THE FRENCH city of Dijon inaugurated its first light rail line on September 1, with a weekend of free rides preceding the start of full commercial services on September 3.

FRENCH National Railways (SNCF) unveiled its financial results for the first half of 2012 on July 26, with group revenues rising 3.1% year-on-year to €16.8bn, despite further retrenchment in its freight activities.

A ceremony was staged today by French Rail Network (RFF) and Eiffage to mark the start of construction of the 182km Bretagne-Pays de la Loire high-speed line.

THE Port of Bordeaux Authority has awarded Eurotunnel subsidiary Europorte Socorail an eight year contract to operate and maintain railway infrastructure in the port area.

CHANNEL Tunnel operator Eurotunnel achieved a 14% increase in revenue to €473m in the six months up to June 30.

THE project to automate Paris Metro Line 1 reached an important milestone on July 7 with the launch of full Unattended Train Operation (UTO) at weekends.

IRJ at the UIC 8th World Congress on High Speed Rail, Philadelphia: The president of French National Railways (SNCF) Mr Guillaume Pepy today called for the construction of a second high-speed line between Paris and Lyon to relieve congestion on the existing railway.

The fitting out of France's newest high-speed line - TGV Rhine-Rhône which opened in December 2011 - was entrusted to a private group of contractors rather than a subsidiary of French National Railways (SNCF). This case study examines the benefits of doing so.

PARIS Transport Authority (RATP) has placed a €1bn order with Alstom and Bombardier for an additional 70 MI09 double-deck emus for RER Line A. Alstom is responsible for two thirds of contact and Bombardier the remaining one third.

FRENCH Rail Network (RFF) has signed a 25-year public-private partnership (PPP) contract with the OC'Via consortium to build and maintain France's first mixed-traffic high-speed line.