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Infrastructure fund Antin is backing a new independent high-speed train operator in France as challengers emerge to the country’s dominant state-backed SNCF amid growing demand for rail travel.
Antin Infrastructure Partners is investing 1 billion euros in Proxima, which launched on Thursday as one of the first companies to benefit from the liberalization of the country’s rail network.
Proxima, which aims to connect cities across France’s west coast, such as Rennes, Nantes and Bordeaux, with Paris, has signed an initial contract for 12 double-decker trains from French manufacturer Alstom to be delivered in 2027, according to her. the founders.
France has one of the most extensive high-speed train networks in Europe, along with Spain, but is one of the last major markets to open its passenger lines to competition following the liberalization of Europe’s rail network. The country’s intercity routes have long been monopolized by SNCF services, which have become increasingly crowded as ticket prices have risen.
Barriers to entry in the French rail market are high, with steeper fees paid by operators to maintain lines than in some other European countries. But Proxima is anticipating high demand for its services, which will add more trains to some SNCF-operated lines.
Proxima’s launch comes at a time when environmental concerns are driving demand for rail travel from both policymakers and consumers. In 2020, Air France stopped flying on domestic routes for which there were rail or bus alternatives that took less than two and a half hours, as part of measures agreed with the French government.
Changing work habits since the Covid-19 pandemic are also driving the need for high-speed commuter connectivity, according to Rachel Picard, a former SCNF executive who is one of Proxima’s co-founders.
“There are new ways of living that are emerging. You can live in Nantes and work in Paris,” said Picard.
France’s passenger rail market opened up to private operators after the EU introduced rules to encourage more competition across the bloc’s network, measures that came into effect in 2019.
Italian operator Trenitalia and Spain’s Renfe began offering their own passenger services to France last year, but are more focused on international connections to Milan or Barcelona from the French mainland than domestic travel. Several companies are also exploring competitive services to Eurostar’s monopoly on cross-channel service between Britain and France.
However, the European train market remains expensive and technically challenging, not least because of the safety and compliance authorizations that new services must secure.
Antin chairman and chief executive Alain Rauscher said Proxima – which may operate under a different brand name – was ordering trains from Alstom, which already supplies SNCF, to help speed up those approvals.
Antin, which listed on the Paris stock exchange in 2021, already has investments in rail, including train leasing company Porterbrook in Britain. It will initially fund Proxima’s investment through its own funds, but is also lining up a group of banks for financing.
Proxima will add 10 million seats a year to the lines it operates on, in a high-speed rail market in France that was used by a record 122 million passengers last year.
“We are coming to add a new offer together with SNCF, knowing that we have a common opponent – not so much airplanes, but cars,” Picard said. The added capacity should eventually help lower ticket prices, she added.
“Will . . . it brings new breathing space and availability to the market and that will be good for passengers,” said Picard.