FRENCH infrastructure manager SNCF Network has awarded four contracts worth a combined €1.8bn to undertake mainline track renewals and replace turnouts and ballast on high-speed lines throughout France up to the end of 2030.
SNCF Network says the tender is one the largest it has ever undertaken and illustrates a general increase in investment to improve the French railway network.
The winning contractors are:
Lot 1: replacement of high-speed line turnouts: Eiffage-Captrain consortium
Lot 2: replacement of ballast on high-speed lines: Colas Rail-TSO joint venture
Lot 3: replacement of rail, track and ballast on heavy traffic areas of the mainline network: ETF, and
Lot 4: replacement of rail, track and ballast on the remainder of the network: Eiffage-Captrain consortium.
The French government is committing €1.5bn annually to support infrastructure renewal and modernisation. In 2024, SNCF Network will spend €3.2bn on 1600 major projects across the country to renew 1064km of track and renew or remove 492 turnouts.
SNCF Network expects to deploy 30,000 staff to complete the work over the course of the contracts.
It says early discussions with the chosen contractors ahead of planned projects will optimise the use of resources. The contracts also include incentives and penalties and a commitment to reduce the carbon footprint of track renewal work by 2-4% per year for the duration of the contract.
“These innovations aim to guarantee ever-better operational performance and, ultimately, to accelerate the modernisation of the network for the benefit of customers,” SNCF Network says.
The work
The Lot 1 and Lot 4 contracts are worth a confirmed €415m over four years and could rise to €790m with if extension options running until 2030 are exercised. Eiffage has an 80% share of the contract.
The Lot 1 work comprises the replacement of track on the Atlantique, Nord and Sud-Est high-speed lines over four years (2025-2028) with an option for two additional years of work in 2029 and 2030.
Lot 4 includes the refurbishment of 524km of track across the country between 2025 and 2027. Work will take place at night with around 400 employees from the two companies operating Eiffage’s factory trains and Captrain locomotives. The factory trains can relay 1km of track per shift and the contractors say that innovations will be introduced to promote recycling and reduce the carbon footprint of operations. Track panels will be dismantled t with rail and sleepers reused on site, and bi-mode electric-hydrogen traction will be introduced in 2027.
The Lot 3 contract is worth around €700m and encompasses upgrading more than 800km of track throughout France by the end of 2030. ETF’s parent company Vinci Construction says high-output track renewals work will be carried out using factory trains. It says around 150,000 hours of work will be devoted to recruitment and training programmes throughout the contract.
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