In addition, expansion of drive-systems production and a new train-preparation building at Belfort are going ahead, along with installation of robots and advanced welding systems at the Petit Quevilly, Ornans, Tarbes and Le Creusot component plants. Around 1,000 new jobs will be created. 

Alstom has firm orders for 145 Avelia Horizon trains: 115 for SNCF Voyageurs scheduled for delivery at a rate of 15 per year through to the early 2030s; 12 for open-access operator Proxima for its planned services from southwest France to Paris, delivery starting in 2028; and 12 plus option for a further six ordered by Morocco’s state railway ONCF for the Tangier – Marrakech HS line.

Renfe's only operations in France for the foreseeable future appear to be the cross-border services from Lyon to Barcelona and Marseille – Madrid. On 31 March AVE 21 is seen heading away from Narbonne with Renfe Train 9743 Lyon Part-Dieu – Barcelona. Photo: Georges Turpin.

The decision was regretted on both sides of the Pyrénées where Occitan and Catalan officials had worked hard for restoration of a through train. Occitanie president Carole Delga and her Catalan counterpart immediately wrote to the French and Spanish prime ministers to reiterate the importance of the through train to regional development and tourism. “Renfe and SNCF must learn to co-operate…for the benefit of our territories and our citizens," she said. 

Catalan newspaper La Vanguardia reported in March that Renfe was considering withdrawal from the French market due to long-standing difficulties in its relations with SNCF and delay in certification Talgo S-106 trains. It is understood that these cannot be cleared to run to Paris until 2029, meaning a five-year delay in launching service from Barcelona to Paris. Renfe’s existing services to Lyon and Marseille are operated by S-100 TGV Atlantique style trainsets, but the S-106s are a typical Talgo design with 13m low-slung coaches of aluminium and composite material construction. They have suffered teething problems in Spain and their certification in France appears to be on hold due to incompatibility with gradients on the Paris – Lyon LGV. 

The Spanish government had previously complained of ‘a lack of reciprocity’ in France’s attitude to liberalisation of the rail market, accusing SNCF of ‘dumping’ with uneconomic fares on Ouigo España services as well as obstructing extension of Renfe’s operations in France. According to BFM Business, Ouigo España has taken 20% of the market, but at a loss of €150 million over the past four years. French regulator EPSF had placed ‘a multitude of requirements’ on the Spanish operator which do not apply to SNCF’s operations in Spain, Renfe said.

It remains to be seen whether Renfe’s stance is a challenge to EC regulators or withdrawal in the face of unassailable odds. Three months ago, it had received government approval for creation of Renfe France SAS to take forward the company’s expansion and was named ‘best Spanish company in France’ by the Franco-Spanish chamber of commerce.

The train is promoted to those taking cures at the spas, to weekenders and as a means of seeing the striking station building at Vittel. After passenger trains were withdrawn in 2016, Grand Est and local communes made representations to SNCF which led to this limited service over the freight-only line south to Merrey. The usual route from the spa towns to Paris is by bus to Nancy and then TGV, journey time about 3h 20. 

With barely 50% of its capacity taken up, there is plenty of room for additional trains on HS1, while in the tunnel itself there are around 600 unused paths daily. LSPH and Eurotunnel have agreed a memorandum of understanding to work together to grow the cross-Channel travel market, focusing on the environmental advantages of rail journeys up to 6h duration. 

Having applied last year to run an initial 13 daily train pairs between Turin – Naples (nine A/R) and Turin – Venice (four A/R), SNCF Voyageurs Italia (SVI) was offered only 30% of the required paths and was denied access to maintenance facilities at Turin. This was followed by a supplementary offer which still left SVI with fewer than half the requested paths, deemed ‘absolutely unacceptable’ for a 2026 launch to make an impact on the market. Despite having started recruitment and training, SVI said it would postpone the launch until 2027. Also included in the bid was the existing Paris – Milan service, to be reduced from three to two trains daily on account of TGV M’s higher capacity than existing TGVs. 

On 15 April the 06.40 Cahors – Paris Austerlitz was named the 'Train of Anger' for the day. Three coaches were reserved to convey to Paris a 200-strong delegation of elected officials, including five members of parliament, business leaders, railway workers and rail users’ associations, to demand swift action to improve reliability of POLT (Paris – Orléans – Limoges – Toulouse) services. Despite significant investment in recent years, users continue to experience delays and cancellations as the 10-year renewal programme enters its final phase. The route is now also proving susceptible to climate change, suffering from extreme heat, wind and rain. The new CAF Oxygène trainsets, originally scheduled for 2023 delivery, are delayed until 2027. At Austerlitz protestors were joined by a similar group from Clermont-Ferrand for a press conference before a small delegation attended a meeting at the Ministry of Transport. 

