FRANCE and Spain took control of the international high-speed rail link between both countries on December 21 after the contract with concessionaire TP Ferro was terminated following the company’s liquidation in September.

THE board of French infrastructure manager SNCF Network approved the draft of its first multi-year performance contract with the government, which includes a 10-year spending plan, during a meeting on December 20.

REGIONAL political leaders attended a ceremony in Romily-sur-Seine on November 22 to officially launch electrification of the Paris Est – Troyes line.

THE French Senate approved draft legislation on November 7 authorising the implementation of the CDG Express airport rail link to Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport.

SNCF Network has become the first European infrastructure manager to finance rail investment through green bonds, confirming on October 27 that it has raised €900m through a green bond issue.

A financing agreement for the electrification of the Paris Est - Troyes line was signed on September 13 by Mr Patrick Jeantet, president of French infrastructure manager SNCF Network, and representatives of the French government and regional and local councils.

FRANCE’s infrastructure manager, SNCF Network, has awarded a five-year track renewal contract, with an option for a two-year extension, to a joint venture led by Meccoli, which includes ETF, a subsidiary of Vinci group company Eurovia, VFLI and Sferis.

MR Patrick Jeantet, the newly-appointed CEO of French infrastructure manager SNCF Network, visited British Steel's Hayange rail mill in northeast France on June 14 to sign a contract for the supply of 120,000 tonnes of rail.

FRANCE's Council of Ministers has appointed Mr Patrick Jeantet as deputy chairman of French National Railways (SNCF) and CEO of SNCF Network, succeeding Mr Jacques Rapoport, who resigned in February.

THE French Ministry of the Environment, Energy, and the Sea confirmed on May 25 that the Council of State of has approved a draft decree granting public utility status for the €8.3bn Grand Southwestern Railway Project (GPSO), which will extend TGV Sud-Europ Atlantique from Bordeaux to Toulouse with a branch to Dax.