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Captrain France
Formerly	VFLI
Founded	1998
Headquarters	Paris, France
Parent	Rail Logistics Europe
Website	www.vfli.fr; www.groupe-vfli.com

Captrain France (French pronunciation: [kaptʁɛ̃ fʁɑ̃s]), formerly VFLI, is a French freight rail company. It is a subsidiary of SNCF's Rail Logistics Europe. The company was formed in 1998 as a low cost short line and industrial railway operator.

History

VFLI was established in 1998 by SNCF to operate as a low cost operation,^[1] initially the company took over the operations of two industrial railway systems: Voies Ferrées des Landes (VFL) and Mines Dominiales de Potasse d'Alsace.^[2]^[3]

In 2000 the company began a joint venture with Compagnie des chemins de fer départementaux (CFD) named Voies Ferrées du Morvan to operate the 87 km Avallon-Autun railway line,^[1] and in 2001 took over operations on the Houllières du Bassin de Lorraine (HBL) via a subsidiary 'VFLI Cargo.^[1]

Up to 2007 the company was involved in the construction of LGV Est through the subsidiary Fertis.^[3]^{[note 1]}^[5]

In 2007, VFLI was certified to run trains on the full extent of the French national railway network owned by Réseau Ferré de France.^[6] 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,^[3] Ciments français, Lafarge, Elf, Port Edouard Herriot (Lyon), ALZ, Smurfit SCF in Facture and PSA (in Trnava, Slovakia),^[7] other contracts included transport of combustion waste from Protires waste processing plant in Strasbourg, work sub-contracted from SNCF and transportation from ports.^[3]

In January 2021, VFLI was rebranded Captrain France.^[8]

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.^[9]

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.^[10]

Rolling stock and facilities

In 2010 VFLI owned ~100 diesel locomotives, mostly shunting and short trip locomotives.^[1]^[11] as well as ~800 wagons.^[1]

The company also operates rolling stock workshops, carrying out maintenance and refurbishment.^[1]

Notes

^ Fertis hired Class 56 and Class 58 locomotives from EWS, England to work the construction trains.^[4]
^ Contract ended late 2007.^[6]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f "Voies Ferrees Locales et Industrielles (VFLI) (France) : Railway systems and operators". articles.janes.com. Janes. 26 October 2010. Archived from the original on 26 April 2012. Retrieved 9 July 2011.
^ Haydock, David (2008). European Handbook No. 4 French Railways Locomotives & Multiple Units (Fourth ed.). Sheffield: Platform 5. ISBN 978-1-902336-65-7.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Sonia Goujon (May 2009). "4. VFLI" (PDF). Les nouveaux entrants sur le marché du fret ferroviare français [The new companies entering the French rail freight market] (in French). Observatoire Régional des Transports de Bretagne. pp. 24–26. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 March 2012. Retrieved 17 July 2011. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
^ "VFLI - Voies Ferrées Locales et Industrielles" (PDF). Lokmagazin (in Hungarian). 57 (11): 28–30. November 2006. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 March 2012. Retrieved 17 October 2013.
^ Fertis 56 unveiled The Railway Magazine issue 1241 September 2004 page 59
^ ^a ^b "2007 Annual Report: SNCF Participations" (PDF). stockproinfo.com. SNCF. pp. 31, 38. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 March 2016. Retrieved 14 July 2011.
^ "VFLI - Voies Ferrées Locales et Industrielles". Railway Operators in France. Retrieved 14 July 2011. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
^ VFLI becomes Captrain France International Railway Journal 18 January 2021
^ "VFLI home page". VFLI. 2012. Archived from the original on 24 July 2012. Retrieved 4 August 2012.
^ "VFLI | Présentation | Chiffres clés" [Presentation - key figures] (in French). VFLI. 2012. Retrieved 4 August 2012.
^ "VFLI locomotives and shunters". railfaneurope.net. Archived from the original on 28 September 2011. Retrieved 10 July 2011.