However, the delegations returned home even angrier. The minister was not available to receive them, and a brief meeting with officials ended abruptly with the delegates walking out when the minister’s press release of the previous week was reissued. This detailed the €1.9 billion that will have been spent on POLT and €1 billion on Paris – Clermont-Ferrand infrastructure by 2027, the two largest projects being undertaken by SNCF Réseau this year, and the €800 million being invested in the Oxygène trains. On his visit to Clermont-Ferrand the previous week, the minister also announced establishment of a committee to monitor reliability of the Clermont – Paris line, and offered ‘a gesture to ease passenger frustration’: 10,000 tickets at €19 for the month of June, together with a guarantee of 200% reimbursement when trains are delayed by more than three hours. A similar committee will be established for POLT. The minister said he was seeking additional or replacement locomotives for the 50 and 35 year-old BB 22200s and 26000s from ‘six or seven’ European leasing companies. Locomotive maintenance schedules will be increased, with more preventative maintenance along with the appointment of two specialist engineers.

On climate change, national users’ association Fnaut has commented on increasing use of Stop Circulation, regulations for precautionary stoppage of trains when bad weather is forecast, described by SNCF as adapting to climate change but which Fnaut sees as 'back-covering'. Rural lines and coastal routes are particularly vulnerable, but both TGV Atlantique and POLT were stopped for hours on 6 January during high winds, forcing passengers on to the roads where they would be at greater risk. Fnaut calls for a national vegetation control plan such as that adopted for electrified routes after the severe storms of 1999.

The transport minister will have wondered if there was a voie vert in the Matabiau development plans as BB 7390 arrives at Toulouse with Intercités 4661 Bordeaux Saint-Jean – Marseille Saint-Charles on 4 April. Later that afternoon, a windscreen wash was waiting for BB 7301 on Intercités 4762 Marseille Saint-Charles – Bordeaux Saint-Jean. Photos: Georges Turpin.

Occitanie. Visiting Toulouse on 4 April, transport minister Philippe Tabarot ‘signed the cheque’ for Occitanie région’s spending on transport in the 2023-27 contract-plan period (CPER). Included in the €1.5 billion allocation is €382 million for support and development of rural railways, €164 million for Toulouse area upgrades, €160 million for the Mediterranean freight corridor and €74 million for station modernisation and accessibility work. 

Toulouse. Further expansion of centralised control at Toulouse was announced at the end of March. €11.2 million will be spent on an emergency control room where trouble-shooting staff will be based. Computerised control is being extended to all six routes which currently handle over 300 trains a day and which form the core of the city’s proposed SERM network.

Ligne Nouvelle du Sud-Ouest. Taking stock of progress, partners in the renamed GPSO project reported that widening work north of Toulouse and south of Bordeaux was running to schedule. With protesters having succeeded in stopping construction of the A69 Castres – Toulouse motorway, anti-LGV groups have begun legal action in the hope of making a similar coup against LNSO. An application to stop the work on environmental grounds (protection of the European mink) was dismissed by the Bordeaux administrative court on 10 April.

At the end of March BB 15000s finally finished working from Saint-Lazare, there being ample BB 27300s for the dwindling number of workings on Transilien Lines L/J. BB 15000s retain some workings from Gare du Nord, although during March BB 15054 was undertaking compatibility testing from Lille with rakes of five and six coach V2N stock which is to replace the VR2N stock currently used. On 13 March BB 15054 is seen at Lesquin with a test run from Lille to Hirson. Photo: Didier Delattre.

At the same time, partners in the SERM project gave the go-ahead for studies by Société des Grands Projets for the Level 2 stage which will give most lines a 15min interval service. This will require substantial investment over the coming decade: €1.3 billion for infrastructure, €250 million for expanded maintenance facilities, and 150 new trains costing €1.6 billion. The first order was placed on 31 March; another 10 Regio 2N MUs will be added to the batch of 19 currently being delivered by Alstom. Entering service in the second half of 2027, they will be based in Lyon apart from two sets destined for the Rhône Rive Droite extension to Le Teil. 

Conventional freight: €717 million for freight track capacity improvements and €118 million for marshalling yard projects to assure retention of 8.5 billion tonne-km of traffic, with €71 million investment going to Woippy, Sibelin, Miramas and Le Bourget yards. 

