VFLI

Groupe VFLI
Founded 1998
Headquarters Paris, France
Owner SNCF (via Transport et Logistique Partenaires S.A.S.[1])
Parent SNCF Geodis
Website www.vfli.fr
www.groupe-vfli.com

The Voies Ferrées Locales et Industrielles (VFLI) is a French freight rail company, a subsidiary of SNCF in the SNCF Geodis logistics group.

The company was formed in 1998 as a low cost short line and industrial railway operator.

The subsidiary Fertis operated construction trains on the LGV Est up to 2007.

From 2007 on, SNCF developed VFLI into a full fledged freight railway.[2]

History

VFLI was created in 1998 as a subsidiary of the holding company SNCF Participations to operate as a low cost operation,[3] initially the company took over the operations of two industrial railway systems: Voies Ferrées des Landes (VFL) and Mines Dominiales de Potasse d'Alsace.[4][5]

In 2000 the company began a joint venture with Compagnie des chemins de fer départementaux (CFD) called Voies Ferrées du Morvan to operate the 87 km Avallon-Autun railway line,[3] and in 2001 took over operations on the Houllières du Bassin de Lorraine (HBL) via a subsidiary 'VFLI Cargo.[3]

Up to 2007 the company was involved in the construction of LGV Est through the subsidiary Fertis.[5][note 1]

In 2007, VFLI got the certification to run trains on the full extent of the French national railway network owned by Réseau Ferré de France.[7]

By 2008 the company was providing services for around forty industrial sites, with clients having included Rhodia, Arkema, Arcelor,[note 2] Renault and Coke de Carling,[5] Ciments français, Lafarge, Elf, Port Edouard Herriot (Lyon), ALZ, Smurfit SCF in Facture and PSA (in Trnava, Slovakia),[8] other contracts included transport of combustion waste from Protires waste processing plant in Strasbourg, work sub-contracted from SNCF and transportation from ports.[5]

Current operations

As of 2012 VFLI's operations are in four main areas: main rail freight in France ; rail freight operations at industrial sites; rail infrastructure train haulage; and short haul operations including port railways.[2]

Main line freight rail accounted in 2011 for nearly two thirds of VFLI's turnover, representing a turnover of 67.7 million Euros, compared to 5.4 million Euros in 2007.[9]

Rolling stock and facilities

In 2010 VFLI owned ~100 diesel locomotives, mostly shunting and short trip locomotives.[3][10] as well as ~800 wagons.[3]

The company also operates rolling stock workshops, carrying out maintenance and refurbishment.[3]

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Fertis hired ex-British Rail Class 56s and Class 58 locomotives from EWS (UK) to work the construction trains.[6]
  2. ↑ Contract ended late 2007.[7]

References

  1. ↑ "VFLI - Fiche de l'entreprise VFLI: Actionnaires Filiales" [Company information VFLI] (in French). Verif.com. 2012. Retrieved 3 August 2012.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "VFLI home page". VFLI. 2012. Retrieved 4 August 2012.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 "Voies Ferrees Locales et Industrielles (VFLI) (France) : Railway systems and operators". articles.janes.com. Janes. 26 October 2010. Retrieved 9 July 2011.
  4. ↑ Haydock, David (2008). European Handbook No. 4 French Railways Locomotives & Multiple Units (Fourth Edition ed.). Sheffield, UK: Platform 5 Publishing Ltd. ISBN 978-1-902336-65-7.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 Sonia Goujon (May 2009). "Les nouveaux entrants sur le marché du fret ferroviare français" [The new companies entering the French rail freight market]. www.observatoire-transports-bretagne.fr (in French). Observatoire Régional des Transports de Bretagne. pp. 24–26. |chapter= ignored (help)
  6. ↑ "VFLI - Voies Ferrées Locales et Industrielles". Lokmagazin (in Hungarian) 57 (11). November 2006. pp. 28–30. Archived from the original on 2012-03-27. Retrieved 17 October 2013.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 "2007 ANNUAL REPORT : SNCF PARTICIPATIONS". stockproinfo.com. SNCF. pp. 31, 38.
  8. ↑ "Railway Operators in France". www.railfaneurope.net. Retrieved 14 July 2011. |chapter= ignored (help)
  9. ↑ "VFLI | Présentation | Chiffres clés" [Presentation - key figures] (in French). VFLI. 2012. Retrieved 4 August 2012.
  10. ↑ "VFLI locomotives and shunters". www.railfaneurope.net. Retrieved 10 July 2011.

External links

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