French railway news – Page 40
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NewsETCS overlay for Tours - Bordeaux high speed line
FRANCE: Ansaldo STS has been awarded a €13m contract to supply an ETCS Level 2 overlay for the signalling on the LGV Sud-Europe Atlantique high speed line. In 2011 Ansaldo STS was awarded a €47m contract to provide TVM430 cab signalling for the line. The latest ETCS contract awarded ...
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NewsIGC grants Deutsche Bahn access to Channel Tunnel
EUROPE: The Intergovernmental Commission which oversees access to the Channel Tunnel has granted a ‘Certificate B’ operating licence to Deutsche Bahn, the tunnel’s owner Groupe Eurotunnel announced on June 14. The announcement paves the way for more work to be undertaken to enable the introduction of DB’s long-planned high speed ...
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NewsResearchers to access RFF data
FRANCE: Infrastructure manager RFF signed an agreement on April 30 to share its core database of asset information with the academic community in an effort to improve the lifespan, cost and efficiency of railway infrastructure. The agreement initially covers a partnership with Ifsttar, the national transport technology and science research ...
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NewsTransalley takes shape
FRANCE: A transport research campus is being developed in Valenciennes under the Transalley project. Described by the developers as a ‘sustainable and innovative mobility cluster’, Transalley is a research campus covering 34 ha with 180 000 m2 of office, laboratory and production space on site. Transalley is located adjacent ...
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NewsReliability focus for Paris suburban network
FRANCE: The government and Ile-de-France transport authority STIF have announced a 10-point strategy to improve the reliability of the rail network serving Paris and its suburbs. A total of €7bn is to be invested by 2017, with €2bn allocated to the RER network alongside the metro projects confirmed on March ...
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NewsEurostar to trial London – Aix-en-Provence service
EUROPE: International high speed operator Eurostar is to operate a new service between London and the south of France on a trial basis in May and June 2013. Building on its long-standing seasonal service between London St Pancras International and Avignon-Centre which has operated on Saturdays in ...
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NewsTata Steel invests €12m to make longer heat-treated rails
FRANCE: Tata Steel is to more than double annual production of heat-treated rail at its Hayange mill from 55 000 to 120 000 tonnes, under a €12m investment plan announced on July 25. The project is scheduled to be completed by autumn 2013, and will equip the ...
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NewsEurostar restructuring completed
EUROPE: The long-planned restructuring of Eurostar, the cross-Channel high speed rail operator, was formally completed on September 1, the company has confirmed. The restructuring has seen the unincorporated tri-national partnership under which Eurostar was created replaced by Eurostar International, a conventional three-way joint venture with its own ...
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NewsEurostar accepts multiple failings
EUROPE: The findings of the independent review commissioned to look into the collapse of Eurostar cross-Channel services during the severe snowstorms on December 18-19 were announced in London on February 12. Following pressure from the French transport minister Dominique Bussereau, Eurostar had asked former GNER Chief Executive ...
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NewsPuy-de-Dôme rack railway trains ordered
FRANCE: Stadler Rail has announced a SFr25m order to supply four articulated electric multiple-units for the 5·3 km rack railway which SNC-Lavalin is building on the Puy-de-Dôme in the Massif Central. The vehicles will be based on units which the Swiss train builder has supplied for FGC’s ...
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NewsMore pressing matters
MILLIONS of wheels have been forged on the press at Valdunes' Dunkerque plant since the machine was commissioned in 1956, at a rate estimated by manufacturer DavyMarkham to be one wheel a minute. Following half a century of use, the 600 tonne press has recently undergone a three-week refurbishment ...
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News
La Réunion plans inter-urban link
FRANCE: Lyon-based consultant Semaly has won a contract to study and design an inter-urban ’tram-train’ project on the French island département of La Réunion in the Indian Ocean. Leader of a consortium with Scetauroute, Thales and Dubus Richez, Semaly is already working on preliminary studies and expects to complete an ...