How we’re helping launch the Czech Republic’s TGV
An €8.5 million, 8-year contract to help build 660km of high-speed tracks: those are the highlights of our agreement with the Czech Republic’s rail infrastructure manager. Let’s look at the details.
Správa Železnic, the Czech rail infrastructure manager, approached SNCF for help managing its high-speed rail project. The result is a major international deal lasting 8 years and worth €18 billion that cements a long-term partnership between our two companies.
660km
of high-speed track will be connected to the conventional network between 2020 and 2040
€18bn
project cost, partly funded by the EU
8 years
of partnership in the contract linking SNCF Réseau and Správa Železnic
How SNCF Réseau will support Správa Železnic
SNCF Réseau’s Industrial & Engineering Division (DG2I) will lend its expertise throughout the project. We’ll be involved right up until the first line begins service, which is scheduled for 2029.
SNCF Réseau will provide:
- strategic planning (testing phase supervision)
- project management (planning and organization)
- targeted, timely expertise during testing and construction
- help preparing for maintenance and operations
Two phases planned
- During preparatory work for the high-speed lines, from 2022 to 2025, SNCF Réseau experts will work almost entirely from France, with occasional visits to sites in the Czech Republic
- From 2025, we’ll send our experts to work with Správa Železnic in in the Czech Republic while still providing remote assistance
Three questions for Pascal Guillaume
What makes this a groundbreaking agreement?
It’s our longest contract with Správa Železnic since we first started working together. Previously we’d signed 1- to 2-year contracts worth around €420,000 to send over SNCF Réseau experts with experience in planning, preliminary studies, and so on.
But this is on another scale…
It certainly is. With this agreement, we’re involved in the design and construction phase for these high-speed lines. It covers everything in our prior contracts and adds on consulting services to improve design standards, coordinate the construction phase, and prepare for operation and maintenance. In practical terms, we’ll be working with Správa Železnic over the entire investment cycle, from project design through operation and maintenance.
What are your other international development goals?
We want to expand our European client portfolio to serve more infrastructure managers. Why? It’s simple. We think our neighbours can benefit from our expertise, and the same EU regulations apply to all infrastructure managers. There’s a major railway investment programme underway in the European Union right now, and SNCF Réseau can do a lot to help its European counterparts. We need to capitalize on our brand and the respect that our expertise has earned in Europe.
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