FRANCE: Faced with a shortage of rolling stock ahead of the tending of contracts to operate TER regional passenger services, the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes région has opted to create a locally owned company.
The company approved in October is to be owned by the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes région (80%) and Vichy communauté (20%).
It aims to simplify the purchase of new vehicles. It will able to raise debt, and will not rely directly on the finances of the regional authority.
In June the regional audit office published a report saying that ridership on TER services in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes had grown by 22% in the last four years, creating a need for an estimated 30 more trainsets.
- SNCF is looking at creating regional subsidiaries for each TER service group.
