railway companies

A symbol of the railway market's development due to the surge in passenger numbers in Europe, two major distribution platforms have announced their union. Omio, formerly GOEuro, specialists in multimodal journeys (train, bus, plane, etc.), has signed an agreement to acquire Rail Europe, a railway distribution site with 25,000 agencies and partners...

On the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the France-Brussels link, celebrated last June 12th in the Belgian capital in the presence of Jean Castex, the chairman of SNCF, the rail company announced the extension of the TGV Inoui Brussels-Strasbourg to Basel, Switzerland, from July 2027. The service will be scheduled for Fridays, Saturdays and...

Already working with some 250 rail operators, Rail Europe continues to expand its range of companies available for booking in B2C and B2B. After BritRail in March and then the night train operator European Sleeper, the distribution platform has just integrated Leo Express. The arrival of the Czech company allows it to strengthen its offer of...

Cross-border invasions continue in Europe as part of the opening up of rail competition. While SNCF will enter the Italian market in 2027 with its low-cost brand Ouigo, the Italian company Italo has just announced its intention to establish a presence in Germany in 2028 in order to compete with Deutsche Bahn (DB). The…

The train continues its breakthrough in Europe. Witness to this is this new link launched on May 1st by the Czech railways between Prague and Hamburg, with two daily return journeys, one continuing its journey to Copenhagen. On this route which crosses three countries, several cities will be served including Dresden, the capital of…

In its latest report, "Travelling by Train: a Puzzle for Passengers," the Réseau Action Climat has highlighted the thirty or so air routes that carry over a million passengers per year between France and European cities, and their similar accessibility by train. The aim is to demonstrate the delay in...

After more than two months of work to extend its ground-floor surface area, SNCF has reopened its Grand Voyageur lounge, Le Club TGV Inoui, located in the frescoes gallery between halls 1 and 2 of Paris-Lyon station. This lounge now covers 630 m² after gaining 20…

While rumours a few weeks ago suggested that Transdev might win the contract, it was ultimately the SNCF that was chosen on 20 April by the elected officials of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine Region to operate the Poitou-Charentes sector lines until 2037. The call for tenders foreseen as part of the opening to competition…

On Wednesday morning, Proxima unveiled its first high-speed train bearing its Velvet brand and its purple and green livery at Alstom's assembly site in La Rochelle. Created by Tim Jackson, a rail professional in Great Britain, and Rachel Picard, former head of SNCF Voyageurs, the future company states that it is adhering to its schedule, which foresees a...

Rail competition could intensify a little further in France. On Thursday, following heated debate, the Senate opened up access to SNCF Connect for rail companies other than SNCF, thanks to the vote on Article 9bis of the framework bill on the development and financing of transport in France. From 31...

This is a first since the opening of rail transport to competition in Spain. For the first time, high-speed traffic has declined on the Madrid-Barcelona route, according to the Spanish National Commission on Competition (CNMC). The decrease in the last quarter of 2025 is also significant, at 13%, totalling 3.3 million...

Railway companies belonging to the French Rail Association (Afra) are launching a renewed assault on SNCF in terms of distribution, demanding that SNCF Connect, the website of SNCF Voyageurs, should sell the offers of its members, such as Trenitalia, La Renfe or Transdev, but also future entrants like Velvet. To achieve this, they are campaigning for the submission of a…

Change of strategy for Le Train. While the future rail company was aiming to operate direct high-speed train services between the major cities on the Atlantic seaboard, with Bordeaux-Nantes and Bordeaux-Rennes at the forefront, it has just announced that it wants to operate on the Paris-Nantes and Paris-Bordeaux routes. Two framework agreements have been signed with...

To further improve the level of service on board its trains between France and Switzerland, TGV Lyria has signed an agreement with the EHL Hospitality Business School, the former École hôtelière de Lausanne founded in 1893, which specialises in service excellence. The aim of this partnership is to improve the travel experience, particularly for...

What if air/rail intermodality were to enter a new era? This is the ambition of Trenitalia and ITA Airways. An ambition recently formalised by the signing of an agreement (Memorandum of Understanding, MoU) between the two major players in Italian travel. "The signing of this Memorandum of Understanding with the Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane Group represents a major step forward in the...

To celebrate its 25th anniversary, the commercial branch of Polish railways PKP Intercity is bringing Communist Poland back to life with train journeys as they were in the 1980s. It's an idea that could well appeal to incentive event organisers! Travellers who have experienced the People's Republic of Poland,...

Updated on 6 March at 6pm. The Italian Rail Competition and Market Authority (AGCM) has just issued a favourable opinion for SNCF, giving the French carrier fair access to the high-speed market in Italy. After a great deal of prevarication, Rete Ferroviaria Italiana (RFI), the Italian rail network...

While Jean-Pierre Farandou, its Chairman for the last six years, has left for the Ministry of Labour, leaving Jean Castex in charge since November, the SNCF group has achieved stable sales in 2025 at €43 billion (-0.31TP3Q/2024) and, above all, a net profit of €1.8 billion. This is the fifth year in a row...

Following on from SNCF a few weeks ago, it is now Trenitalia's turn to unveil its transport plan for the May 1st bridge due to the closure of Gare de Lyon (and Bercy), where SNCF Réseau will be carrying out major work on the tracks and signal boxes. No trains will be running at...

For a while, the Italian government put the trade union discontent on hold to spare the Winter Olympics. The day after the closing ceremony, however, there is no longer any time for national unity. As soon as the "Olympic truce" is over, a vast strike movement is in the starting blocks. On...