On Thursday, 29 February, French rail operator Kevin Speed was received by Transport Minister Patrice Vergriete and signed a framework agreement with SNCF Réseau, which must be submitted to the regulatory authority ART. The agreement secures Kevin Speed the train paths for the introduction of its innovative rail service ilisto on the first three routes Lille – Paris, Strasbourg – Paris and Lyon – Paris, serving as many of the TGV stations in between as possible. Kevin Speed aims to launch the first ilisto trains in test operation in 2026 and in commercial operation at the end of 2028.

The agreement with SNCF Réseau has a term of ten years and can be extended. It represents a decisive step towards opening up the rail network to new market players. With this agreement, SNCF Réseau is guaranteeing Kevin Speed train paths until 2028, from the opening to the closure of high-speed lines, i.e. up to 16 trips per day and direction on the three routes where the ilisto service will be introduced:

• Lille Flandres – TGV Haute-Picardie – Paris Gare du Nord;

• Strasbourg – Lorraine TGV – Meuse TGV – Champagne-Ardenne TGV – Paris Gare de l’Est;

• Lyon Part-Dieu – Mâcon-Loché TGV – Le Creusot-Montceau-Montchanin TGV – Paris Gare de Lyon.

Kevin Speed and SNCF Réseau will refer the framework agreement to the Autorité de Régulation des Transports (ART) for its opinion in accordance with the applicable legal framework starting next week. Kevin Speed has also published its service intentions with the ART to verify that these three ilisto lines do indeed complement the lines contractually agreed by the Hauts-de-France, Grand Est, Bourgogne-Franche-Comté and Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes regions.

Patrice Vergriete, Deputy Minister for Transport in France, said: ‘The Kevin Speed project is a concrete example of our government’s support for increasing the modal share of rail travel over the last few years. The opening up of the market will allow new operators to enter the market, increasing the number of trains and thus the rail service offering for French people, including in medium-sized towns and cities. The latter will benefit in every way.’

Laurent Fourtune, President of Kevin Speed, added: ‘With ilisto, we will offer high speed for everyone, every day. We are committed to serving all stations along the high-speed lines in the departments of Somme, Marne, Moselle and Saône-et-Loire. The signing of a framework agreement with SNCF Réseau for capacity reservation demonstrates the French network’s commitment to providing Kevin Speed with the security it needs to launch its Ilisto service in the long term.’

In parallel with this signing, Kevin Speed has committed to purchasing 20 new high-speed trains. They will be manufactured by Alstom and are specially tailored to the needs of ilisto’s innovative business plan. Kevin Speed wants the first train to run for testing purposes from 2026.

Reinforced by the development of teleworking and the high cost of living in metropolitan areas, there is a growing desire and/or need among French people to live far away from very large urban centres. ilisto will offer a long-distance mobility service that meets this desire while complementing the existing high-speed service.

Thanks to the high capacity of its trains, ilisto will also enable passengers to significantly reduce their carbon footprint compared to a current high-speed train (-30% CO2 emissions). By choosing the train over the car, ilisto customers will save a total of 140,000 tonnes of CO2 and £250 million in fuel costs each year.

Kevin Speed

Kevin Speed is a French railway company founded in 2021 by Laurent Fourtune, a former development manager at RATP and former operations manager at Getlink (formerly Eurotunnel). In order to purchase new trains and put the first three routes into operation, the company completed an initial round of financing in July, raising €4 million from French and international private investors.

Source: LOK Report