FRANCE: New entrant to the high speed rail market Proxima has announced Velvet as the brand name for its future open access operations.
Setting out the company’s plans on July 1, co-founder Rachel Picard said Velvet aims to be seen as easy, pleasant and new, and to attract people who currently think rail is too complicated to use.
Picard said research has been undertaken into passenger needs, and ‘because we are new, we won’t have the habits of others operators’.
Proxima
Proxima was founded in 2021 by Picard and Timothy Jackson, who said Velvet aims to offer simplicity, delight and innovation
‘When Rachel Picard and I first met, not long after the formal opening of the French rail market and the Covid pandemic, we discovered that we had made the same observation: demand for environmentally friendly long-distance travel has never been stronger and yet the available capacity falls short’, Jackson said. ‘As a consequence, 15% of would-be travellers end up using a less eco-friendly mode or not travelling at all. To provide the travelling public with extra capacity and a fresh journey proposition, we dreamed up Project Proxima’.
In July 2024 €1bn of funding was obtained from Antin Infrastructure Partners and a consortium of banks, and in October 2024 Proxima ordered 12 nine-car Avelia Horizon trainsets from Alstom.
Development of the trains has been supported by Onepoint and N+P Innovation Design. The first power car has now been assembled at Alstom’s Belfort plant, and production of the first coach is underway in La Rochelle.
‘To have reached this point just 12 months after completing our fund-raising and nine months after placing an order for 12 of the latest generation Alstom Avelia Horizon trainsets is evidence of our close and efficient collaboration with Alstom and of a shared desire to act entrepreneurially and imaginatively’, said Jackson.
Testing of the first train is planned for 2026, with type approval to be obtained by the manufacturer. The trainsets are expected to be delivered at a rate of one per month from 2028.
Launch plans
Jackson said Velvet is in discussion with infrastructure managers SNCF Réseau and Lisea and station operator SNCF Gares & Connexions to obtain train paths. ‘There is capacity available on the Atlantique network’, he said.
Velvet plans to launch on the Paris – Bordeaux route with four trainsets in 2028, and ramp up its services as further trainsets are delivered until it offers 10 million seats/year on the Paris – Bordeaux, Paris – Angers – Nantes and Paris – Rennes routes.
Picard said it would contribute €200m/year in track charges.
Velvet will operate with its own safety certificate, and expects to have almost 300 staff.
Alstom France CEO Frédéric Wiscart said the manufacturer is investing €150m to increase production capacity to fulfil Avelia Horizon orders placed by Velvet, natonal incumbent SNCF Voyageurs and Morocco’s ONCF.
In June work began to build the Marcheprime Lisea Technicentre where around 80 Alstom employees will maintain the Velvet fleet. The planned services will require the use of 10 or 11 trainsets each day.
New and independent
Jackson said ‘in the country that can reasonably claim to have pioneered and led high speed train travel in Europe’, Velvet ‘marks the creation of France’s first new and independent passenger train operator in 85 years.’
He said ‘I could not be prouder that we have put together a new all-French rail company, serving some of France’s most important cities, backed by one of France’s leading long-term infrastructure investors, with a major French rolling stock partner and with a je ne sais quoi of joie de vivre.’
