The Office of Rail and Road, the rail regulator, has pre-approved a new framework track access agreement between HS1 Limited, trading as London St. Pancras High Speed, and Virgin Trains, officially VTE OPCO Limited.
Eurostar plans to spend €2 billion on up to 50 new double-decker trains built by Alstom Group, which will be the first to operate through the Channel Tunnel and on the UK network.
France’s rail network was severely disrupted following a series of coordinated arson attacks, paralyzing transportation for nearly a million people, including those traveling to the Olympic Games.
Société Nationale des Chemins de fer Français (SNCF), France’s national state-owned railway company, recently ordered 2,000 new trains to service its growing railroad network. The problem is the trains are too large for many of the stations they were intended to service, according to published reports.
France is bracing for its second major transportation strike in a month, beginning Tuesday evening. From Paris, Lisa Bryant reports – although most French do not support the strike – it reflects wider discontent against reforms proposed by the country’s conservative government.
A massive transportation strike has crippled France, as public transportation and other workers took to the streets to protest pension reform plans proposed by the country’s center-right government.