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DB Cargo and GE Transportation partner to expand rail’s European digital footprint
DB Cargo and GE Transportation have signed an agreement to digitise 250 locomotives across Germany, U.K, France and Poland over the next five years.
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France
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Realising the ambitions of the French railway manufacturing industry
31 January 2017 | By Jean-Pierre Audoux , Director General of the French Railway Industry Association (FIF),
Today the French railway manufacturing industry has to contend with two major challenges: sustaining a high level of activity in the rolling stock manufacturing sector and modernising the national rail infrastructure network. Jean-Pierre Audoux , Director General of the French Railway Industry Association (FIF), takes a look at the current…
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Atlantic Corridor: More capacity, higher performance, better information
31 January 2017 | By Eduardo Borges Pires, Director of Infraestruturas de Portugal’s Mobility and Clients Department
The aim of Regulation (EU) No. 913/2010 of 22 September 2010 is to improve the efficiency of rail freight transportation relative to other modes of transport through the creation of nine European rail freight corridors. Here Eduardo Borges Pires, Director of Infraestruturas de Portugal’s Mobility and Clients Department, provides an…
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We’re competitors – why should we cooperate?
23 November 2016 | By Nicolas Jachiet, President of Fer de France
In this article Nicolas Jachiet, President of Fer de France, considers the challenges and hindrances the European rail industry might face in the years to come. He writes that we must reinvent rail to make it more agile, attractive and competitive; a requirement to ensure the continued existence of the…
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Additional Coradia Polyvalent trains for Midi-Pyrénées region
6 August 2015 | By Katie Sadler, Digital Content Producer, Global Railway Review
Alstom is to supply eight additional Régiolis or Coradia Polyvalent trains to the Midi-Pyrénées region following an initial order for 25 trains in 2009.
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SNCF reveals plan to transform Gare du Nord by 2023
25 June 2015 | By Katie Sadler, Digital Content Producer, Global Railway Review
Major plans to redevelop Gare du Nord in Paris were revealed at a high profile SNCF press conference attended by the Mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo.
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French high-speed line development and network modernisation – the challenge to come
On 1 January 2015, the French government decided to merge Réseau Ferré de France (RFF) and SNCF Infra creating SNCF Réseau. The change was necessary to increase the speed and process of decision-making within the organisation. The demand on sustainable transport is continuously increasing so it is necessary to place…
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The French railway reform and other European policy matters
3 December 2014 | By Jean-Pierre Audoux, FIF
2014 may not have run its full course quite yet, but it has already been marked in France by the adoption of the French railway system reform in early-August, therefore heralding the advent of a new public-sector organisation englobing SNCF and the infrastructure manager set-up in 1997, RFF (Réseau ferré…
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CEVA: Connecting Switzerland and France
5 August 2014 | By Antoine Da Trindade, Managing Director for CEVA
CEVA is the acronym for the 16km-long Cornavin–Eaux-Vives–Annemasse rail link project connecting Switzerland and France. It is a project stepped in history which dates back as long ago as 1850. Following many false starts, political disagreements, citizen complaints and objections which went all the way to the Swiss Federal Administrative…
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All change for safety improvement
France will soon change its railway system. The infrastructure manager, RFF (Réseau Ferré de France) which was separated from the operations manager, SNCF, in 1997, will be integrated in the same national railway company, compliant with European rules. Infrastructure, rolling stock and the operational management of the French railway network…
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RFF’s impressive rail network modernisation plan
4 December 2013 | By Matthieu Chabanel, Deputy General Director, Marketing and Planning, RFF
On 15 October 2012, Réseau Ferré de France (RFF) was ordered by Transport Minister, Frédéric Cuvillier, to table proposals to deliver major rail network modernisation (GPMR). Delivered to the Minister on 19 September 2013, the plan proposed is consistent with efforts to create a shared, long-term vision for rail transportation.…
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RFF: First lessons learned from its four PPPs
27 November 2012 | By Alain Quinet, Chief Operating Officer, Réseau Ferré de France (RFF)
Railway investment requires long-term funding. Sometimes the State will choose to take direct ownership or may even prefer to transfer all or part of the responsibility and risk to the private sector. Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) can offer a highly flexible way of combining public and private funding. These highly flexible…
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The FIF in the new French railway environment
27 November 2012 | By Jean-Pierre Audoux, Director General, the French Railway Industry Association (FIF)
My article in Global Railway Review Issue 6 2011 outlined the prospect of a French railway system reform. This subject is still at the forefront of discussions within the industry and so constitutes the main topic of this article. This agenda must be viewed against the backdrop of a very…
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RFF to invest 3.4 billion euro in the rail network in 2012
24 September 2012 | By RFF
Implementation of the conclusions of the national rail consultation will create 25,000 jobs...
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Vossloh awarded megacontract for high-speed line in France
22 September 2012 | By Vossloh
Contract worth around €60 million for Vossloh Switch Systems and Vossloh Fastening Systems...