FRENCH infrastructure manager SNCF Network has awarded two long-term framework contracts to renew track, ballast and rail. Although the individual values have not been released, SNCF Network says that the agreements represent average spending on its part of €105m a year over the term of the two contacts.
Running for a fixed term of three years from 2026 to 2028, with two one-year extension options, the contract awarded to French suppliers TSO and Colas Rail alongside Scheuchzer of Switzerland covers the renewal of track and ballast. Over this five-year period, SNCF Network says that the contractors will work in the “constrained environment” of the densest sections of the national network.
The second contract covers rail renewals and has been awarded to Colas Rail and Sferis of France. It will run for a fixed term of seven years from 2029 to 2035 with a one-year extension option. Over this potential term of eight years, SNCF Network says that the contract will enable it to entirely replace the oldest rail still in service, manufactured before 1970.
In the context of the additional €1.5bn a year that the French government will be providing for rail infrastructure from 2028, in line with the recommendations of the Ambition France Transports report published in July, SNCF Network says that it has developed a strategy combining major renewal and upgrade programmes with a large number of smaller but essential projects across France.
SNCF Network says that the new funding will enable it to stabilise infrastructure condition and avoid further deterioration in network performance, enabling freight and passenger traffic to grow as the passenger market is further opened up to competition. Ramping up infrastructure renewal work will also provide the necessary foundations for adapting the national network to reduce the impact of climate change, it says.
“By signing structural component renewal contracts with several partners, we are securing this ramp-up and, beyond that, the development in France of a mode of transport that is both efficient and environmentally friendly,” says SNCF Network CEO, Matthieu Chabanel.
