PRESS INFORMATION

CFSF and the Chemins de Fer de Provence railway line

Since 1974 CFTA has been responsible for running the railway line connecting Nice with Digne-les-Bains. Confidence in the company was renewed on 1 July 2005 by the signing of an 8-year public service delegation agreement.

From 1 July 2005 to 31 December 2006 CFTA was asked to run the railway by the Mediterranean-Alps Joint Syndicate (SYMA) chaired by Gérard Piel, Deputy Chairman of the Regional Council with responsibility for Transport and Communications, who asked CFTA to set up La Compagnie Ferroviaire du Sud France (CFSF) – Chemins de Fer de Provence.

Since 1 January 2007 CFSF has been under the authority of the Provence Alpes Côte d'Azur Region whose president is Michel Vauzelle. Gérard Piel, Deputy Chairman of the Regional Council, retains responsibility for Transport and Communications.

CFSF - Chemins de Fer de Provence operates daily :

Four return rail services between Nice and Digne-les-Bains
A commuter service of twenty-two trains running between Nice et Plan-du-Var
Fifteen scheduled stops along the line
Seventeen request stops for walking trails
Charter trains by arrangement
48 optional stops along the line

Thanks to its close and fruitful collaboration with the local economic players (local authorities, schools, chamber of commerce and industry, travel agents and associations), CFSF - Chemins de Fer de Provence has succeeded in integrating the railway into the local economy to provide a regular, high-quality rail service between the Mediterranean and the Alps which also promotes the rich cultural and tourism heritage of the 30 villages through which it runs.

This has resulted in:

improved timetabling for suburban and interurban services
more frequent services between Nice, Colomars-La Manda and Plan du Var since 05/09/05
active participation in promoting local events by providing special rail services and timetables

In addition, to satisfy customer demand CFSF-Chemins de Fer de Provence has begun a line modernisation programme to meet its objectives of sustaining initiatives in rural locations and developing its customer base.

To give this hundred-year-old line a new lease of life, the management of Chemins de Fer de Provence has committed to a new objective of improving earnings through a new timetable introduced on 12 December 2005 (22 urban commuter trains per day instead of 20), improving equipment, buying new trains and a new sales drive.

Chemins de Fer de Provence: a few figures

	Operating Revenue	Passenger Numbers
2005	1 658 900	492 770
2006	1 650 360	479 936