France - General Information: Difference between revisions

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The following lines have been temporarily closed but with good expectation of reopening: Annemasse - Genève Eaux Vives: the portion within Switzerland closed permanently from November 2011 but the section between Annemasse and Chêne-Bourg, which closed temporarily from April 2013, is forecast to be reopened in spring 2019 - partly diverted, wholly re-engineered, and linked to Genève Cornavin station. See [http://www.ceva.ch www.ceva.ch]. From the December 2013 the weekday commuter services between Thionville and Apach were replaced by bus, although the existing weekend Trier Hbf - Perl - Apach - Thionville - Metz service (see obscure line FR555) will continue. As part of [http://www.der-takt.de/takt-hintergrund/takt-2015/artikeldetails/artikel/mehr-nahverkehr-im-vrt-ab-dezember.html Rheinland-Pfalz's integrated timetable for 2015], all Regionalbahn services were planned - from the timetable change in December 2014 - to be extended from Perl, via Apach, to Thionville, thus restoring daily service. However, this has not occurred.
The following lines have been temporarily closed but with good expectation of reopening: Annemasse - Genève Eaux Vives: the portion within Switzerland closed permanently from November 2011 but the section between Annemasse and Chêne-Bourg, which closed temporarily from April 2013, is forecast to be reopened in spring 2019 - partly diverted, wholly re-engineered, and linked to Genève Cornavin station. See [http://www.ceva.ch www.ceva.ch]. From the December 2013 the weekday commuter services between Thionville and Apach were replaced by bus, although the existing weekend Trier Hbf - Perl - Apach - Thionville - Metz service (see obscure line FR555) will continue. As part of [http://www.der-takt.de/takt-hintergrund/takt-2015/artikeldetails/artikel/mehr-nahverkehr-im-vrt-ab-dezember.html Rheinland-Pfalz's integrated timetable for 2015], all Regionalbahn services were planned - from the timetable change in December 2014 - to be extended from Perl, via Apach, to Thionville, thus restoring daily service. However, this has not occurred.


Bréauté-Beuzeville - Fécamp closed from October 2014 and La Rochelle - La Roche sur Yon is to close in summer 2015 - both for a minimum of 2 years for major engineering work; Fécamp might reopen in December 2016. Ascq - Orchies closed from June 2015, the service now a taxi on demand. No funding has yet been agreed but the local press think closure is only temporary.
Bréauté-Beuzeville - Fécamp closed from October 2014 and La Rochelle - La Roche sur Yon was to close in summer 2015 (but now postponed)- both for a minimum of 2 years for major engineering work; Fécamp might reopen in December 2016. Ascq - Orchies closed from June 2015, the service now a taxi on demand. No funding has yet been agreed but the local press think closure is only temporary.


====Services which are particularly threatened====
====Services which are particularly threatened====

Revision as of 21:58, 9 September 2015

Country Name

France (France)

National Railway System

National Railway Operator

SNCF Mobilités, a subsidiary of SNCF (Société Nationale des Chemins de fer Français), is responsible for SNCF Voyageurs (domestic passenger services), SNCF Logistique (freight) and KEOLIS (International operations).

Thalys is operated by two stand-alone companies, one owned by SNCF (60%) and SNCB/NMBS (40%), the other (for services to Germany and the Netherlands) owned by SNCF (62%), SNCB/NMBS (28%) and DB (10%) (NS is not a partner although services extend over that system). Other international services are operated jointly with neighbouring administrations using various concocted trading names such as TGV Lyria (Switzerland). ICE/TGV services between Stuttgart/Frankfurt and Paris are run by Alleo (website not yet functional), owned jointly by DB and SNCF (50% each). Joint operation to Italy ceased from December 2011: Trenitalia and Veolia-Transdev jointly operate the Paris <=> Milano night service and the Marseille <=> Milano day train under the title Thello. SNCF alone operates the Paris <=> Milano day trains. Eurostar is operated by Eurostar International Ltd, owned by SNCF (controlling interest of 55%), private investors (who in 2015 acquired the share previously owned by the UK government) (40%) and SNCB/NMBS (5%).

Various open-access freight operators (particularly ECR, a DB Schenker subsidiary) are starting to appear depite French reluctance to embrace the spirit of the relevant European legislation. Voies Ferrées Locales et Industrielles (VFLI) is a SNCF subsidiary (with more flexibility of staff deployment) which contracts for the operation of certain secondary lines as well as some open access operation.

