railway companies

Business travellers who opt for a car when travelling to Gare de Lyon in Paris or Lyon Part-Dieu can benefit from a new partnership with Trenitalia. The railway company has joined forces with Ector to offer its customers a valet parking service. Passengers can now book a valet service...

According to an article in Le Parisien, which obtained access to an internal SNCF document, the railway company is considering "optimising TGV services" on its loss-making routes. This could ultimately result, at worst, in the closure of certain lines, and at best in a reduction in the number of daily trains....

The latest strike action on German trains, two weeks after the previous one, is taking place against a backdrop of extremely tense social conditions. Deutsche Bahn is in open conflict with the GDL (Gewerkschaft Deutscher Lokomotivführer) union, which is calling on its members to go on strike from 24 January. The strike is due to end...

Not 2-in-1, but 17-in-1. The SNCF has redesigned station assistance and support for disabled passengers until they reach their seat on the train around the Assist'engare one-stop shop. This simplification has been encouraged by the Mobility Orientation Act (LOM). Previously, for journeys involving a number of stages, such as first taking a TER to catch a...

The ASLEF union is behind the call for strike action by train drivers. The strike is due to start on 30 January and run until 5 February. At issue: a pay dispute with the government and British rail companies. The latter will be affected in turn during this period...

Since the end of November 2023, the Rail Europe booking platform has included a Multi-Providers function in its offering. The new tool is designed to improve the booking experience for agents and travel managers by enabling them to book train tickets from different suppliers for a single journey. This...

How do you explain the fact that the night train has become the "star" of the year 2023? Amandine Thomas Commin - The revival of the night train is attracting a great deal of media coverage and interest from passengers, associations, the press and influencers... After a decade of virtual disappearance, the...

Hamburg-Copenhagen in 2.5 hours by 2029, compared with over 4.5 hours today. Dresden-Prague in one hour after 2040, compared with 2? hours today. Deutsche Bahn (DB) is investing heavily in the modernisation of its international lines. Denmark closer to the European continent The most advanced project, however, is the line that will link Hamburg to Copenhagen via...

This Tuesday morning, just before 10.45am, the first night train from Berlin arrived at Gare de l'Est in Paris after a ten-year interruption, only fifteen minutes late. This new Nightjet train, operated by Austrian Railways (ÖBB) in partnership with SNCF, is...

The decision was expected. Trenitalia has announced its intention to operate 5 daily return trips between Paris and Lyon from 10 December, compared with the current three. This refocusing on this strategic route had been planned ever since the landslide in the Maurienne valley on August 27 interrupted services to Turin, the capital of...

The opening up of French regional lines to competition has also been on the cards since December 2019, fanning the flames of interest from Transdev (a subsidiary of the Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations), RATP Dev Rail, Régioneo (a joint venture between Getlink and RATP) and Arriva (a subsidiary of DB), all keen to make inroads into the SNCF. In...

In mid-July, Renfe began services on the Lyon-Barcelona and Marseille-Barcelona-Madrid routes. One year after the arrival of Trenitalia and its Frecciarossa operating on the Paris-Lyon-Milan route, the launch of the Spanish national carrier on French rail represents a new stage in the opening up to rail competition, which will be possible from December 2020. Following the applications...

How would you assess Trenitalia's arrival in France? Roberto Rinaudo - The results are very positive, even though since the summer we have had to concentrate on the Paris-Lyon route because of the landslides that occurred at the end of August in the Maurienne valley, which led to the suspension of services to Milan until June 2024. Our...

The Ministry of Transport, headed by Clément Beaune, confirmed on 26 October at a steering committee meeting organised by the Préfecture du Grand Est: the Metz-Nancy-Dijon-Lyon line will reopen by early 2025, probably when the SNCF winter service is introduced in December 2024. It's a real breath of fresh air...

Normandy, Brittany, Pays de Loire, Hauts-de-France, Centre-Val de Loire: in these five regions, TER trains will be at a standstill on Thursday 2 November - or even from Wednesday evening until Friday morning. The storm Ciaran is forcing SNCF Réseau to introduce this radical measure: the preventive stoppage of rail traffic. The measure, known as "stop...

In order to fine-tune its yield management system and adapt to more open rail competition on its most profitable lines, SNCF has been moving in successive stages since 26 September to a new booking platform to replace the ageing ResaRail system. Starting with BtoB reservations for...

The high-speed rail link between Paris and London via the Channel Tunnel is attracting a lot of interest. While Eurostar has just merged with Thalys and is preparing to launch its first branding campaign, the Evolyn project is entering a new phase with an order for 12 Avelia TGVs (+ 4 options)...

It was a hard blow. Just as Trenitalia was getting off the ground in France, landslides on 27 August in the Maurienne valley forced the Italian company to suspend its two daily Paris-Milan rotations. And a return to normal operations is not expected before June 2024, by which time the thousands of...

"Don't ever call me Thalys again". On 1 October this year, Thalys disappeared, merged with Eurostar, the brand chosen because it is the best known, particularly among overseas customers. This new beginning was well worth a presentation yesterday in London at the company's offices near St Pancras International station, and a small party to celebrate its first campaign...

Buoyed by a healthy cash position during the pandemic, MSC is continuing its shopping spree. After acquiring Bolloré Africa Logistics and Aliscargo Airlines in the freight sector, the Swiss-Italian shipping group is now gaining a foothold in passenger transport by acquiring a 50% stake in Italo, Trenitalia's competitor in the Italian high-speed rail market. The...