|
contents | business | |||||||||
| High-speed rail between Tours and Bordeaux The concession contract for the future South Europe Atlantic high-speed rail (SEA HSR) between Tours and Bordeaux was signed by the concession company LISEA, represented by Xavier Huillard, chairman and CEO of Vinci, and French railway infrastructure manager Réseau Ferré de France (RFF), represented by its chairman and CEO, Hubert du Mesnil, following a competitive bidding process launched in 2007 by RFF. This signing follows both the French Prime Minister's confirmation that the French government wanted to see this project move forward before the end of this month and RFF's board of directors meeting of 9 June 2011. LISEA's shareholders are Vinci Concessions (leader) and Vinci SA (33.4%), CDC Infrastructure, a wholly owned subsidiary of Caisse des Dépôts (25.4%), SOJAS, a dedicated investment entity (22%), and investment funds managed and advised by AXA Private Equity (19.2%). The HSR project is 302 km long, with 38 km of connecting line to the conventional rail network. It represents a total investment of €7.8 billion and is the biggest public-private partnership (PPP) contract ever signed in France's rail sector as well as one of the world's largest infrastructure projects launched over the last decade. The HSR, which will take six years to design and build, will reduce the journey time between Paris and Bordeaux to 2 hours 5 minutes. The design-build contract covers 73 months. The works will start in the first half of 2012. MESEA, owned by Vinci Concessions (70%) and Inexia (30%), will be in charge of operation and maintenance of the line. write your comments about the article :: © 2011 Construction News :: home page |