Railcoop

Railcoop is a French rail cooperative society, founded in 2019, its headquarter being located in Cambes (Lot). It is one of the first private passenger service society to be created in the context of the rail transport market opening in France and the end of monopoly for the national railway operator SNCF.[1] As the rail network remains state-owned by the public agency SNCF Réseau, Railcoop will be a rail operator buying slots to operate connections and notifying schedules to the national transport regulation authority.

Railcoop
TypePrivate cooperative company with collective interest (SCIC)
Founded30 November 2019 (30 November 2019)
Headquarters
Cambes, Lot
,
France

The first project is to reopen the direct link between Bordeaux and Lyon in mid-2022,[2] after the SNCF discarded this service in 2014[3]

History

Rail transport market opened in France for international services in 2009, after which Italian private company Thello linked Paris and Venice, and it will open for national passenger service in 2020.[1] In a context of very weak use of railways in low-populated areas and the dominance of high speed trains and in the rail transport in France,[4] Railcoop aims to re-develop medium-size rail connections.

After being a non-lucrative association in 2019, Railcoop became a "cooperative society aiming a collective interest" (SCIC) in November 2019.

It aims to gain its security licence to operate trains at the beginning of 2021.

Projects

Railcoop expected to open a freight transport between Figeac and Toulouse starting in 2021.

The main project of the company is the Bordeaux-Lyon direct link, calling at (non-exhaustive list) Périgueux, Limoges, Guéret, Montluçon and Roanne. It is expected for June 2022.[5]

For the annual service 2023, other national services are expected : Toulouse-Rennes[6] and Lyon-Thionville.[7]

References
  1. "SNCF's Guillaume Pepy: keeping the public onside". Financial Time. 4 November 2018. Retrieved 5 November 2018.
  2. "French cooperative targets Bordeaux-Lyon open access from 2022". International Railway Journal.
  3. "Railcoop va-t-elle renaitre la ligne de train Lyon-Bordeaux abandonnée par la SNCF ?" (in French). 24 June 2020.
  4. "State of the rail transport in France in 2018" (PDF). ART (in French).
  5. "Railcoop time schedules Bordeaux-Lyon" (PDF). ART.
  6. "Railcoop time schedules" (PDF). ART. Retrieved 5 November 2020.
  7. "Railcoop time schedule Lyon-Thionville" (PDF). ART.
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