A three-year €120m project to improve the door-to-door travel experience for rail passengers was unveiled on April 16 by Mrs Barbara Dalibard CEO of French National Railways (SNCF) passenger division SNCF Voyages.

FRENCH National Railways (SNCF) has complained to the organisers of the Paris – Roubaix cycle race for allowing several competitors to stream across a level crossing well after the barriers had come down, narrowly avoiding a collision with a TGV.

A special committee of the French Senate adopted a legislative amendment on March 17 which will pave the way for the introduction of competitive tendering for regional rail services by the end of the decade.

FRENCH National Railways (SNCF) has unveiled details of a plan to return its high-speed business to growth and make "TGV the preferred means of transport for the French."

FOLLOWING recent discussions between the board of Italian open-access high-speed operator NTV and trade unions, the operator has hinted at several reforms to achieve its goal of breaking even by 2020, including a capital increase of €70-100m and the purchase of six to 10 new high-speed trains.

SIX major players in the rail industry came together in Utrecht on March 4 to launch Railsponsible, a new international procurement initiative which aims to achieve improvements in sustainability throughout the supply chain.

THE British Treasury has sold the government's 40% stake high-speed train operator Eurostar for £585.1m to Patina Rail, a Canadian-British consortium of fund managers. Eurostar has also agreed to redeem the government's £172m preference share once the sale has been finalised which will increase the total value of the sale to £757.1m.

FRENCH National Railways (SNCF) is to test the Erex IT energy management and billing system on 50 of its freight locomotives developed by the Eress consortium of five European infrastructure managers and one railway.

FRENCH National Railways (SNCF) reported revenues of €27.24bn in 2014, despite the continued difficult economic environment in France, which included a 7-10% increase on domestic passenger travel VAT rates and a 5% rise in track access fees.

SNCF has given approval to TTG Transportation Technology, Australia, to provide more than 1500 TGV drivers with hand-held Energymiser Driver Advisory System devices.