French railway news – Page 40
-
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 ...
-
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 ...
-
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 ...
-
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 ...
-
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 ...
-
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 ...
-
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 ...
-
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 ...
-
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 ...
-
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 ...
-
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 ...
-
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 ...
-
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, ...
-
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 ...
-
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 ...
-
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 ...
-
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 ...
-
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 ...
-
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 ...
-
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 ...