Some remedial work on the two lines was carried out in 2016, but by 2022 it was clear that major expenditure would be required if traffic was to continue. With SNCF unable to finance the work, Grand Est région and local communes sought a State contribution towards the cost, and an agreement was reached under which the State would provide 48%, départements and communes 25% and the région 27%. 

Hermès International SA has now taken a majority stake in the ownership of the former Pullman Orient Express from SNCF. This has only operated infrequently in recent years, since three of the coaches were on display with 230 G 353 in an Orient Express exhibition at the Institut du Monde Arabe in Paris in 2014. Alongside the Belmond VSOE, these are the only luxury trains currently operating in France. Next year they will be joined by the Accor Orient Express (OE), part of a new brand of luxury hotels, trains and sailing ships being developed by the Accor hotel group in partnership with LVMH (Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton). The OE comprises coaches from the former Nostalgie Istanbul Orient Express that were discovered stored in a yard on the Polish/Belarus border in 2017. The 17 coaches, comprising of 12 sleeping cars and 5 day/catering cars, are being restored by ACC at Clermont-Ferrand (see October News). While the VSOE has been restored to re-create 1920s standards of luxury, the OE is being developed with contemporary standards of luxury, the suites and cabins containing double beds and en-suite facilities.

Last month OE launched the La Dolce Vita Orient Express in Italy with a nine-coach 1960s-era train offering circular tours from Rome. In France, a further luxury train is being restored at AFF Somain sponsored by the Puy du Fou theme park for Le Grand Tour; it will have 21 two-berth cabins. Six-day tours of France are being marketed, the train following a 4,000km itinerary visiting Reims, Beaune, Avignon, La Rochelle, Chenonceau and Paris.

Following the engine failure of CFTVA's BB 63852, Chemin de Fer de Vendée has lent BB 63866 for the next five years. Both locomotives are seen at Arques on the 4 April. Photo: Didier Delattre.

Paimpol. The Vapeur du Trieux steam service between Paimpol and Pontrieux is running again this summer after a four-year break. Starting on 7 July, a single A/R runs Sundays to Thursdays until 31 August, tickets available at: lavapeurdutrieux@guingamp-paimpol.com

Train Rouge. The upgrading work mentioned in February News will now take place next spring, leaving the Rivesaltes – Caudiès-des-Fenouillèdes line in good order until 2028. Movement of calcium carbonate from Cases-de-Pène ceased at the end of 2024 and ownership of the branch looks likely to be transferred from SNCF to Train du Pays Cathare et du Fenouillèdes.

Val-de-Passey. Having sold its two locomotives last year, the 600mm gauge CF Val-de-Passey on a private estate in Meuthe-et-Moselle is being dismantled. Steam operation in this forest location is now considered too dangerous.

Gentiane Express. After winter 2023-24’s severe weather, 2,500 hours’ work was necessary to fit the line for last season, when 19,100 passengers were carried on the Bort-les-Orgues – Neussargues line. A consultant is to survey the infrastructure this year to determine maintenance priorities and assess future tourism potential. Financial assistance is being sought from the four communes through which the line passes. 

Cotentin. Already under threat of closure due to financial pressures, Train Touristique du Cotentin suffered a fresh blow in March when 25 sleepers were stolen. Newly-laid at PN53, the timbers and the work involved cost €5,000.

Saint-Georges-de-Commiers. Vélorail des Alpes has started operations on the lower section of metre-gauge CF de la Mure, closed since a landslide in 2010. Electric vélorails are available for hire on the 7km between Saint-Georges and Notre-Dame-de-Commiers. 

Vélorail du sud de l'Ardèche. Based at Saint-Jean-le-Centenier on the former line from Alès to Le Teil, has now closed permanently following the decision to convert the trackbed into a voie verte, a fate also suffered by the nearby metre-gauge line from Dunières to Raucoules-Brossette, and the Albret velorail at Moncrabeau in Lot-et-Garonne.

Line 1 would run from La Buttinière (Lormont) in the north along the alignment of overcrowded tram Line A, then through the Rive Droite and Arkéa Arena areas, crossing beneath the Garonne river to serve the Euratlantique development before heading north to Gare Saint-Jean, Mériadeck and Cité Administrative. The route then turns southwards to CHU Pellegrin (regional hospital), Talence-Médoquine and the university before looping north again to terminate at Pessac gare. The approximately 22.5km line would be largely in twin tunnels at some 20m depth, using automated technology. There would be 17 stations, with TER interchanges at Cenon (Brazza), Saint-Jean, Talence and Pessac, and with four tram and six express bus routes. Seven park-and-rides are planned. Cost is estimated at €2.25 billion including 30 trains.