railway companies

Setting up a railway company from scratch in France is an obstacle course. Following the liquidation of Railcoop in March, it is now the turn of the start-up Midnight Trains to call it a day. Launched in 2020 by three partners, its ambition was to create a higher-quality night train service, a veritable hotel on rails, with cabins...

The single national transport pass is finally on track! Patrice Vergriete, the French Minister for Transport, made the announcement on 23 May, after chairing the first steering committee for this ambitious project a month ago, signing a memorandum of understanding with the Groupement des Autorités Responsables des...

Kevin Speed's ambition is to become "the" new player in high-speed rail transport by 2029. Its project has taken another step forward following the approval by the French Transport Regulation Authority (ART) of the framework agreement it signed with SNCF Réseau on 29 February. Signed for a renewable period of 10 years, the agreement...

A logical next step. Launched at high speed on the Paris-Lyon line in winter 2021, Trenitalia is completing its roll-out on France's busiest route for business travellers with a comprehensive offer dedicated to companies. Called Trenitalia Pro, this commercial offer includes low fares and, for business travellers, a complete range of services...

Taking on SNCF and opening up new rail lines in France, whether conventional or high-speed, is a long and difficult journey, fraught with pitfalls. Railcoop has just paid the price, with the directors of this original project announcing on 27 March that they were winding up their SCIC (société coopérative d'intérêt collectif - cooperative society of collective interest).

Dossier written by Florian Guillemin and Arnaud Deltenre 1 April traditionally provides an opportunity to stimulate everyone's creativity when it comes to fake news. But sometimes reality is more than fiction. On Saint Hugh's Day, it's tempting to look back at these often zany, sometimes dramatic, but all very real misfires.

How would you sum up your business in France? Marco Caposciutti - We have carried two million passengers in just over two years. Following the landslides in the Maurienne region, which led to the suspension of the Paris-Milan route, our business this year is concentrated on the Paris-Lyon route, on which we operate five daily round trips. Business customers...

Business travellers who frequently travel by high-speed train with Trenitalia between Paris and Lyon have been waiting a few months for this new offer. The Italian company has just unveiled its new product, Trenitalia Pro, designed to strengthen its position in relation to SNCF by targeting not only businesses, but also the self-employed,...

Kevin Speed is promising a revolution in high-speed rail travel with its project for low-cost TGV trains that should be running on the Paris-Lille, Paris-Strasbourg and Paris-Lyon routes by 2028. Through its commercial offer, called Illisto, the rail start-up intends to offer a kind of high-speed RER with 16 journeys per hour.

Despite the ups and downs at the end of 2023, marked by a strike at Eurotunnel and flooding in a south London rail tunnel which had a major impact on cross-Channel traffic, Eurostar had a good year in 2023. The rail carrier, in which SNCF has a stake of almost 56%, carried 18.6 million passengers in...

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...