16,000 km equipped with GSM-R

3 January 2018 - Projects update and handover - France

In early December 2017, Synerail, a company 30%-owned by VINCI Railways (VINCI Concessions) and VINCI Energies, definitively switched 16,000 km of railway lines in France over to operating using GSM-R.

More reliable and more effective, this radio communication system enables railway staff to communicate with the traffic management centres; train drivers and operational and maintenance staff can communicate with one another via conference calls.

Following completion of the installation of the GSM-Rail network in March 2016, the new system was gradually brought into service and SNCF Réseau staff were appropriately trained – a process now ended with this recent final switchover. Axians (VINCI Energies) will supply the maintenance for 40% of the new network over the next eight years.