Languages

French. Breton is spoken in Brittany, but the visitor is likely to be aware of this only in the form of signs as most people speak French. There is limited use of Basque in the Pyrenees and German in Alsace.

Currency

Euro

UIC code

  • SNCF: numeric 87 alpha F.
  • Eurotunnel: numeric 69. This is used only for accounting purposes and does not appear on rolling stock.

Timetable

Only some of this material is available in languages other than French

Journey Planner

SNCF website

Downloadable Timetable

Printed Timetable

None in book form. Individual route leaflets (fiches) are available for local services and some long distance routes. A few Régions may still issue their TER fiches as a combined volume.

Engineering, Strike (grève) and Current Performance Information

SNCF Info trafic. Alternatively Infolignes website or CFC (Corsica). Espacetrain will give current references in the French media.

Note that it is the practice to close sections of line for electrification or other reconstruction work for periods of several months: potential travellers should check carefully for such temporary closures

The SNCF Info Trafic web page gives two options for current performance information:

  • Rechercher un train is a journey planner with added timekeeping information
  • Localiser un train gives a map of the network showing the location of trains. Click on a train symbol to find its location or on a station for real time arrivals and departures.

Bus Information

Bus services are very sparse outside large centres of population. Most are run by the Région or Département. See the TER web pages or fiches.

Maps

Printed Maps

  • Nouvelle Géographie Ferroviaire de la France: Tome 2: L'Organisation Régionale du Trafic by Gérard Blier (La Vie du Rail, 1993) (ISBN 2-902808-43-7) contains a large number of maps and track layout diagrams.
  • European Railway Atlas: France, Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg by M.G. Ball (1991) (ISBN 0-7110-2011-6)
  • European Railway Atlas by M.G. Ball (2008 onwards)

Web-based Maps

  • A detailed map of the system is available here.
  • SNCF Réseau's system maps are available via their website. The first map shown ('Interactive maps/Map of the network') is a zoomable map of the basic network. A new on-line interactive map is now available.

Privately produced maps/plans include:

Ticketing

SNCF does not offer any type of network ticket. However, range of network tickets is available in the Paris (RATP) area and also in some Régions, including in some cases cross-border travel into Luxembourg and Germany. The best source of information on these is the Today's Railways "Railpass Guide Continental Europe" booklet.

Tickets purchased in France need to be validated before boarding the train by inserting them in a yellow machine (composteur) at the platform entrance. This stamps them with the station name, date and time.

Reservations are obligatory for travel on TGV, Thalys, ICE and Eurostar services, and on certain categories of service within the Intercités brand, such as Téoz and Lunéa. However, subject to space being available, it is possible to change reservations up to the time of departure (or check-in time for Eurostar). If travel plans are not definite, it is best to reserve on a later train and change this for an earlier one if desired. Passengers without a reservation on trains for which reservation is obligatory (or on the wrong train) have to pay a penalty charge. It is possible to make reservations up to the time of departure (or check-in), including from intermediate stations, because reserved seats are not labelled; "vacant" seats may be claimed by passengers joining the train later in the journey. On some "high speed" services - particularly Thalys, ICE and Eurostar - fares are specific and not interavailable with tickets for other trains.

Passengers boarding a train without a ticket or a valid reservation (when one is required) should advise the conductor immediately and a modest charge will be levied for purchasing a ticket on the train. Waiting until the conductor comes round the train to check tickets will result in a much higher penalty charge being payable. If a passenger has purchased a ticket in advance on line for later collection from a ticket machine and is unable either to print the ticket from the machine or obtain it from a booking office, they must purchase a ticket immediately on boarding the train and reclaim the cost later. Refusal to pay on the grounds that a ticket has already been paid for is not permitted, even if supported by evidence that the ticket machine is out of order, and could render the passenger liable to prosecution.

A large number of local services and connections to TGV stations are operated by buses. Rail tickets are valid on bus services shown in the three regional railway timetables unless there is a note to the contrary.

Regional express (RER) suburban services in the Paris area are operated jointly by SNCF and RATP. Tickets such as InterRail and FIP are not valid on RER lines owned by RATP, but can be used on RATP trains working over SNCF lines. Holders of such tickets can obtain from booking offices free of charge a special pass (contremarque) to open the automatic gates at platform entrances.

