FRENCH infrastructure manager SNCF Network has begun work on a €110.5m project to reinstate the 22km link between Belfort and the town of Delle on the Swiss border, which was abandoned in 1992.

FRENCH National Railways (SNCF) architectural and urban planning subsidiary Arep has been awarded a contract worth around €7m to carry out studies into the modernisation of three of Iran's busiest stations.

Misalignment between the objects, interfaces, services, apps and solutions designed for a model user and an actual user's needs is undermining design and the effective implementation of new technologies at stations. Giuseppe Attoma Pepe, service design strategist, and Alessandro Catania, user research manager, at Attoma, provide an overview of methods to help managers and designers base their choices for station wayfinding on real-life situations.

FRENCH National Railways (SNCF) has announced plans to triple the number of routes operated its Ouigo low-cost high-speed subsidiary next year.

THE first of 10 Alstom Régiolis trains for the French region of Upper Normandy was officially presented to regional president Mr Nicholas Mayer Rossignol by SNCF Mobility regional director Mr Jean-Philippe Dupont and Mr Jean Williamson, director of Alstom's Reichshoffen plant, at Sotteville depot near Rouen on August 18.

The infrastructure pillar of Europe's Shift2Rail research programme promises a raft of innovations aimed at improving resilience and reducing costs. Professor Andy Doherty, chief rail technology officer with Network Rail and chairman of the European Rail Research Advisory Council, outlined the aspirations for this major initiative at the recent VDEI track conference in Münster, Germany.

ALSTOM confirmed on August 5 that the French region of Midi-Pyrénées has exercised an option worth €46m for eight additional Régiolis multiple units, taking the region's fleet of these trains to 32 sets.

A ceremony was held on July 23 to mark the entry into service of the first German Rail (DB) class 407 ICE 3 on cross-border services from Frankfurt to Paris. An agreement was also signed to extend shared DB and French National Railways (SNCF) Germany - France cross-border services, which began in 2007, to 2020.

EUROSTAR has finally completed the refurbishment of the first train from its existing fleet of class 373 trains (dubbed e300 by Eurostar) and the train will re-enter service shortly.

IRJ at the UIC High-Speed Rail World Congress, Tokyo: FRENCH National Railways (SNCF) president Mr Guillaume Pepy has urged high-speed rail operators to fight back against the growing threat to their business from other transport modes by embracing innovation to meet the needs of passengers.