Air France rail plans put on hold
hold after the French government introduced legislation widely viewed as restricting
new operators’ freedom.
Times in July 2008 , were “not an urgent dossier” because the company did not
have “any visibility on the rail transport deregulation rules”.
trains following the introduction of European Union rules opening up operation
of international rail passenger services from January 1, 2010. However, France’s
rules appear set to be more restrictive on the proportion of revenue and passengers
on each train that can be picked up within one country.
one country but allow regulators to restrict services where they damage existing
subsidised services. The French legislation, which became law last month, allows
regulators to ban services that are seen as harmful to publicly subsidised services.
of revenue that can be earned through carrying passengers within France on the
new liberalised international services.
to buy or lease the large numbers of trains involved.
would probably have operated from points within France, via a hub airport such
as Paris Charles de Gaulle, to points outside France.
to improve Europe’s rail services by increasing competition for the state-owned
monopolies that have dominated the sector.
state-owned train operator, by introducing rules widely seen as restricting the
rights of private train-operating companies.
month asked the European Commission to investigate French proposals to tax any
railway rolling stock used in the country.