FRENCH infrastructure manager SNCF Network is planning to close the Gisors - Serqueux line in Normandy for two years to enable electrification and modernisation of the 50km line, which will become an alternative route for freight traffic to the port of Le Havre.
FRANCE’s finance minister Mr Bruno Le Maire confirmed to the National Assembly on November 21 that the state will provide a €1.7bn loan to ensure the CDG Express rail link to Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport is completed in time for the 2024 Olympic Games, which will be hosted by the French capital.
FRANCE’s infrastructure manager, SNCF Network, put into service a new control centre for Paris Gare de Lyon during the weekend of March 18-19. The first train departed the terminal at 05.01 on March 20.
FRENCH president Mr François Hollande attended an inauguration ceremony at Villognon in the southwestern department of Charente on February 28 to mark the official completion of infrastructure on the Sud Europe Atlantique high-speed line from Tours to Bordeaux.
FRENCH National Railways (SNCF) says it is doubling down to “promote cost-cutting and efforts to boost productivity” as competition and market uncertainty cloud the prospects for growth in 2017.
FRENCH road and rail regulator Arafer announced on February 8 that it has rejected SNCF Network’s proposed tariff structure for track access charges from 2018, arguing the new arrangements fail to meet regulatory requirements and ignore commitments to pricing reform given by the infrastructure manager two years ago.
FRENCH infrastructure manager SNCF Network has signed a €277m contract with RC2, a consortium of TSO Caténaires, Setec Ferroviare and ETF, for the renewal of overhead electrification on Paris RER Line C.
THE Bretagne-Pays de la Loire high-speed line moved another step closer to the start of operations at the end of January, when TGVs reached the maximum testing speed of 352km/h.
FRANCE and Spain took control of the international high-speed rail link between both countries on December 21 after the contract with concessionaire TP Ferro was terminated following the company’s liquidation in September.
THE board of French infrastructure manager SNCF Network approved the draft of its first multi-year performance contract with the government, which includes a 10-year spending plan, during a meeting on December 20.
