RFF "Train paths and maintenance slots" study (2008)

The Carex service requires the availability of train paths meeting the needs of future customers. Unsurprisingly, it is essential to obtain night train paths in order to provide a viable service; this corresponds to the transport plans of express courier services in particular.

Réseau Ferré de France, a Roissy Carex member, has therefore launched a "Train paths and maintenance slots" study to determine the conditions in which trains may be permitted to run at night. It first took an interest in the Paris-Marseilles route and more particularly the Paris-Lyons section, the oldest and the most constrained section in terms of worksite organisation

The establishment of a steering group with the SNCF to whom RFF delegates work management has allowed us to perform a diagnosis of current work organisation practices, by distinguishing routine maintenance from heavy Rail Renewal (RR) and Ballast Renewal (BR) operations. Solutions for improvement and optimisation in order to increase the route's capacity were then identified. Finally, each of these solutions was evaluated in terms of cost and journey time.

In all cases, RFF must make some schedule adjustments based on the train paths wished by customers/shippers (CAREX GEC) to prevent construction work having too much of a negative impact on journey times.