failed to comply with the requirements of the First Railway Package, ...