France


By Frédéric de Kemmeter – Railway signalling and freelance copywriter
🟧 Back to homepage

New entrants in passenger services: who are the four from France?
24/03/2023 – In France, four entrepreneurs are trying to put private trains on the rails. But they face a number of challenges. None of the four has a similar business, but all are talking about filling a gap in the national rail supply. A quick overview.

Success for Trenitalia France
24/01/2023 – A successful bet for Trenitalia France: its Paris-Lyon route reached its one millionth passenger last December. This was important because the Italian company’s arrival on French soil was a risky move in a country that has never been convinced by multiple operators on the same network…

Private operator Le Train chooses Talgo for its future rolling stock
24/01/2023 – Of the four candidates who wanted to operate train services in France, it is finally the company Le Train that is the first to take action. On 23 January, the Bordeaux-based company announced the acquisition of 10 Talgo Avril trainsets. In France, one of these trainsets – not intended for Le Train – is currently…

Service provisionally complete for Trenitalia France
03/06/2022 – The train service of the Italian’s ‘Frecciarossa’ in France now includes two additional daily return trips, bringing to five the number of connections between at least Paris and Lyon, with two of these return trips continuing to Milan via Modane and Turin. On international traffic, with the fall of Covid restrictions in Italy, the occupancy rate would reach 93% according to Roberto Rinaudo, CEO…

The first Frecciarossa left Paris this Saturday
18/12/2021 – The first Frecciarossa of Trenitalia France (ex-Thello), left Paris Gare de Lyon at 7.26 am (+ 2 minutes…). The Italian public operator is initially offering two return trips between Paris and Milan, which will be increased to three during 2022. The important thing to understand here is that Trenitalia can offer…

Trenitalia plans to launch its Milan-Paris service on December 18
10/12/2021 – While the Frecciariossa trains have been running dry runs since September, the actual launch date of the Milan-Lyon-Paris service has been awaited. According to AFP, the Italian public operator will start operating its Frecciarossa on 18 December. The company would thus become the first foreign operator to challenge the SNCF on the hightly…

An association protests against the French law that prohibits short air links
25/11/21 – In France, the ‘Syndicat des compagnies aériennes autonomes’ (Scara), a trade association whose mission is to promote and defend air transport, announced on 25 November that it had filed a complaint with the European Commission against the French law that prohibits air links when there is an alternative means of transport in less than 2.5 hours.

France celebrates 40 years of high speed trains
19/09/2021 – This week France celebrates the 40th anniversary of the TGV. The French high-speed train has given a new lease of life to a railway that was wondering about its future.xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxx xxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxx

Thalys-SNCF-BrusselsThalys: 25 years old and a future to consolidate
06/06/2021 – Since the 1980s, a project for an international high-speed train had been in the making. In October 1987, a political decision in Brussels was made to build a high-speed network between France and northern Europe, including the Netherlands, Germany and the UK. Now Thalys have 25 years old.

Trenitalia-ThelloTrenitalia prepares for Paris – Milano launch
06/20/2019 – The first of five ETR1000 high speed trainsets being modified to operate Trenitalia’s planned open access service between Milano and Paris is expected to begin test running in France next month, following the completion of retrofitting work. (International Railway Gazette)