Air France eyes move to railways

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7489483.stm

Short-haul Air France passengers could soon be moving onto trains

Air France is holding talks on a joint venture that could lead to it
offering high-speed rail travel.

The airline confirmed reports it was discussing a possible tie-up with
Veolia, a French utility firm that also runs several rail services.

Commentators suggest such a deal would enable the airline to cut fuel
costs by moving some services onto the railways.

Under the plans Veolia would run trains from Air France's hub airport
in Paris to other European destinations.

"We are reviewing the feasibility and possibility of such a project,
but it is too early to discuss its terms," an Air France spokesman
told the Reuters news agency.

Competition plans

The joint venture is likely to remain focused on international travel
as, under European Union plans, legislation is set to free up the
international rail passenger market in 2010.

Veolia has previously run public rail franchises in several countries
worldwide under the now-defunct Connex brand. It now runs continental
Europe's largest private freight service and several rail connections.

With significant improvements being made to the network of high speed
rail routes in Europe the potential of such services is improving.

As it confirmed reports of the talks, Air France added it had been
looking at launching its own rail links over the past four years as it
had been unhappy with the service provided when it had bought rail
seats off existing train operators.

Billy Puffin wrote:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7489483.stm

Short-haul Air France passengers could soon be moving onto trains

Air France is holding talks on a joint venture that could lead to it
offering high-speed rail travel.

The airline confirmed reports it was discussing a possible tie-up with

On French radio this morning they said it would be mainly aimed at
taking passengers to the air terminals.
This has come about as the TGV (tres grand vitesse) high speed train
which travels at 300 mph makes it as fast, city center to city center as
using air shuttles in France. The train is of course much friendlier
environmentally.

cpmac

-------
Audio Tour Guide d day Normandy. Self Guiding.
http://normandy-tour-guide.cpmac.com.audio-guide.php3
Driver guide Normandy

"Colin McGarry" wrote in message
...
Billy Puffin wrote:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7489483.stm

Short-haul Air France passengers could soon be moving onto trains

Air France is holding talks on a joint venture that could lead to it
offering high-speed rail travel.

The airline confirmed reports it was discussing a possible tie-up with

On French radio this morning they said it would be mainly aimed at taking
passengers to the air terminals.
This has come about as the TGV (tres grand vitesse) high speed train which
travels at 300 mph makes it as fast, city center to city center as using
air shuttles in France. The train is of course much friendlier
environmentally.


TGV's travel at up to (a maximum of) 200 mph (320kph) in commercial use.
Last year a specially modified TGV reached 575 kph (357 mph) in test runs.

Gerry

"Colin McGarry" a écrit dans le message de news:
...
Billy Puffin wrote:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7489483.stm

Short-haul Air France passengers could soon be moving onto trains

Air France is holding talks on a joint venture that could lead to it
offering high-speed rail travel.

The airline confirmed reports it was discussing a possible tie-up
with

On French radio this morning they said it would be mainly aimed at
taking passengers to the air terminals.
This has come about as the TGV (tres grand vitesse)

Train à Grande Vitesse

high speed train which travels at 300 mph makes it as fast, city
center to city center as using air shuttles in France.

And even outside France. The time you need to go to and from the airport
at either end of the journey, plus the hours wasted for check in, mean
that quite a few destinations further afield that have TGV lines are
almost as quick to get to on the TGV as by plane. I live at about 50 km
from Marseille-Provence airport. An hour to get there, an hour (luckily,
this isn't Heathrow) needed for check-in, and hour say to get to the
centre of London and a two hour flight. 5 hours. The direct TGV from
Avignon that runs in the summer can get me to London in just over six
hours. A little longer (with a half hour drive to Avignon) but far more
comfortable and pleasant. The only disadvantage is the price.

The train is of course much friendlier environmentally.

That too.

On French radio this morning they said it would be mainly aimed at
taking passengers to the air terminals.

That's not inconsistent, since there are TGV stations adjacent to the
airports at CDG and Lyon Satolas. Rail/air interlining has been
popular in Germany for a long time, after all.

This has come about as the TGV (tres grand vitesse) high speed train
which travels at 300 mph

It's 300 kph, not mph, in revenue service, actually, but that's still
about as fast as a commuter prop plane.

