Compared to SNCF Voyageurs, Le Train is the only operator to have responded to the tender for the operation of the Paris-Orl\u00e9ans-Limoges-Toulouse (POLT) and Paris-Clermont-Ferrand (lot B of the Territory Balance Trains, TET) lines. Transdev has indeed chosen not to get involved, preferring to focus its efforts on opening up the TER lines to competition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Created in 2020 in Nouvelle-Aquitaine, this young railway company hopes to have its first trains running in France within a few years and, at the same time, consolidate its project to develop interregional high-speed connections. It thus presents itself as \u00ab the only independent French railway operator to have chosen this dual positioning, for high-speed services and conventional transport<\/em> \".<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Train had already been a disappointing finalist in the tenders for the TER services in Poitou-Charentes and the first batch of Intercit\u00e9s lines, which concerns the Nantes-Bordeaux and Nantes-Lyon connections (LOT A of the TET). These two markets were ultimately won by SNCF Voyageurs. The company states that its teams worked for several months preparing their application for this market, which covers 1,130 kilometers of lines spread across six regions and currently represents an annual traffic of 4.5 million passengers. With a duration of ten years, the future contract is set to come into effect in December 2029. The SNCF staff currently assigned to operating these lines will be transferred to the selected operator.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While the first lot was awarded in January 2025, the contract is expected to come into effect on the 1st.er<\/sup> January 2027, the procedure for awarding the B lot and the transfer of its operation were postponed. The objective is to allow the future operator to benefit from two major improvements: the infrastructure renovation carried out by SNCF R\u00e9seau and the gradual delivery, starting next summer, of 28 new Oxyg\u00e8ne trains. Built by the Spanish manufacturer CAF, these trains are divided between 16 units destined for the POLT line and 12 assigned to the Paris-Clermont-Ferrand connection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Funded entirely by the state, for a sum exceeding 700 million euros, they are intended to replace the old Corail cars that have reached the end of their useful life. Estimated at more than 4 billion euros, the modernization works on the network, associated with the arrival of this new rolling stock, should allow to put an end to the recurring delays that penalize these two axes, to streamline traffic and restore regularity in the flows. Train therefore believes that its offer is \u00ab performant<\/em> \u00bb and will allow him to offer travelers \u00ab reliable, smooth and uninterrupted journeys<\/em> \u00bb, while guaranteeing \u00ab a controlled public cost<\/em> \u00bb for the State, which contributes to the financing of these lines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n On the high-speed market, Le Train also took a step forward in March 2026 by concluding framework agreements with SNCF R\u00e9seau to obtain traffic capacity on the Paris-Rennes and Paris-Bordeaux axes. The company considers that \u00ab The demand exceeds the supply on these routes<\/em> \u00bb. In the long term, the operator also aims to offer direct connections between Bordeaux and Nantes, as well as between Bordeaux and Rennes, without passing through Paris. To make these projects a reality, Le Train is now relying on homologation in France for these new Talgo Avril trains, following their certification in Spain in 2024.\".<\/p>\n\n\n\n28 Oxyg\u00e8ne wagons for the future operator<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
High-speed travel takes time<\/h2>\n\n\n\n