Infrastructure

Infrastructure Authority

Since the reorganization of 1 January 2015 infrastructure is owned and managed by SNCF Réseau, a subsidiary of SNCF Groupe, which absorbed Réseau Ferré de France (RFF]) on that date.

Network Statement

The Network.

Gauge

Standard. The following SNCF lines are metre gauge: Villefranche-Vernet-les-Bains to La Tour-de-Carol-Enveitg, St Gervais-les-Bains-le-Fayet to Chamonix-Mont-Blanc and Salbris to Valençay.

Electrification

Main lines from Paris to Le Mans, Hendaye, Toulouse, Marseille and Modane, together with many associated routes are 1500V dc. Other standard gauge lines are 25kV 50Hz. All high speed lines (LGV - Lignes à Grande Vitesse) are 25kV 50Hz, except for the Contournement TGV de Tours (Montlouis to Monts Indre et Loire) which can be used by conventional trains and is, therefore, 1500V dc. Villefranche-Vernet-les-Bains to La Tour-de-Carol-Enveitg is 850 volts dc third rail and St Gervais-les-Bains-le-Fayet to Chamonix-Mont-Blanc is 750 volts dc third rail. All 750 volts dc third rail operation has been eliminated from the SNCF Paris suburban network.

Rule of the road

Left, except in Alsace and Lorraine, which were part of Germany between 1871 and 1918, where right hand running is the rule and German-style signalling can still be found. The change from left to right hand running is made on the flat at Mulhouse, but at all other locations there are flyovers. These are west of Molsheim, west of Sarrebourg, north of Ars-sur-Moselle, west of Rombas-Clouange, west of Fontoy, as part of the LGV Est junction at Baudrecourt and in the future, with the completion of the LGV Est to Strasbourg, at Vendenheim. The arrangements at Ars-sur-Moselle, near Metz, are particularly complicated as the railway is quadruple track. Reversible signalling is extensively used.

On the high speed line between Figueres-Vilafant and Perpignan, right-hand running applies for about 10km north of the Perthus tunnel whereupon the northbound line flies over the southbound line to change to left-hand running.

An explanation (in French) of French signalling practice is at http://geillon.pagesperso-orange.fr/trains/signaux/index.html.

Distances

The RAIL21 - Le réseau ferré français gives schematic maps with distances for each station.

Wikipedia's Liste des lignes de chemin de fer de France contains much useful information, line by line. Note specially that for each line is a box at the right hand side of the page: click "Dérouler", immediately above the words "Schéma de la ligne", to reveal distances.

Other railways

  • Montenvers Mer de Glace train (metre gauge, electrified 11kV 50Hz)
  • Chemin de fer de la Corse (metre gauge; from January 2012 operated by a local authority-controlled company, in which SNCF has a minority holding)
  • Chemins de fer de Provence (Nice - Digne; metre gauge; operated by Veolia - see below)
  • Le Petit Train de la Rhune (St Ignace - La Rhune; metre gauge, rack-worked, electrified 3000V 50Hz three-phase; the only surviving line of the Voies Ferrées Départmentales du Midi; now operated by Etablissement Public des Stations d´altitude (EPSA))
  • Houillères du Bassin de Lorraine (network of standard gauge freight lines in the Béning area; operated by VFLI (see above) since 2001)
  • RDT13 (Régie Départmentale des Transports des Bouches-du-Rhône) (several standard gauge freight lines near Arles and Tarascon, as well as the short remaining section of the CF de l'Hérault; local authority owned and operated)
  • Tramway du Mont Blanc (Le Fayet - Le Glacier; metre gauge, electrified 11kV 50Hz)

Eurotunnel SA, in partnership with UK company Eurotunnel plc, has a concession to operate the Channel Tunnel between Calais and Folkestone.

Veolia Transport [previously Connex, Vivendi, CGE and affiliate CFTA] operate passenger trains on the branches from Guingamp to Carhaix and Paimpol (including La Vapeur du Trieux) and Chemins de Fer de Provence (see above).

Tourist lines

Two useful lists of tourist lines are provided by the Union des Exploitants de Chemins de Fer Touristiques et de Musées (a grouping of preserved and tourist lines) (UNECTO) and by the magazine Voie Etroite. Similar information is often published in spring issues of French railway magazines. Many lines operate quite infrequently, usually at weekends during the summer season.

