AFTER 31 years of service, the operation of mail trains on the French high-speed network ceased on June 27, when a postal TGV made a final run between the terminals at Cavaillon in Marseilles and Charolais near Paris Gare du Lyon.

SNCF CEO Mr Guillaume Pepy and the mayor of Paris Ms Anne Hidalgo presented plans on June 24 to expand capacity at Gare du Nord, Paris' busiest station which is used by up to 800,000 passengers per day.

A taskforce set up to develop a strategy for the future of France's loss-making conventional long-distance trains published its first report at the end of May. Keith Barrow explores the options being put forward to revive the "weak link between TGV and TER."

THE board of Ile-de-France transport authority Stif adopted a financing agreement on June 15 which will fully fund a €63m order for 17 additional Alstom Citadis LRVs for Paris light rail Line T3 to support the extension of the line and increase capacity on the existing route.

FRENCH rail regulator Araf and its British counterpart, the Office of Rail and Road (ORR), took over responsibility for regulating conditions of access and infrastructure charges for the Channel Tunnel on June 16, when a bi-national committee of the two organisations held its first meeting in London.

Think of urban rail investment in Paris and the ambitious Grand Paris express metro project probably springs to mind. However, a rolling programme of light rail construction is continually extending the tram network into more areas of the city. Keith Barrow outlines the next phase of development.

THE president of Ile-de-France region Mr Jean-François Carenco, mayor of Paris Mrs Anne Hidalgo, and the newly-appointed president executive director of Paris Transport Authority (RATP) Mrs Elisabeth Borne, attended a ceremony on June 1 to mark the start of preliminary works on the eastern extension of Paris metro Line 11 from Mairie des Lilas to Rosny-Bois-Perrier.

In the run-up to the 61st UITP World Congress and Exhibition in Milan this month, the UITP's secretary general, Alain Flausch, spoke exclusively to David Briginshaw about the need for more investment in public transport, how to achieve a better balance between subsidy and fares, and adopting a more customer-focused approach.

COMMERCIAL services began operating on Marseille's third light rail line on May 30 with the opening of the 1.2km branch to Place Castellane, which extends the network into the south of the city.

A commission set up by the French government to draw up proposals for the development of loss-making Intercity services published its initial report on May 26, recommending significant changes to the organisation and operation of the network.