VFLI is a train operating company

Train operating company

The term train operating company is used in the United Kingdom to describe the various businesses operating passenger trains on the railway system of Great Britain under the collective National Rail brand...

 based in France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

. It is a subsidiary of SNCF

SNCF

The SNCF , is France's national state-owned railway company. SNCF operates the country's national rail services, including the TGV, France's high-speed rail network...

. The company was formed in 1998 as a low cost short line and industrial railway operator.

The subsidiary Fertis operated construction trains on the LGV Est

LGV Est

The LGV Est européenne is an extension to the French high-speed rail network, connecting currently Vaires-sur-Marne and Baudrecourt , and later Vaires-sur-Marne and Vendenheim . , it is the newest high-speed line in France and still under construction, with of a planned in service...

 up to 2007.

History

VFLI was created in 1998 as a subsidiary of the holding company SNCF participations to operate as a low cost operation, initially the company took over the operations of two industrial railway systems: Voies Ferrées des Landes

Voies Ferrées des Landes

The Voies Ferrées des Landes was founded in 1916 from the merger of three short line railway companies in the Landes forest region of Gascony, France.The railway lines were created primarily to transport timber from the foreested area...

 (VFL) and Mines Dominiales de Potasse d'Alsace.

In 2000 the company began a joint venture

Joint venture

A joint venture is a business agreement in which parties agree to develop, for a finite time, a new entity and new assets by contributing equity. They exercise control over the enterprise and consequently share revenues, expenses and assets...

 with Compagnie des chemins de fer départementaux (CFD) called Voies Ferrées du Morvan to operate the 87km Avallon

Avallon

Avallon is a commune in the Yonne department in Burgundy in center-eastern France.-Geography:Avallon is located 50 km south-southeast of Auxerre, served by a branch of the Paris-Lyon railway and by exit 22 of the A6 motorway...

-Autun

Autun

Autun is a commune in the Saône-et-Loire department in Burgundy in eastern France. It was founded during the early Roman Empire as Augustodunum. Autun marks the easternmost extent of the Umayyad campaign in Europe.-Early history:...

 railway line, and in 2001 took over operations on the Houllières du Bassin de Lorraine (HBL) via a subsidiary 'VFLI Cargo.

Up to 2007 the company was involved in the construction of LGV Est

LGV Est

The LGV Est européenne is an extension to the French high-speed rail network, connecting currently Vaires-sur-Marne and Baudrecourt , and later Vaires-sur-Marne and Vendenheim . , it is the newest high-speed line in France and still under construction, with of a planned in service...

 through the subsidiary Fertis. In 2007 the company gained cerification to operated on the main French rail network. By 2008 the company was providing services for around forty industrial sites, with clients having included Rhodia

Rhodia (company)

Rhodia is a group specialized in fine chemistry, synthetic fibers and polymers. Rhodia is listed on the Paris Stock Exchange on NYSE Euronext. The company services the consumer goods, automotive, energy, manufacturing and processes and electronics markets...

, Arkema

Arkema

Arkema is a French producer of chemicals headquartered in Colombes, near Paris, France.Created in 2004 when French oil major Total restructured its Chemicals business, Arkema has 14,000 employees in more than 40 countries, seven research centers worldwide, and a total of 80 production plants in...

, Arcelor

Arcelor

Arcelor S.A. was the world's largest steel producer in terms of turnover and the second largest in terms of steel output, with a turnover of €30.2 billion and shipments of 45 million metric tons of steel in 2004...

, Renault

Renault

Renault S.A. is a French automaker producing cars, vans, and in the past, autorail vehicles, trucks, tractors, vans and also buses/coaches. Its alliance with Nissan makes it the world's third largest automaker...

 and Coke de Carling, Ciments français

Ciments français

Ciments français is a French based manufacturer of cement and has been a subsidiary of Italcementi Group since 1992. The company was created in 1850 by Émile Dupond and Charles Demarle in Boulogne-sur-Mer.-External links:*...

, Lafarge

Lafarge

Lafarge is a French industrial company specialising in four major products: cement, construction aggregates, concrete and gypsum wallboard. In 2010 the company was the world's second-largest cement manufacturer by mass shipped behind Holcim.-History:...

, Elf

Elf Aquitaine

Elf Aquitaine was a French oil company which merged with TotalFina to form TotalFinaElf. The new company changed its name to Total in 2003...

, Port Edouard Herriot (Lyon), ALZ

ALZ (steelworks)

ALZ is a stainless steel producer based in Genk nr. Limbourg in Flanders, Belgium.In 2001 the company was merged with French stainless steel producer Ugine and in 2006 became part of the ArcelorMittal group as part of the stainless steel division.-History:ALZ was founded as a vertically integrated...

, Smurfit SCF in Facture and PSA

PSA Peugeot Citroën

PSA Peugeot Citroën is a French manufacturer of automobiles and motorcycles sold under the Peugeot and Citroën marques. Headquartered in the 16th arrondissement of Paris, PSA is the second largest automaker based in Europe and the number eight in the world.-History:In December 1974 Peugeot S.A....

 (in Trnava

Trnava

Trnava is a city in western Slovakia, 47 km to the north-east of Bratislava, on the Trnávka river. It is the capital of a kraj and of an okres . It was the seat of a Roman Catholic archbishopric . The city has a historic center...

, Slovakia), other contracts included transport of combustion waste from Protires waste processing plant in Strasbourg

Strasbourg

Strasbourg is the capital and principal city of the Alsace region in eastern France and is the official seat of the European Parliament. Located close to the border with Germany, it is the capital of the Bas-Rhin département. The city and the region of Alsace are historically German-speaking,...

, work sub-contracted from SNCF

SNCF

The SNCF , is France's national state-owned railway company. SNCF operates the country's national rail services, including the TGV, France's high-speed rail network...

and transportation from ports.

Rolling stock and facilities

In 2010 VFLI owned ~100 diesel locomotives, mostly shunting and short trip locomotives. as well as ~800 wagons.

The company also operates rolling stock workshops, carrying out maintenance and refurbishment.

External links

Company Website (in French)