French open-access rail co-operative Railcoop has confirmed reports that it is likely to enter liquidation after a restructuring attempt seemingly failed to address the financial difficulties that saw the venture placed into administration.
While the French court’s final decision on the future of the co-operative is only due to be released on 29 April, a hearing this week began the formal arrangements for creditors and Railcoop told Railway Technology it was “extremely likely” the court would order its liquidation.
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Launched in 2019, the co-operative had been hoping to revive the Bordeaux to Lyon route abandoned by SNCF in 2014 and had attained a rail operator license and permission to run its initial operations but has failed to ever launch a passenger service.
After admitting it was in financial difficulty in June 2023, the organisation later halted its freight services after not seeing the revenue it expected and revealed plans to split into two companies, an asset management arm and a service delivery business.
However, Railcoop President Nicolas Debaisieux has revealed that despite negotiations with investors, the co-operative had failed to raise the funds needed to launch its passenger service.
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By GlobalDataAccording to reports the two X72500 DMUs owned by the business are being held by maintenance contractor ACC M over debts owed to the company for the storage of the rolling stock, leading courts to order the co-operative to pay €160,000 to the company.
As a result of the organisation’s difficulties and the court’s impending ruling, it looks likely that Railcoop’s dream of launching a new passenger service in France will soon come to an end.
However, despite the failure to launch for this open-access service, other similar operations are hoping to capitalise on France’s decision to open up its railways in the 2000s with Kevin Speed signing its first Track Access Framework Agreement for services from Paris in March.
