Not another one: Kevin Speed [FR]

[nwales58]

Pronounced Kevine Spide by French journalists. Offering 'le commuting' between the unloved underserved beet-field stations and Paris/Lille/Strasbourg/Lyon. Has a framework contract for paths, but not for trains yet.

A vous d'inventer la vie qui va avec

La compagnie ferroviaire Kevin Speed ouvre 3 lignes ilisto - un service de grande vitesse dédié aux habitants des villes moyennes, de la ruralité et du périurbain pour accéder aux métropoles

www.kevin-rail.com

 

[Gag Halfrunt]

They claim to have "an exclusive agreement with a blue-chip train manufacturer".

 

[eastwestdivide]

an exclusive agreement with a blue-chip train manufacturer

That’s what the English version of their website has. The French version of their site has

un contrat d'exclusivité avec Alstom, un grand constructeur de trains.

in the corresponding place, i.e. an exclusive contract with Alstom…

 

[Gloster]

It seems somewhat superfluous to tell people in France who Alstom are.

 

[peterblue]

Also surprising why this information is seemingly left out for English speakers, despite Alstom having presence in many other countries!


At the moment Kelvin Speed looks to gain access and run trains on 3 main lines - rather frequent and competitive ones already:

Source: https://www.kevin-rail.com/comment-ca-marche-

Lille Flandres - TGV Haute-Picardie - Paris Gare du Nord

Strasbourg - Lorraine TGV - Meuse TGV (service option to be confirmed) - Champagne-Ardenne TGV - Paris Gare de l'Est

Lyon Part-Dieu - Mâcon-Loché TGV - Le Creusot-Montceau-Montchanin TGV - Paris Gare de Lyon.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 15 Mar 2024 ==

The site also promises "€3 per 100km fares during offpeak hours" for regular travellers, meaning a Paris to Lyon fare of about €12 which doesn't seem sustainable!

It looks like the trains will also serve a few more stops than the fastest TGVs so that's the trade-off. Most of the rural TGV stops are in the middle of nowhere though - think like 'parkway' stations in the UK but worse.

 

[StephenHunter]

Kevin? What sort of name is Kevin for a train operator?

 

[farci]

Those funny old French, eh!

Check their English language explanation about the target passengers, like ‘Kevin’ & others, for this unique service
https://www.kevin-rail.com/english

It’s a turn up and go concept without ticketing and the overhead costs at a cheap price