FRANCE: Prospective high speed operator Le Train says it has finalised two framework agreements with SNCF Réseau covering access to the Ligne à Grande Vitesse network in the west and southwest of the country.
The two agreements set out in principle Le Train’s rights to run services on LGV Sud Europe Atlantique between Bordeaux and Paris and LGV Bretagne linking Paris and Rennes. The company says that demand is outstripping supply on both routes, and believes that it will be able to offer more seats with a distinctively different proposition in the market.
National rail regulator ART must now assess the agreements to ensure that both the operator and the infrastructure manager have complied with the rules governing non-discriminatory access to the national network.
The company says the agreements augment its existing plans to introduce open access services that use the high speed network to link regional cities while avoiding Paris. Planned services include Bordeaux – Nantes and Bordeaux – Rennes.
‘Introducing more services will make decarbonised mobility accessible to more people’, explained Le Train Co-founder & Managing Director Alain Getraud on March 13. ‘These two framework agreements with SNCF Réseau mark an important step in our deployment strategy on these two routes.’
Le Train was established by Getraud in February 2020 with the support of industrialist Tony Bonifaci, aiming to become the first private high speed operator in France. In 2021 the company applied to regulator ART for authorisation to run regional high speed services on the Arcachon – Bordeaux – Angoulême – Poitiers – La Rochelle axis, using LGV Sud-Europe Atlantique, with some services extending north to Nantes and Rennes. It finally received an operating licence on December 24 2022.
Getraud is a former SNCF Project Director who worked extensively on the development of the Tours – Bordeaux high speed line on behalf of the state railway.
- Learn more: read an in-depth interview with Alain Getraud from October 2024.