A list of tourist lines incorporating links to their websites is available on Wikipedia.

Rail cycling is possible on a number of lines - see the Vélos-rail de France website. These lines are also shown - as Cyclorail, Cyclo-draisine or Vélorail - in the UNECTO list.

Metro

The Trams in France website provides comprehensive information.

Trams

The Trams in France website provides comprehensive information. All French tram systems are either of recent construction or extensively modernised. Lyon T3 tram route from Part-Dieu and its Rhônexpress eastward extension to Aéroport Saint Exupéry use part of the trackbed of the former Chemin de Fer de l'Est Lyonnais. Part of the Valenciennes system is over the trackbed of the former Chemin de Fer d'Anzin.

itransports.fr is a web site about public transport provision with zoomable geographical maps showing all public transport stations and stops. It includes trams, funiculars, etc., and local bus facilities in and around various towns.

Track plans for most or all tram systems in France are available on the carto.metro.tramway.rer.funiculaire site.

See also Tram services over obscure routes - France

Recent and future changes

The SNCF Society provides a useful round-up (in English) of French news each month.

Line closures

Historical and General Background

A significant number of local passenger services, mainly in rural areas, were withdrawn during the late 1930s and again in the 1980s, but in most parts of France the Regional Councils now have a strong role in planning and funding local transport and are generally keen to promote railways. The exception, alas, is lines crossing Regional boundaries and where extensive deferred track maintenance has been in force. Many councils are funding new rolling stock and requiring SNCF to introduce improved timetables. However, in November 2009 the French Cour des comptes ["Court of Accounts"] delivered a report critical of the value for money of many TER services and recommending bus substitution. Although no specific withdrawals (apart, possibly, from Autun - Avallon) seem to have resulted from that report, some local authorities appear to be adopting a more hard-nosed attitude to SNCF in the provision of their local services. The latest threat to "lesser frequented" TER and secondary services is a proposal in section 5.3.5 of the 27 June 2013 report of the Mobilité 21 commission to the Minister of Transport, the Sea and Fishing, with its proposal to experiment "for two to five years" with the replacement by bus of some such services. A committee that will recommend a policy for the loss making Trains d'Equilibre du Territoire (TET) - mainly Intercité and overnight trains - will report in six months, with implementation in 2016.

Services which have been withdrawn permanently

The following lines are the most recent permanent closures: Volvic - Lapeyrouse (December 2007; "suspended" but no sign of reopening); Montluçon - Eygurande-Merlines (March 2008); Valençay - Luçay-le-Mâle (October 2009; "suspended" but no sign of reopening); the north-western arc of the Paris Grande Ceinture (short-lived through TGV services between Normandy and eastern France) (December 2010); Avallon - Autun and Lourches - Somain (both December 2011); Sarreguemines - Bitche (December 2011; "suspended" but finance for remedial engineering work has since been refused by the government so passenger services are definitively withdrawn); Alès - Bessèges (July 2012); passenger services over the Raccordement de Vergigny (through TGV services between Melun and Marseille) (apparently by July 2012); Bordeaux Ravezies (August 2012, for extension of tram system; all trains on the Ligne du Médoc diverted via avoiding line - Raccordement Bonnaous-Beyreman); Erquelinnes [BE] - Jeumont [FR] (September 2012: local trains withdrawn by SNCB/NMBS thus severing this international crossing point for passengers); St-Germain-des-Fossés - Gannat ("suspended" since an unknown date in 2012-13); Verdun - St-Hilaire-au-Temple (- Châlons-en-Champagne) (December 2013); Laqueuille - Eygurande-Merlines - Ussel (July 2014; "suspended" but no sign of reopening); Montréjeau-Luchon (November 2014; "suspended" but no sign of reopening).

