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The Société nationale des chemins de fer français (SNCF), a French state-owned railroad operator, came to California in hopes of helping the state build a high-speed rail system from Los Angeles to San Francisco but left for North Africa in 2011 because the region was 'less politically dysfunctional' than the Golden State. Within 7 years, they built a functioning high-speed rail system in Morocco, the New York Times reported. California sought to have the first high-speed rail system in the country, but a new report from the Times showed political disagreement on the train's route slowed the ambitious project to...

The French national railroad company intended to help California build its high-speed rail from San Francisco to Los Angeles, but ended up leaving the state to pursue projects in war-torn North Africa, which the company said was a less “dysfunctional” place. The New York Times published a lengthy essay on Sunday about how California’s “bullet train” failed — despite the fervent desire of Gov. Jerry Brown (D) that it be built, and the investments of both the Obama and Biden administration in its supposed construction. The Times noted: Now, as the nation embarks on a historic, $1 trillion infrastructure building...

French rail operator SNCF has too many staff and pays them too much. That is the conclusion of the Court of Auditors, in a report that risks inflaming further tensions with employees. A large number of SNCF staff are preparing for “unlimited” strike action over December and the company has been hit with several smaller industrial actions this autumn as staff say they are demoralized and under pressure. But the report from the Court of Auditors published today criticized the company for failing to control its wages bill and streamline its staffing. SNCF has abolished 6,000 full time equivalent posts...

As the anti-flying movement known as “flight shaming” is gaining momentum across Europe, Switzerland is adding new train services to some of its international routes. The TGV company Lyria, which is owned jointly by the Swiss Federal Railways and France’s SNCF, is adding trains to its high-speed link between major Swiss cities and Paris. Beginning on December 15th, 30% more connections will be offered to the French capital from Geneva, Zürich, Lausanne and Basel. That means an increase from the currently available 13,500 seats daily to 18,000 by the end of 2020. The goal of the expanded service is to...

The French government has agreed to absorb €35 billion in debt from the state railway SNCF, a top union official said Friday, as it seeks an end to nearly two months of strikes. Luc Berille, the head of the UNSA union, said that the state had proposed taking on €35 billion ($41 billion) of the SNCF’s €46 billion of debt, starting with €25 billion as soon as 2020. “The prime minister was specific,” Berille said after talks with premier Edouard Philippe, adding that the government would increase infrastructure investment by €200 million a year to reach an annual total of...

French rail workers spoke of their anger over the government’s proposed reforms to France’s national rail service as they took part in a day of mass protests on Thursday. President Emmanuel Macron faced mass protests Thursday as trade unionists seek to galvanize striking train drivers, angry students and public sector workers and into a joint movement against his multi-pronged drive to overhaul the French economy. The hard-line CGT union has urged the broad spectrum of groups opposed to Macron’s overhauls to come together on the streets, with some left-wingers dreaming of a re-run of the huge May 1968 demonstrations that...

Rail workers across France have gone on strike for the first day of a three-month rolling walkout, the latest and potentially biggest battle over labor laws in the country since President Emmanuel Macron took office last May promising to transform the jobs market. Train services have been severely disrupted, with around 87% of high-speed trains and 80% of regional services canceled Tuesday, according to SNCF, France's state-owned rail company. Eurostar services were also affected, with one in four services from Paris canceled. High-speed Thalys trains towards Belgium and the Netherlands were operating almost as normal, but there were no services...

The French government has confirmed that it will order 15 high-speed TGV trains in a bid to prevent the historic Alstom train-building plant from closing. The announcement was made by France’s secretary of state for industry Christophe Sirugue on a visit to the Alstom factory in Belfort, eastern France. Normally, the state-owned rail operator SNCF would be in charge of ordering new trains, but given the plight of the Belfort factory and the small matter of a looming presidential election, the government has chosen to act on its own. …

Guards in civilian clothes will be patrolling France’s trains from October, as a new law comes into effect following a foiled terror attack last year. The move has been planned since August last year when train passengers overpowered a man who had opened fire with a Kalashnikov on a train between Amsterdam and Paris. […] Introduction of the changes took so long due to the complicated process of rewriting French law, but also the time needed to train and equip the guards. The guards will be on patrol in pairs on regional trains, TGVs, and even on commuter lines. …

The head of the French national rail service says that train marshals, armed and allowed to use their weapons, will be patrolling some passenger trains, one of a series of new security measures. Guillaume Pepy said on iTele TV on Sunday that the marshals will be in civilian dress, chosen from the SNCF train authority’s 3,000 security agents and trained for the task. …

France’s SNCF rail network has ordered 2,000 trains for an expanded regional network that are too wide for hundreds of station platforms, entailing costly repairs, the national operator announced on Tuesday. A spokesman for the RFF national rail operator confirmed the error, first reported by satirical weekly, Le Canard Enchaîné, in its Wednesday edition. “We discovered the problem a bit late, we recognise that and we accept responsibility on that score,” Christophe Piednoel told France Info radio station, adding that the new trains would “meet the demands of the public” and that only 1,300 of 8,700 platforms needed work. Construction...

France's state-owned railway is set to be banned from bidding for a £4 billion contract in the USA because of its role in the World War II Holocaust, it emerged today. SNCF runs some of the fastest and most efficient lines in the world but has a dark history which saw it transport thousands of Jews to their deaths in German concentration camps. Now senators in the US state of Maryland have proposed a bill which would make it illegal for the French to apply for prestige projects.

If you’ve been following me on Twitter, you’ll know that I spent this afternoon on the phone with folks in California, looking into the recent SNCF-CHSRA bombshell. To summarize: SNCF, the highly experienced French national high-speed rail operator, apparently had a plan for California’s HSR network, but was turned off by the highly-politicized routing. Namely, they wanted to make a straight shot from LA to San Francisco by running along the flat, government-owned I-5 corridor with spurs out to the eastern Central Valley, whereas the California High Speed Rail Authority (CHSRA) and state politicians wanted the main line to go...

Source: http://truehardfacts.blogspot.com _________ Monday, October 23, 2006 Muslim "Youth": Just before having the feast-meal at the end of Ramadan, why don't we halt "infidels" a pregnant woman on the escalator of the subway? Muslim "Youth": Just before having the feast-meal at the end of Ramadan, why don't we halt the "infidels" including pregnant woman on the escalator of the subway?Oct, 23, 2006 Noon time Two French Jews are using the escalator of the Metro in Marseille, three Arab Muslim youth all ready to join the meal at the end of their "holy" Ramadan.But hey, they are not yet ready, they...

FRANCE'S state-owned railway, the SNCF, yesterday said it would appeal a conviction for complicity in crimes against humanity in which it was ordered to pay compensation along with the French government for deporting Jews during the Second World War.It is the first time a French public enterprise has been convicted for its role in the Holocaust and campaigners hailed the ruling as a landmark decision. Previous attempts to bring the SNCF to justice had failed after the company argued it had no choice but had been forced to transport Jews by the Nazi occupiers, even though they transported them in...

The French Railways Company, SNCF, is employing about ten thousand staff to search all railway lines for bombs. This follows the discovery of a device near the city of Limoges a week and a half ago. In a letter, an unidentified terrorist organisation had alerted the French government to the presence of the bomb. They warned of nine others planted at sites along the railway network. It has only just become known that the French government has been receiving threatening letters for nearly three months from the organisation, which calls itself the AZF. Last Monday, an attempt to pay the...