DRAFT legislation to restructure the French railway industry was passed by the country's Senate on July 10 with 188 votes for and 150 against the bill.

THE CEO of French National Railways (SNCF) long-distance subsidiary SNCF Voyages Mrs Barbara Dalibard announced on July 8 that a direct TGV service will be launched between Strasbourg and Brussels following the completion of the second phase of TGV Est in 2016.

THE BOARD of Ile-de-France Transport Authority (STIF) has approved funding for the acquisition of 22 additional class Z 50000 Francilien EMUs from Bombardier for use on Paris suburban services.

THE steering committee for the construction of a new line linking Paris with Normandy has approved funding of €5.82m for environment studies and the appointment of a project manager.

THE French city of Grenoble celebrated the opening of the initial 4.8km section of light rail Line E on June 28 with a music festival and two days of free travel across the network.

FRENCH National Railways (SNCF) and French Rail Network (RFF) are making considerable progress under the €410m four-year Vigirail project to improve the safety of points and modernise track maintenance according to a report presented to the SNCF board.

THE board of Alstom has unanimously approved General Electric's (GE) bid for its energy division after the French government agreed to purchase a 20% stake in the company from its lead shareholder, Bouygues, for around €1.7bn.

FRANCE's National Assembly approved late on June 18 the first reading of a bill put forward by the secretary of state for transport, Mr Frédéric Cuvillier, to restructure the national railway by bringing train operations closer to the management of the infrastructure.

WITH Alstom's board set to meet on Monday at the latest to reach a decision on the takeover of its power division, both General Electric (GE) and Siemens-Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) have improved their offers in an attempt to address concerns and get their respective deals over the line.

SIEMENS and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) have issued a bid to rival General Electric's offer for the power division of Alstom which would enable the French firm to retain some of its energy assets as well as its transport portfolio.