FRENCH National Railways (SNCF) and French Rail Network (RFF) are making considerable progress under the €410m four-year Vigirail project to improve the safety of points and modernise track maintenance according to a report presented to the SNCF board.

THE board of Alstom has unanimously approved General Electric's (GE) bid for its energy division after the French government agreed to purchase a 20% stake in the company from its lead shareholder, Bouygues, for around €1.7bn.

FRANCE's National Assembly approved late on June 18 the first reading of a bill put forward by the secretary of state for transport, Mr Frédéric Cuvillier, to restructure the national railway by bringing train operations closer to the management of the infrastructure.

WITH Alstom's board set to meet on Monday at the latest to reach a decision on the takeover of its power division, both General Electric (GE) and Siemens-Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) have improved their offers in an attempt to address concerns and get their respective deals over the line.

SIEMENS and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) have issued a bid to rival General Electric's offer for the power division of Alstom which would enable the French firm to retain some of its energy assets as well as its transport portfolio.

A groundbreaking ceremony was held in Paris on June 11 to mark the official start of construction on the 5.8km northern extension of Line 14 from St Lazare to Mairie de Saint Ouen.

THE BOARD of Ile-de-France Transport Authority (Stif) voted on June 5 to approve a €100m contribution towards a €256m project to automate Paris's second-busiest metro line.

FRENCH Rail Network (RFF) and Synerail, the PPP consortium appointed by RFF in 2010 to install, operate and maintain GSM-R, have selected Kapsch CarrierCom to install an all-IP core solution based on the supplier's new R4 architecture.

PLANS to build a rail link to Basle's bi-national airport, Euroairport, located over the Swiss border in France, have been revived by Mr Philippe Richert, president of the Regional Council of Alsace, who is pushing for the project to be realised by 2020.

AN emergency programme is underway to adapt platforms across the French railway network after it emerged clearances at many stations are insufficient to accommodate new-generation regional trains, which are due to enter service over the next few years.