Global InformationRailcoop information
 | This article needs to be updated. (March 2024) |
| Company type | Private cooperative company with collective interest (SCIC) |
|---|---|
| Founded | 30 November 2019 |
| Headquarters | Figeac , France[1] |
| Revenue | 119,879 Euro (2022)  |
Net income | −4,300,018 Euro (2022) |
| Website | https://www.railcoop.fr/ |
Railcoop is a French rail cooperative society, headquartered in Cambes, Lot. It is one of the first private passenger service companies to be created in the aftermath of the liberalisation of rail transportation in France and the end of the monopoly on passenger transit for the national railway operator SNCF.[2] As the rail network remains state-owned by the public agency SNCF Réseau, Railcoop operates as an independent rail operator by purchasing slots for operating its services; its schedules are regularly communicated to the national transport regulation authority.
Railcoop was formally established during November 2019, at which point it set about recruiting members and raising funds with which to establish train operations; by February 2021, it had raised €1.3 million and had 5,500 shareholders, which included multiple local authorities. In September 2021, it was announced that Railcoop had received its rail operator license, and obtained confirmation of the necessary train paths for its initial operations. Two months later, the organisation launched its first train service, hauling freight three times per week between Figeac and Toulouse; this was increased to a daily service in January 2022.
From its founding, Railcoop's stated primary project is the reopening of a direct passenger service between Bordeaux and Lyon, a service which SNCF had opted to discontinue in 2014.[3] It has obtained its own rolling stock and petitioned for suitable train paths to be allocated. At one point, the passenger service was set to commence in June 2022, however, it had to be postponed until December 2022.[4] Railcoop had ambitions to launch several other passenger services in the future.
- ^ "Railcoop SA". railmarket.com. Retrieved 20 November 2022.
- ^ "SNCF's Guillaume Pepy: keeping the public onside". Financial Times. 4 November 2018. Retrieved 5 November 2018.
- ^ "Railcoop va-t-elle renaitre la ligne de train Lyon-Bordeaux abandonnée par la SNCF?" (in French). 24 June 2020.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
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