Closer cooperation on rail transport between France and Russia

On 21 September at InnoTrans 2010 the President of the French rail company SNCF, Guillaume Pepy, and Wladimir Jakunin, his opposite number in the Russian rail operator RZD, signed a far-reaching joint venture agreement. According to the SNCF official with responsibility for Russia, Frédéric Pardé, it provides for closer collaboration in the development of freight services, and SNCF will also assist RZD in developing computer-based reservation systems, ticketing platforms and special station partnerships. This month sees the start of the first direct train services between Moscow and Nice. Twelve Russian luxury sleeping cars make up the “Tsar’s Train” on the 3,300 kilometre, three-day route which runs via Warsaw, Vienna and Milan.

In another agreement, between RZD, the Russian locomotive builder Transmashholding (TMH) and the French company Alstom, the two manufacturers will join forces to develop and manufacture a two-section freight locomotive for RZD. This will include components from a mainline passenger locomotive, the EP20, which is currently under development by Alstom and TMH and will be presented for the first time this December.