In the "private" sector, Train Touristique de la Mine (Petite-Rosselle - Freyming-Merlebach) seems to have closed after the 2010 season; Train Touristique d'Ardèche Méridionale (Saint-Jean-le-Centenier - Voguë; 14 km) closed after the 2011 season, because of track renewal costs; and two lines closed after the 2012 season: the Train Touristique l'Albrèt (Nérac - Mézin; 15 km) because of "bureaucratic" problems (but resumed in 2015 under different management as Chemin de fer tourisque du Pays d'Albret), and Le Train Touristique des Monts du Lyonnais (CFTB) (Sain-Bel - Saint Foy l'Argentière; 17km) because of track renewal costs demanded by SNCF Réseau. A further line closed after the 2013 season: Le Train Touristique de l'Auxois (ACTA) (Les Laumes - Epoisses; 27 km) (see the Association du Chemin de Fer Touristique de l'Auxois (page 4)). The speed permitted by SNCF Réseau over the lines used by CFT du Sud des Ardennes has been severely reduced from 2014, with the result that the section Vouziers - Challerange is now used only during their Fête du Rail weekend (see Obscure line FR353). Indeed, the threat of a general reduction in permitted speeds - or even withdrawal of permission to run trains - hangs over all "preserved / heritage" operations on track owned by SNCF.

Services which have been withdrawn temporarily and have some firm reopening date

The following lines have been temporarily closed but with good expectation of reopening: Annemasse - Genève Eaux Vives: the portion within Switzerland closed permanently from November 2011 but the section between Annemasse and Chêne-Bourg, which closed temporarily from April 2013, is forecast to be reopened in spring 2019 - partly diverted, wholly re-engineered, and linked to Genève Cornavin station. See www.ceva.ch. From the December 2013 the weekday commuter services between Thionville and Apach were replaced by bus, although the existing weekend Trier Hbf - Perl - Apach - Thionville - Metz service (see obscure line FR555) will continue. As part of Rheinland-Pfalz's integrated timetable for 2015, all Regionalbahn services were planned - from the timetable change in December 2014 - to be extended from Perl, via Apach, to Thionville, thus restoring daily service. However, this has not occurred.

Bréauté-Beuzeville - Fécamp closed from October 2014 and La Rochelle - La Roche sur Yon was to close in summer 2015 (but now postponed)- both for a minimum of 2 years for major engineering work; Fécamp might reopen in December 2016. Ascq - Orchies closed from June 2015, the service now a taxi on demand. No funding has yet been agreed but the local press think closure is only temporary.

Services which are particularly threatened

There are no publicly declared plans for permanent closures as at June 2015, but "local reports" suggest the following lines may be under threat - mainly because of deferred maintenance, poor passenger numbers, or from their crossing Regional boundaries - or all three causes.

Likely to close during 2015: much of the Neussargues - Sévérac-le-Château – Millau – Béziers line is considered likely to close at the end of 2015, accompanied by Rodez - Sévérac-le-Château and (Marvejols –) Le Monastier – Mende. It is probable that part of the southern end will be retained - Beziers to Bedarieux or possibly Millau. The metre gauge line between Villefranche-Vernet les Bains and La Tour de Carol was considered likely to close on 1 January 2016 but Languedoc-Roussillon Region has agreed to provide funding to renew track between Font-Romeu and La Tour de Carol and to modernize rolling stock. Calvi station (Corsica) is to be re-located on the other side of the last level crossing, thus shortening the line by approximately the length of the current station.

Considered threatened with closure, possibly as early as 2016: Etaples - St. Pol-sur-Ternoise; Metz - Verdun; Thionville – Bouzonville; Nancy - Mirecourt - Merrey [- Culmont-Chalindrey]; St-Claude - Oyonnax [- Bourg-en-Bresse]; Livron - Veynes-Dévoluy; [Grenoble - ] Clelles-Mens - Aspres-sur-Buech [- Veynes-Dévoluy]; Clermont-Ferrand - Laqueuille - Le Mont-Dore (although the latest timetable shows trains until the December 2015 timetable change); [Clermont-Ferrand -] Thiers - Montbrison [- St-Étienne]; [Limoges -] St-Yrieix - Pompadour [- Brive la Gaillarde]; Montluçon - Lavaufrance (or further west towards Saint-Sulpice-Laurière); Busseau-sur-Creuse - Felletin; [Aurillac -] Viescamp-sous-Jallès - Lamativie (or further west towards Saint-Denis-près-Martel). The Cuneo [IT] - Limone [IT] - Tende [FR] - Breil-sur-Roya [FR] - Ventimiglia [IT] line has seen services reduced to two Trenitalia round trips (but with more trains over the French section Tende - Breil-sur-Roya [- Nice]); the two "cross-border" sections, the subject of high level disagreement between the two administrations, are threatened although some funding has now been agreed by Italy. The cross-border section of the Saarbrücken - Sarreguemines rapid transit system is at present funded up to the end of 2016 but increasing costs are threatening its sustainability.