R's,
John

John of Aix wrote:

[]
And even outside France. The time you need to go to and from the airport
at either end of the journey, plus the hours wasted for check in, mean
that quite a few destinations further afield that have TGV lines are
almost as quick to get to on the TGV as by plane. I live at about 50 km
from Marseille-Provence airport. An hour to get there, an hour (luckily,
this isn't Heathrow) needed for check-in, and hour say to get to the
centre of London and a two hour flight. 5 hours. The direct TGV from
Avignon that runs in the summer can get me to London in just over six
hours. A little longer (with a half hour drive to Avignon) but far more
comfortable and pleasant. The only disadvantage is the price.

Though for domestic travel, if you book ahead on the TGV, it's very
reasonable- less so for Eurostar (if not terrible.)

We're taking the TGV from Marseille to Paris in a few weeks time for 20
euro each, and our hotel in Marseille is only around 15 minutes walk
from the train station... I'm pretty sure that 'door to door' the train
will be quicker to our hotel in Paris (in total journey time) than
taking the plane.

--
(*) of the royal duchy of city south and deansgate -www.davidhorne.net
(email address on website) "If people think God is interesting, the
onus is on them to show that there is anything there to talk about.
Otherwise they should just shut up about it." -Richard Dawkins

In article ,
"John of Aix" wrote:


And even outside France. The time you need to go to and from the airport
at either end of the journey, plus the hours wasted for check in, mean
that quite a few destinations further afield that have TGV lines are
almost as quick to get to on the TGV as by plane. I live at about 50 km
from Marseille-Provence airport. An hour to get there, an hour (luckily,
this isn't Heathrow) needed for check-in, and hour say to get to the
centre of London and a two hour flight. 5 hours. The direct TGV from
Avignon that runs in the summer can get me to London in just over six
hours. A little longer (with a half hour drive to Avignon) but far more
comfortable and pleasant. The only disadvantage is the price.


I'll add an enthusiastic endorsement to this post, referring to almost
any journey one might want to make in Germany or in northern Europe.

And point of doing this is not to tell people with European travel
experience what they already know; it's to try to build a broader public
awareness of this in the U.S. -- especially awareness of the "far more
comfortable and pleasant" (and productive) aspect of high-speed rail
travel -- so that U.S. residents will start demanding more investment in
the sadly neglected infrastructure we need for this.

AES wrote on Fri, 04 Jul 2008 13:18:22 -0700:

And even outside France. The time you need to go to and from
the airport at either end of the journey, plus the hours
wasted for check in, mean that quite a few destinations
further afield that have TGV lines are almost as quick to get
to on the TGV as by plane. I live at about 50 km from
Marseille-Provence airport. An hour to get there, an hour
(luckily, this isn't Heathrow) needed for check-in, and hour
say to get to the centre of London and a two hour flight. 5
hours. The direct TGV from Avignon that runs in the summer
can get me to London in just over six hours. A little longer
(with a half hour drive to Avignon) but far more comfortable
and pleasant. The only disadvantage is the price.

I'll add an enthusiastic endorsement to this post, referring
to almost any journey one might want to make in Germany or in
northern Europe.

I would support your endorsement heartily. What the US needs for safety
and ecological reasons is fast passenger trains for short to medium
jouneys. A true speed of 150- 200mph including stops would better most
East Coast air traffic. If maglev tracks could be built even coast to
coast trains might be practical.

--

James Silverton
Potomac, Maryland

E-mail, with obvious alterations: not.jim.silverton.at.verizon.not

"Gerald Oliver Swift" wrote in message
...

"Colin McGarry" wrote in message
...
Billy Puffin wrote:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7489483.stm

Short-haul Air France passengers could soon be moving onto trains

Air France is holding talks on a joint venture that could lead to it
offering high-speed rail travel.

The airline confirmed reports it was discussing a possible tie-up with

On French radio this morning they said it would be mainly aimed at taking
passengers to the air terminals.

Probably because that way they won't need to build a row of check in desks
at the railway station. I doubt that AF are aiming this just at point to
point pax, they are also looking for transfer pax. So pax will check in at
the normal desk in BRU/AMS/DUS/CGN/FRA [1] for their flight to LAX via CDG
and then go 'downstairs' to catch the train for the first leg.

[1] Is there any other rail connected airports that makes sense?

tim

[1] Is there any other rail connected airports that makes sense?

Lyon Satolas is also on the TGV line.