Line openings

LGV related developments

The opening of the Ligne á Grande Vitesse Est on 10 June 2007 represented a further phase of the extension of the LGV network. The Ligne du Haut-Bugey (Bourg-en-Bresse - La Cluse - Bellegarde) was modernised, electrified and reopened (along with the branch to Oyonnax) from December 2010, offering a shorter, slightly faster route to Genève for TGV’s from Paris; however, the overall alignment remains largely unchanged - it is not a "green field" LGV.

An isolated, international section of LGV between Perpignan and a new station 2 km west of Figueres/Figueras [ES] also opened in December 2010, and was extended to Barcelona in January 2013. Through TGVs to Barcelona started at the December 2013 timetable change. A connection between the stations of Avignon TGV and Avignon Centre also opened in December 2013.

The first phase of the new LGV Rhin-Rhône, between Villers-Le-Pots (Dijon) and Petit Croix (Mulhouse) opened in December 2011 - see the route map. This included reopening to passengers of much of the Besançon - Devecey line (closed 11 May 1959), as a link to Besançon-Franche-Comté TGV station, and construction of an east-facing curve to the LGV. Subsequent phases of LGV Rhin-Rhône will extend west to avoid Dijon and south towards Lyon, although these are now in doubt. A direct curve to the west of Mulhouse between the Colmar line near Mulhouse-Dornach and the Belfort line near Brunstatt opened for passengers in December 2013, being used by those TGVs between Strasbourg and Belfort-Montbéliard TGV without a Mulhouse call. A new higher speed connection (Raccordement de Perrigny) between the Chagny and Belfort main lines, just south of Dijon, opened (apparently on the same date) for use by TGVs between Strasbourg and Lyon or beyond - except, of course, those booked to call at Lons-le-Saunier.

In conjunction with the opening of the LGV Est to Vendenheim (- Strasbourg) on 3 April 2016, the 5km section of the Réding - Drulingen line, as far as Brouwiller-Lixheim, will reopen to enable Nancy <==> Strasbourg TGV services to access the LGV line.

Other projects being considered or developed include extensions of existing lines to Rennes, Bordeaux (expected to open in 2017), Perpignan (to connect with the line to Figueres/Figueras [ES] (- Barcelona)), Modane (and Torino). Details of these projects are at the SNCF Réseau website. The 27 June 2013 report of the Mobilité 21 commission (mentioned above) envisages the abandonment of LGV schemes which are not already building or committed, in favour of improvement of the existing "classic" network.

Other developments - Implemented

An east - west curve avoiding St.Germain-des-Fossés opened in December 2006. A light rail system is being developed in Mulhouse; the first phase, which included conversion of the Kruth branch and its linking to the town tramway system, commenced operation in December 2010. Trains on the Ligne du Médoc which had previously served Bordeaux Ravezies were all diverted via the Raccordement Bonnaous-Beyreman from August 2012. An east - south curve avoiding Tassin (Lyon) opened in December 2012, providing direct service between Lyon St.Paul and Brignais. Mulhouse - Neuenburg (Germany) increased to a full service (in place of seasonal service) from December 2012. A new west-facing curve off the Alès line at Nîmes, enabling trains to avoid reversal at Courbessac yard, opened in March 2013. A north - west curve at Folligny, allowing direct running between Caen and Granville, came into service in July 2013 - but initially only for summer seasonal use. Gisors - Serqueux reopened December 2013. Nantes - Nort-sur-Erdre - Châteaubriant (opened February 2014, as a tram-train). The line from Calais to Dunkerque was electrified in 2014. [Avignon -] Sorgues - Carpentras reopened on 25 April 2015.

The Train Touristique l'Albrèt (Nérac - Mézin; 15 km), which closed in 2012 because of "bureaucratic" problems, will resume operations in the guise of the Chemin de Fer Touristique du Pays de l'Albret on 15 March 2015.

Other developments - Projected

Work is in hand to reopen the following lines: Chartres - Voves (reopening now indicated for late 2015), Oloron Ste.Marie - Bedous (reopening targeted for March 2016) and the curve linking Mérignac-Arlac (on the Ceinture de Bordeaux) with Pessac (targeted for 2016).

Train Touristique Val de Garonne is seeking to start operations on the Marmande - Casteljaloux line, whilst MTVS (L'association du Musée des tramways à vapeur et des chemins de fer secondaires français) has moved equipment to Crèvecoeur-le- Grand, with a view to starting operations to St-Omer-en-Chaussée. The Coni'Fer line (Chemin de fer Touristique de Pontarlier à Vallorbe) from Les Hôpitaux-Neufs to La Fontaine-Ronde is to be extended 2.5 km northwards to Combe-Motta in July 2015. Le Train du Bas-Berry (Argy - La Foulquetière) extended from La Foulquetière into Luçay-le-Mâle station in June 2015; they hope, eventually, to extend services to Valençay.

Regional Councils have, over recent years, expressed intentions of reintroducing passenger services on the following further lines: Bedous - Canfranc, Thouars - Parthenay - Niort, Niort - Fontenay-le-Comte, Voves - Orléans (targeted for 2020), Orléans - Châteauneuf-sur-Loire (targeted for 2019), Quillan - Perpignan (the latter already partly reopened for seasonal tourist service), Valence TGV - Avignon Centre (via the Rhône right-bank line), Colmar - Volgelsheim (Neuf-Brisach Gare), Colmar - Ste.Croix-en-Plaine, Digne - St.Auban, Rognac - Aix-en-Provence, Cavaillon - Pertuis, Gardanne - Carnoules, Les Arcs - Draguignan, Penne - Villeneuve-sur-Lot, La Suze - La Flèche, Sathonay - Trévoux and Chalon-sur-Saône - St.Marcel-lès-Chalon, Belfort - Delle (closed in September 1992 - targeted for 2016, to restore connection with the Swiss network), Evian - Saint-Gingolph (Switzerland), La Rochelle la Porte-Dauphine - Pallice (possibly as a tram-train), Armentières - Berguettes-Isbergues, Casamozza - Poggio-Mezzana (Corsica). Some of these are at early stages of development and others show little or no tangible result. The Cour des comptes 2009 report (see previous sub-section) does not seem to have impacted on such aspirations.

There has been revival of talk in Paris about a "new" link between central Paris and Roissy-Charles de Gaulle airport, for a which various schemes have been in the offing since at least 2000; there is no prospect of an early opening - even when a route and financing have been decided.

Special notes

Until relatively recent decades, the only regular interval services operated by SNCF were on Paris suburban lines. The introduction of a regular interval service on the LGV lines from Paris to Lyon, Lille and Nantes resulted in increased traffic, and - at SNCF Réseau prompting (for line capacity reasons) - schedules to standard clock-face pattern (cadencé) - although by no means necessarily every hour everywhere! - were widely introduced from December 2011 in the first total overhaul of French timetables other than for opening of LGVs. It had been the practice for many main lines to be closed for several hours each day, usually during the morning, for maintenance. The new cadencé schedule should minimise these blancs travaux which caused long gaps between trains. There had been a growing tendency - in an endeavour to catch up with deferred track maintenance - for services on secondary and local lines to be replaced by buses for exstensive periods without this being shown in the timetable; however, much of such work should now be completed. The infrequent services on many secondary or tertiary lines reflects the sparse population in much of France, and the relatively small size of many cities - or perhaps reflect the demand for travel to work fifty or more years ago, rather than the current needs of people working more flexibly or travelling for leisure. Certainly, the traveller on cross-country and local routes will hanker for the frequency of service found on just about all other European systems while concluding that the travel writers who lavish their praise on the TGV network never tangle with the more backward parts of the SNCF system!

Strikes (Grèves) are not uncommon on French railways. These may be localised and information about them may not be widely circulated elsewhere. It is the practice to close sections of line for electrification or other reconstruction work for periods of several months: potential travellers should check carefully for such temporary closures. See Engineering and strike (grève) Information above.

If a station name begins 'La' or 'Le', this is ignored in alphabetic indices; for example La Bastide-St Laurent-les-Bains is listed under B, and Le Havre under H. Treatment of places named after saints, of which there are a large number in France, varies. SNCF disregards gender, so Ste Gemme (female) comes between St Gely and St Genest (male) in the station index. However, in indices to Michelin guides and maps, female saints (Ste) all follow the male ones (St).

Monaco

SNCF operates the 1.7 km of railway through Monaco, which does not have its own railway administration. Journeys between French stations and Monaco-Monte Carlo are regarded as domestic and are subject to SNCF conditions of carriage, not CIV.

See also